The NC State football team lost its fourth straight game over the weekend, getting outclassed on both sides of the ball once more by the Louisville Cardinals (6-4, 4-3 ACC). While the defensive side of the ball had a rough game, the Wolfpack (4-6, 1-5 ACC) offense generated four fumbles and three turnovers in all themselves. Let’s take a look at how each offensive group did in the game.
Quarterback
Redshirt freshman Devin Leary had yet another average outing for the Wolfpack despite flashing a couple of impressive throws. Leary finished the day with 243 yards in the air, 23 on the ground, two touchdowns and one interception. The first-year signal caller finished with just a 54.5% completion percentage, actually bringing his percentage on the year up to 47.2%. Leary also fumbled the ball twice, and while he did not give the ball to the Cardinals defense either time, it interrupted the flow of the drive and disrupted the offense. One of his fumbles was simply Leary dropping the ball when he reached back to throw, similar to what happened against Clemson. The freshman quarterback also had nine of his passes deflected, not a good sign for either the strength of the offensive line or his accuracy.
While Leary is not solely to blame for the loss, his inaccuracy cost the Pack multiple times throughout the course of the game. NC State had 11 offensive drives in the game. Here is the chronological outcome of each of the drives:
Punt, fumble, interception, field goal, touchdown, end of half (no points, Louisville came out of the half with the ball), fumble, punt, touchdown, field goal, turnover on downs.
While the team recorded four scores, the slow start with a fumble followed immediately by an interception set the trend for what would end up to be a rough game for NC State.
Grade: D+
Running backs
Sophomore Ricky Person Jr. returned to action in the game, giving the Wolfpack a three-headed rushing attack once more heading into the last two games of the season. Person had a decent return, scoring a touchdown catch and adding 38 total yards on offense. The other two backs on the team also had solid outings, going for a combined 89 yards, but no touchdowns. Freshmen duo Zonovan Knight and Jordan Houston directly led a drive for NC State to score a field goal and were the reason for much of the offensive energy in the first half, but was much quieter in the second half.
On top of this, while the group did a lot right in the first half, Knight still had an early fumble, the first of four in the game for the Pack offense, which cost the team. While the fumble prevents the grade from being high, the running backs did all they could to keep the Wolfpack in the game.
Grade: B-
Wide receivers
The receivers did not play a terrible game for the Wolfpack, but the group completely failed to match the production of Louisville’s corps, whose top two receivers recorded 182 receiving yards alone as well as one touchdown apiece. Meanwhile, the top two Wolfpack receivers, junior Emeka Emezie and redshirt sophomore Thayer Thomas, recorded 135 yards on three more catches, with just one touchdown between them and one touchdown for any wide receiver, with the other coming from a running back, Person.
The group also includes freshman Keyon Lesane, who had another costly fumble on a punt return, his second costly fumble of the year. Despite all pass-catchers recording 10 more catches than Louisville, the group was unable to match the offensive production of the Cardinals to offset the defensive problems of the Pack.
Grade: D
Offensive line
The offensive line only allowed two Louisville sacks in the game, but is showing its youth in the worst way. The line allowed two sacks on Leary, one quarterback hurry and five tackles for loss, and Leary constantly seemed like he was running for his life, tallying 12 rushes for a measly average of 1.9 yards per carry. This lack of production is excusable when the team is going up against one of the historically great schools in terms of consistent D-line production such as Clemson, but is not a good sign against a mediocre D-line such as Louisville’s.
Grade: F
Tight ends
Leary could have used redshirt junior Cary Angeline as a receiving threat down the field, as the 6-foot-7 tight end did not record a single catch in the game, or even a target. This is not an indictment on the tight end room; they were covered well and/or Leary did not find them when they did get open, but a lack of impact on the game leads to an average grade at best, especially when so many blocking tight ends are out, including redshirt junior Dylan Parham.
Grade: C
Overall Grade: D+
Next up: The Wolfpack will travel to Atlanta, Georgia on a short week as it takes on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The Yellow Jackets sit at 2-8 on the season with only one ACC victory over Miami. While Georgia Tech has failed to produce a positive season, this is far from a lock for the Pack, which needs to win both of its next two games if it wants to make a bowl game.
After Georgia Tech, the team returns to Carter-Finley to take on UNC-Chapel Hill in what is expected to be a marquee matchup, and one that could see both teams sitting at 5-6 on the year for a potential play-in game for a bowl.
The game against Georgia Tech kicks off at 8 p.m. Thursday inside Bobby Dodd Stadium. The game can be streamed on ESPN.
