The NC State football team took care of business in its first ACC road contest, routing the Boston College Eagles 33-7 to improve to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the ACC.
The offense did its part in the victory, amassing 381 total yards and accounting for 26 of the team’s 33 points, with the other seven coming on a fumble return for a touchdown off a Boston College punt attempt.
It was a well-rounded performance for the Pack, with some players making SportsCenter Top 10 plays and others making history.
Quarterback
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary continued his string of recent good play, completing 16 of his 24 pass attempts for 251 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. In the last four games, Leary has thrown for 12 touchdowns and no interceptions, and he has been money in both of the Pack’s ACC contests this year.
A solid chunk of Leary’s 251 yards came on a pair of wild plays for touchdowns. The first came on the first drive of the game in which Leary threw a deep pass to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Devin Carter, who made an amazing catch after pinning the ball off the Boston College defender and walked into the endzone for a 40-yard touchdown. That play ended up as the top play on the SportsCenter Top 10.
The second came with the Pack up 24-7 in the third quarter in which Leary scrambled out of the pocket and threw a running pass downfield to redshirt junior wide receiver Thayer Thomas, who made a great catch and took it to the house after two Boston College defender ran into each other for a 79-yard score. That served to be the backbreaker for the Eagles.
Leary may have been a little lucky on the first touchdown, but he made a great play on the second touchdown, and before that threw a nice four-yard strike to redshirt senior tight end Dylan Parham for a touchdown. He has been a big reason for the Pack’s success this season, and he was once again a big reason for the Pack’s win over the Eagles.
Grade: A
Running backs
While the passing game stole the show, the NC State rush offense did its part as well. The one-two punch of sophomore Zonovan Knight and junior Ricky Person combined for 79 yards, with Knight going for 41 yards on eight carries and Person with 38 yards on nine carries.
Sophomore Jordan Houston actually ended up leading the team in rushing with 43 yards as the team totaled 130 yards, but most all of Houston’s yards came in the fourth quarter when the game was essentially decided. Nonetheless, the backs did what they needed to do to help the Pack get the win.
Grade: B
Offensive line
The offensive line did its job in keeping Leary upright, allowing just one sack and giving Leary enough time to make throws that would lead to ridiculous touchdowns. One of the highlights came on NC State’s first drive of the second quarter in which sophomore offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu threw a nice block during a 17-yard run by Person. Ekwonu was recently named the highest graded offensive tackle in the country by Pro Football Focus.
Grade: A
Wide receivers
As former NFL wide receiver Santana Moss once said, “Big time players make big time plays in big time games,” and that is exactly what the NC State wide receivers did on Saturday night. Both Carter and Thomas were responsible for two of the craziest plays of the season for the Pack, and they both helped the Pack prevail in one of the biggest games of the year so far.
Both of the crazy plays accounted for most of their yards as Thomas tallied four catches for 122 yards, averaging over 30 yards per catch, while Carter tallied 51 yards on two catches. Carter displayed amazing concentration in his score, while Thomas made a great catch himself and took advantage of a golden opportunity by staying ahead of the Boston College defenders on his way to the endzone.
The two plays may not have even been the biggest story of the night for the receivers, however, as senior wide receiver Emeka Emezie became NC State’s all-time career receptions leader with his 203rd career reception. Emezie now stands on top of the leaderboard that includes Wolfpack greats such as Torry Holt, Jerricho Cotchery and Jaylen Samuels. It’s a great accomplishment for Emezie, who has come such a long way after a heartbreaking fumble at the goal-line his freshman year against Wake Forest to becoming an all-time great in the red and white.
It was an overall outstanding and historic night for the NC State receiving corps.
Grade: A+
