On a day when NC State football already started down one starting wide receiver in graduate Stephen Louis and the Pack’s offense looked off for much of the game, one player stepped up big time in a season-opening, 24-13 win over James Madison at Carter-Finley Stadium. Redshirt junior receiver Jakobi Meyers finished the game with a career-high 14 catches (one shy of the school record) for 161 yards.
“I didn’t really think about how many catches I was going to have; it was more so just being my best every play,” Meyers said. “I knew my family was out here watching me; I just wanted to put on a show for them. Whatever came to me, I tried my best to make a play with.”
It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that Meyers, coming off a breakout season in 2017 with 63 catches for 727 yards and five touchdowns, carried the Wolfpack Saturday. Of graduate quarterback Ryan Finley’s 29 completions, 14 were on passes to Meyers. With No. 1 receiver Kelvin Harmon catching just three passes for 25 yards and Finley looking out of sync with the junior and other wideouts, Meyers’ big day was sorely needed.
“Jakobi really played his heart out today,” Finley said. “He came down with some really, really tough grabs. He says just put it in his area code; I think he means it. Just give Jakobi a chance and he’s going to come down with it. He played really well today, really proud of how Jakobi played.”
What made Meyers’ big day even more remarkable was that he was basically playing on one leg in the second half, coming in and out of the game multiple times with an injury to his left ankle. Though Meyers was wearing a boot after the game, both he and head coach Dave Doeren said he would be ok, and Meyers said he would be able to play next week.
“Like I said, we’re family,” Meyers said. “So I know if my mom was in the house and she needed me to do something, regardless of if I’m hurt, if I’m on crutches, and she calls me to do it I have to get it done. So I knew my family needed me and I couldn’t let my brothers down. I just knew I had to keep pushing. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen; I’d take care of it after the game.”
Meyers’ performance, though obviously on a smaller stage, called back to his previous career game last season, with five catches for 112 yards and a score in a win at Florida State last season. He was clutch, with five catches on third down to move the chains for the Wolfpack, including a massive 39-yard catch late in the fourth quarter on third and 9 to move NC State to the JMU 28, and another on third and 9 to put the Pack at the 10 on that same drive that culminated in the game-sealing touchdown.
“Coach [Eliah Drinkwitz] had a good game call,” Meyers said. “We practiced it the whole week; we knew their press, I sell it and I take off. It was just perfectly drawn up and we just executed it.”
While NC State has a lot to work on after Saturday’s game, one thing that will not be on the list of concerns is Meyers’ production level, and his ability to make big plays in key moments for the Wolfpack’s offense.
“It’s great to have playmakers,” Doeren said. “I thought he carried the offense in a lot of ways today. Not having [Louis] available, the guys around him had to make some key plays at key moments.”
