NC State’s offense and defense struggled against Ball State. The defense was gashed for 417 total yards, and the offense couldn’t muster a touchdown on its own after halftime, putting a 20-7 lead in jeopardy. The difference-maker of the game was NC State’s special teams, which claimed credit for NC State’s two second-half touchdowns in an 11-point victory.
NC State’s offense did almost nothing in the second half. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Matthew McKay entered the second half 16 of 22 with 174 yards, but he finished the game 17-30 with 175 yards and an interception. NC State’s rushing attack only had 88 rushing yards in the second stanza, but two wide receivers saved the day for the Pack, and they did it through special teams.
“It wasn’t pretty, but it was a good win,” said head coach Dave Doeren. “We did some really good things with our punt return unit, which I thought sparked our football team in the second half: Thayer [Thomas] with the punt return for a touchdown, and Max Fisher with a punt block and our ability to get a touchdown off of that.”
NC State’s punt coverage filled the gap in the third quarter. After an unusual line-drive kick following a Ball State three-and-out, redshirt sophomore slot receiver Thayer Thomas had his first real returnable ball of the day, and he capitalized. Ball State’s Nathan Snyder outkicked his coverage. Thomas started to the left, ducked back to the right and found a crease. After key blocks from redshirt freshman cornerback Isaac Duffy and redshirt sophomore defensive end Xavier Lyas, Thomas ran untouched into the end zone to extend NC State’s lead to 27-7.
“The punter did an unusual kick,” Thomas said “He sort of rugby kicked it; he never did that on film. It was low, and it didn’t have a lot of hang time, so I knew I would have the opportunity to return it. When I went left, I didn’t see anything, so I tried to go back to the field. And the funny thing is, we only had 10 guys on the field.”
Against West Virginia, an NC State punt was blocked, turning the tide in a disappointing loss for the Wolfpack. In the fourth quarter against Ball State, with NC State’s offense still stagnant, the Wolfpack balanced the scales with a punt block of its own by redshirt sophomore wide receiver Max Fisher. Redshirt freshman cornerback Malik Dunlap scooped up the ball, taking it to the 7-yard line. NC State scored its last touchdown on the ensuing drive.
NC State scored 14 second-half points, all owed to a unit that is usually forgotten by fans and only remembered when issues like missed field goals and kickoffs out of bounds occur. To have special teams go from being a liability at the beginning of the season to a key part of a victory was encouraging for Doeren.
“They let us down big time on that [blocked punt] last week, and they sparked us this time,” Doeren said. “It was great redemption for Coach Goebbel’s units, and I’m proud of those guys. Those were two huge plays in the game.”
