Coming off an overtime loss to Clemson, the NC State football team lost to the No. 7 Louisville Cardinals in a much more dominant effort by the opponent Saturday, 54-13.
The Cardinals (6-1, 4-1 ACC) started out the game with a very quick drive. Sophomore Lamar Jackson took the Cards down the field 72-yards in 1:33 and ended the drive with a 36-yard touchdown rush, which gave the Cardinals a 7-0 lead. Jackson completed three passes on three attempts against the Wolfpack’s (4-3, 1-2 ACC) defense.
NC State did not start the game off on a positive note. On the first play of its first drive, redshirt sophomore quarterback Ryan Finley threw an interception to junior cornerback Trumaine Washington of Louisville.
The Wolfpack defense answered the offensive turnover with a huge red zone third-down stop to force the special team units to enter the field. The Cards ended up converting on a field goal attempt to increase the lead to 10-0.
Jackson, a Heisman candidate, took advantage of the Wolfpack’s defense throughout the first half. He completed two passes that were at least 65 yards as well as tallying on two passing touchdowns. Jackson also rushed for 55 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown. His first half totals were a total of 359 yards with three touchdowns.
The Cards completely dominated the first half of the game. Louisville had 390 total yards with 304 being passing yards. The Cards tallied 15 first downs with an average of 8.5 yards per play. The Wolfpack did not do so well, tallying only 54 total yards and two first downs. Finley completed 5 of 10 passes and threw two interceptions in the half. Cards led the Wolfpack 44-0 at the end of the half.
The Wolfpack opened up the second half with a 98-yard scoring drive that consisted of 12 plays. The Pack converted four first downs on the drive. Finley threw a sideline pass to freshman Kelvin Harmon to end the drive with a touchdown that made the score 44-7.
NC State continued the fight by scoring on back-to-back possessions. Finley threw a 70-yard touchdown to redshirt sophomore Maurice Trowell to reduce the deficit to 44-13. The drive consisted of five plays for 95 yards. The Pack defense continued to show the fight in it by forcing a fumble on the following kickoff to gain the ball back.
Louisville eventually answered to the 13 straight points scored by the Wolfpack. The Cards marched down the field for 69 yards to increase their lead to 51-13 with 9:14 left in the game off a 1-yard touchdown by junior Jeremy Smith.
The Cardinals dominated this game on offense and defense. The Cards had 553 total yards with 163 rush yards, 24 first downs and six touchdowns. The defense recorded eight tackles for loss with only allowing nine first downs and handing NC State six three-and-outs. Jackson recorded 355 passing yards with three throwing touchdowns and ran for 76 yards with one touchdown.
The Wolfpack acquired 250 yards with only 14 rushing yards. The Pack converted nine first downs with three turnovers. The defense managed to come out in the second half and not give up a point in the third quarter to Louisville, the only team other than Clemson to shut out the Cards in a quarter.
The Wolfpack looks to bounce back against Boston College on Oct. 29 at Carter-Finley Stadium for homecoming.
