Coming into Thursday night’s game against Wake Forest, NC State football was ranked No. 14 in the College Football Playoff rankings. The Wolfpack had a path, unlikely as it was, to a New Year’s Six Bowl Game for the first time in school history. Much more realistically, the team had a chance at its first 10-win regular season since 2002 and first undefeated season at home since 1986.
Following a 27-23 loss to the Demon Deacons, all of that is gone. All of it. NC State will drop like a rock in the rankings, with an inexcusable loss at home, and, at best, a 9-3 record in the regular season with a quality win.
It should be pointed out that 9-3 would still be NC State’s best regular season finish since 2002. But, especially given the schedule this team faced, this year could have been so much more. Instead, like many before it, this season will be about what could have been.
And there’s no reason that should have happened. You could write a book about the way NC State lost this game. The Wolfpack was totally inept on offense, scoring a touchdown on just 1 of 5 trips to the red zone. That started with kicking a field goal after recovering a muffed punt at Wake’s 12-yard line. A receiving corps that normally has magnets for hands had six drops, including one on a potential fourth-down conversion in the fourth quarter.
The Demon Deacons had 11 tackles for loss against NC State’s vaunted offensive line. A rushing attack that piled up 177 yards in a win against a top-10 run defense last week had 47 against a defense that came into the game allowing 224 per game, leading to an inability to kill clock with a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Speaking of which, NC State’s defense, which played well for most of the first three quarters against a quarterback making his first college start, melted down late in the second half. Jamie Newman finished the game with 297 passing yards (147 fourth quarter) and three touchdowns (two fourth quarter).
The collapse started late in the third quarter, when back-to-back completions and spectacular catches from Wake made it a three-point game.
“That was a good play by them, but with all that being said we had plenty of other chances to put that game away,” head coach Dave Doeren said. “They made more plays than us. That’s really what it comes down to.”
Wake continued to make more plays than NC State in the fourth quarter. After sophomore receiver Emeka Emezie scored a touchdown to restore a 10-point lead for the Pack early in final frame, Wake scored the game’s last two touchdowns for a 27-23 win.
The game-winning touchdown came on a 32-yard pass with 30 seconds left in the game that saw the Pack’s secondary completely break down again. The drive started with 1:39 left after NC State turned the ball over on downs at Wake’s 20; the Deacons did not have any timeouts. The game ended when Finley’s hail mary pass on the final play was picked off.
That theme of not making plays is a familiar one for NC State. This season will join last year, featuring tight losses to South Carolina and Wake Forest that turned what should have been a 10-2 regular season into 8-4. It will join the 2016 season that featured heartbreakers to Clemson and Florida State, as each of the last three seasons will now have a left a host of “what ifs” behind.
There’s no denying the strides Doeren has made since his first season at NC State, both on the field and on the recruiting trail. Building a great program takes time, and Doeren and the Wolfpack may well get there in the years to come. However, in order to do so, NC State is going to have to find a way to avoid stumbling in these high-pressure games.
If the Wolfpack wants to take the next step, that all-too-familiar narrative about not being able to make the few key plays needs to vanish. For at least another season, it’s as present as its ever been.
