The NC State football team scraped out a 28-23 win over Boston College this past Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium to move to 5-0 overall on the season, and 2-0 in ACC play. The game featured a more balanced Wolfpack offense with the running backs stepping up this week to match the play of the passing game.

Here is an evaluation of how each position did this past weekend:

Quarterback: B-

Graduate quarterback Ryan Finley went to both extremes during this game. On one hand, he was 25 of 34, throwing for 308 yards and two touchdowns, but on the other hand he threw two crucial interceptions that had large impacts on the game.

The first interception was thrown in the red zone on a third and goal from the 4-yard line, where Boston College brought the blitz, forcing Finley to rush, and instead of throwing the ball away, he threw it into coverage right where the Eagles’ defender was. This took a possible three points off the board as the Pack would’ve brought the field goal unit out on fourth down.

The second interception thrown by Finley was on Boston College’s 28-yard line, and this was the drive immediately after Finley threw his first interception. Without these two interceptions Finley and the Pack would have been able to bury Boston College early in the first half.

Running Backs: A-

The Pack ran the ball very effectively against a very experienced Boston College defense. Senior tailback Reggie Gallaspy Jr. carried the ball 25 times for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Gallaspy had a couple of big runs throughout the day with the help of the blocking done by the offensive line.

Freshman tailback Ricky Person Jr. followed up last week’s breakout game with another stellar performance. Person ran for 92 yards on 17 carries with his only mishap coming on a fumble in Boston College territory in the fourth quarter.

Both backs will play crucial roles the remainder of the season to help give the Pack a balanced offensive attack.

Wide Receivers: A

Junior Kelvin Harmon and redshirt junior Jakobi Meyers carried the load on Saturday, combining for 19 catches for 227 yards and two touchdowns. Harmon made many difficult catches look easy, as he is known for doing, while stayed with his consistent slant routes, averaging 9.9 yards per catch.

For the first time this season, sophomore wideout Emeka Emezie did not show up on the stat sheet with no receptions on the day, however that did not have any effect on the Wolfpack passing game Saturday.

Tight Ends: B

Redshirt sophomores Cary Angeline and Dylan Autenrieth played a critical role in the running game with their blocking. The running game has steadily improved since both of these tight ends returned to the field. Angeline also caught one pass for 24 yards.

Offensive Line: A-

Overall, the offensive line was much improved this week, creating many holes for the running backs and keeping the pressure off of Finley. They did not allow any sacks and only allowed two quarterback hurries. Graduate center Garrett Bradbury stuck out with many key blocks that created openings for Gallaspy and Person to run through.

Defensive Line: A

Boston College is notorious for being a run-first offense, but the Pack defensive line was able to keep that to a minimum. Star tailback A.J. Dillon was out of Saturday’s game with an injury which certainly hurt the Eagles’ running game, and the Wolfpack were able to hold Boston College to only 120 yards on 25 carries. Along with stopping the running game, the Pack was also able to record three sacks and three quarterback hurries.

Linebackers: A+

Graduate linebacker Germaine Pratt had a monster game Saturday with 13 total tackles, six solo tackles, one sack and a key forced fumble and recovery in the fourth quarter. Pratt, like the defensive line, also had a big role in slowing down the Boston College running game and pressuring quarterback Anthony Brown. Pratt’s impact on and off the field has been felt by the defense throughout these first five games.

Redshirt freshman linebacker Isaiah Moore also had an impactful game with seven total tackles, three solo tackles and one tackle for loss.

Secondary: C

While Brown’s stat line looks as if the secondary did a superb job in Saturday’s game, the Pack was incredibly lucky on three separate occasions. Brown had wide receiver Jeff Smith, who either beat NC State’s junior defensive back Nick McCloud or was en route to beat him, and Smith simply dropped passes that would have gone for big gains. The Pack must improve on this over the bye week, as Clemson’s wide receivers are incredibly talented and will not drop passes like Smith did this past week.

Special Teams: F

NC State’s special teams struggled this week against the Eagles. Redshirt freshman punt returner Thayer Thomas fumbled the first punt kicked to him instead of calling for a fair catch when the Boston College return team was all over him.

The second thing that went wrong was freshman kicker Chris Dunn’s 19-yard field goal getting blocked; this was his only attempt for a field goal on the day.

The third and final thing that went wrong was senior punter A.J. Cole III’s punt getting blocked and recovered in the end zone by Boston College for an Eagles touchdown. The Pack chose not to stack the box, anticipating that Boston College would look to return the punt instead of going for the block. Of course, this was the wrong assumption.

The only bright spot in the special teams this weekend was that the Pack was able to hold Boston College to very few return yards in the kicking game, and make a key recovery on a late onside kick.

Coaching: A-

Overall, the first couple of drives the Pack looked really good and play calling seemed to flow well. In the second half, the Wolfpack struggled, but it did not seem to be due to coaching.

The one thing the Pack can do on the offensive side of the ball is mix up the running game play calls and take a few more plays out of the playbook.