With NC State football’s 45-24 loss today at Boston College, the Wolfpack’s record for the year is now 4-3, with just a 1-2 record in ACC play. The Pack now sits in sixth of out seven teams in the Atlantic division. Here are some takeaways from today’s game:

First half offensive struggles

The Wolfpack offense struggled throughout the first half, putting up only a single field goal. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Bailey Hockman, who started at quarterback for the Pack, struggled in the first quarter. With the game still tied 0-0, he threw a pick-six that gave the Eagles their first score of the game. He managed only four completions on 10 attempts for 27 yards. After the first quarter, he was replaced by redshirt freshman Devin Leary, who also struggled to find success in the first half, never finding the end zone and only leading his team down the field for one field goal. The Pack continued their struggles running the ball, with leading rusher freshman Zonovan Knight only managing to rush for 27 yards on 10 carries for the day.

Pack can’t find answers to Eagles’ run game

The Wolfpack defense struggled to stop the Eagles the entire game. The Eagles ended up scoring 45 points on the day, with 17 coming in a strong second quarter, where they took control of the game. The Eagles exploited the Pack’s weak run defense all day. Started running back AJ Dillon had a huge day, running for 223 yards on 34 rush attempts. Dillon also ran for three touchdowns. David Bailey, who had a little under half the carries of Dillon at 16, also had an impressive day. He ran for 181 yards and two touchdowns. Boston College kept taking advantage of the Pack’s poor run defense, only attempting 15 passes on the whole day and completing six of those.

Devin Leary with a strong second half

After struggling in the first half, the Pack offense moved the ball well in the second half. The biggest part of their resurgence on offense in the second half was the strong quarterback play of  Leary. Leary threw for the first wolfpack touchdown with a little over three minutes left in the third quarter. Leary also went on to throw for two more touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with 259 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. Leary ended the game with an impressive quarterback rating of 141.4, compared to Hockman’s QBR of just 42.7.

Hope moving forward

Leary had a very strong half for the Pack and looks to be much better at throwing the deep ball than redshirt sophomore Matthew McKay or Hockman. He averaged 7.8 yards per completion, a big improvement over Hockman’s 2.7 yards per completion in the first quarter. With Leary’s strong passing performance, if Knight returns to his usually strong running game, the Pack could have a strong offense moving forward.