Redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary took the reins of a previously struggling NC State offense to engineer the Wolfpack’s 28-13 comeback victory against the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday, Oct. 30.
After almost three quarters of sloppy football on both sides, a 29-yard touchdown toss from Leary to redshirt sophomore running back Trent Pennix put the Pack (6-2, 3-1 ACC) up 14-10 early in the fourth quarter. State never looked back after that, keeping the Cards (4-4, 2-3 ACC) in check and maintaining the lead up to the final whistle.
“We were hurting ourselves a little bit in the first half,” Leary said. “Credit to Louisville, they did a great job defensively, throwing different things at us. In the second half, we just had to settle in and stay in rhythm.”
Even though the offense looked great in the fourth quarter, it took a long time for each team to reach that form. Despite 191 total yards for the Pack and 214 for the Cardinals in the first half, the two teams went into halftime in a 7-7 deadlock.
Although its only touchdown of the night came through the air, Louisville relished in its rushing game while the NC State offense became nearly one dimensional with its running game sputtering and struggling all game long. While Louisville accumulated 215 yards on the ground, State’s rushing duo of sophomore running back Zonovan Knight and junior running back Ricky Person, Jr. combined for 44 yards on 19 carries.
The third quarter saw the Pack’s first deficit of the game when Louisville took a 10-7 lead on a 42-yard field goal. As both offenses failed to muster any other meaningful drives in the third quarter, the defenses took center stage, trading blows to see who would break first.
The Pack defense, for its part, bent plenty of times but never broke. A 76-yard touchdown bomb by Cardinals quarterback Malik Cunningham evened the score at 7-7, but the NC State defense saw to it that Louisville never found the end zone thereafter.
“That defense showed a ton of heart,” said head coach Dave Doeren. “You guys know who’s hurt, so to see the way they played with three fourth down stops and that interception by [redshirt freshman cornerback Shyheim] Battle was a great play.”
Sophomore linebacker Drake Thomas played a big role in holding Cunningham and the Cards at bay, notching 15 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. In the absence of redshirt sophomore linebacker Payton Wilson and redshirt junior linebacker Isaiah Moore due to season-ending injuries, Thomas’ efforts spearheaded State’s defensive performance.
“The performance as a defense and as a whole, I took that upon myself,” Thomas said. “Getting everything clicking, everything gelled up. The communication in the back end to the front seven, I just took full responsibility for all of it. So that included Malik Cunningham, so I took full responsibility for that too.”
Although it ultimately secured bowl eligibility with its sixth win of the year, the Wolfpack will want to play better going forward. The Pack’s next opportunity to show what it can do will take place in Tallahassee, Florida when it takes on the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday, Nov. 6.
