CLEMSON, SOUTH CAROLINA — Saturday’s game at No. 3 Clemson was a tremendous opportunity for the No. 16 NC State football team. A win over the Tigers for the first time since 2011 would have put the Pack in the driver’s seat for its ultimate goal of competing in, and winning the ACC Championship game, and put the College Football Playoff on the table.
Instead, a 41-7 loss at Memorial Stadium made one thing abundantly clear: this is still Clemson’s conference, and the Pack isn’t close to being able to knock off the top dog in the ACC.
“If you look at the past two years, we were executing,” graduate center Garrett Bradbury said. “We beat ourselves way too many times tonight. If we want to win coming here, we can’t beat ourselves. We did that from the first snap of the ball.”
This is still a good NC State football team that has the potential to have a very good season. The one thing about a blowout loss is that no matter how bad it is, it only counts for one defeat. NC State will look to put this one behind it and focus on what the team can still accomplish this season.
But for Saturday, the focus will be on where the Pack is in regards to achieving its goal of ACC supremacy. And if this game was any indication, NC State is still very far away from that level.
The Wolfpack came into this game optimistic about its chances, having given Clemson all it could handle and losing by a touchdown in each of the teams’ last two meetings. That was not how things played out in this one.
“You’re disappointed, for sure,” head coach Dave Doeren said. “I thought we were going to play a heck of a game and we didn’t. It just didn’t go our way.”
NC State’s offense, which had looked unstoppable for most of its 5-0 start, was outgained 471 to 297. Graduate quarterback Ryan Finley, who came in leading the ACC in passing yards and second in completion percentage, played one of worst games of his Wolfpack career, completing just 21 of 34 attempts for 156 yards, no touchdowns and two picks.
Finley did not get as much help from his deep receiving corps as he could have. The Pack’s wideouts had some uncharacteristic drops, including one from junior Kelvin Harmon on a perfectly thrown ball by Finley that hit him in the hands. Had Harmon caught that ball, it would have likely gone for a touchdown that would have cut Clemson’s lead to 14-7.
The offensive miscues didn’t stop there. The Pack turned it over twice, on a fumbled snap and an interception, in the last two minutes and change of the first half, leading to 10 points for Clemson and a three-score deficit at halftime. Finley’s second pick killed a promising drive to open the second half and any prayer the Wolfpack had of getting back in the game.
“We turned the ball over, it was 14-0,” Doeren said. “We had the ball at the 50 and then we turned it over two straight series. It just kind of got away from us. We couldn’t get in a rhythm. Third down was really hard for us today. Offensively, it’s been a strength for us and it wasn’t today. For us, rhythm’s important on offense and we didn’t have any.”
The offense wasn’t alone in its struggles. A defense that came into the game 16th in the country in points allowed was carved up by Clemson’s freshman phenom, as Trevor Lawrence completed 26 of 39 attempts for 308 yards and a score before being pulled in the fourth quarter. Receiver Tee Higgins piled up eight catches for 119 yards and a score against the Pack.
The Pack’s defense was able to force third and longs for Lawrence throughout the game, but he seemingly had a wide-open receiver on the sideline just about every time. NC State did hold the Tigers’ vaunted rushing attack led by Travis Etienne in check numbers wise, but the Tigers were able to run the ball when they needed to, including for four touchdowns.
The Wolfpack’s special teams weren’t exactly sterling either, as Clemson returned the game’s opening kickoff 40 yards after a missed tackle from NC State to give its offense a short field.
The Pack was thoroughly outclassed and humiliated in all phases of the game in this one.
Again, none of this is to say NC State has suddenly morphed into a bad football team, or that this undoes the 5-0 start that preceded Saturday. There’s still a lot on the table for this group. NC State is probably still the second best team in the ACC, and this just shows how far ahead of the field the Tigers are.
Clemson is so hard to beat for a reason; it’s a perennial top-four team. This group in particular boasts a defense that is loaded with NFL talent, an uber-talented QB in Trevor Lawrence and elite talent at the skill positions in Higgins, Etienne, Justin Ross and Hunter Renfrow.
However, the fact remains that the Pack’s ultimate goal is to finish a season as the ACC champion. In order to be the best, you have to beat the best. Right now, Clemson is the best, by a longshot. The games against the Tigers in 2016 and 2017 gave the impression that NC State was closing the gap.
But Saturday’s loss provided a cold, hard reminder of where the Wolfpack is, and that’s still several notches below the Tigers. Unless the Pack wins out and the Tigers lose two conference games, they will win the ACC Atlantic Division this season.
This is still a good Wolfpack team trending upward, and NC State could very well reach that ultimate goal of an ACC title in the years to come. But for today, the ACC still resoundingly belongs to Clemson.
