After winning its first four games in dominant fashions, the NC State football team failed to get anything going offensively Saturday, losing its first ACC game of the year to the Louisville Cardinals 20-13.
Ultimately, the running attack was the difference of the game for the Wolfpack (4-1, 0-1 ACC). After rushing for 330 yards and seven touchdowns in the previous week against South Alabama, the Pack mustered 45 yards and one touchdown. Meanwhile, the Cardinals (2-3, 1-1 ACC) rushed for 203 yards.
“Louisville won the line of scrimmage, in my opinion,” NC State head coach Dave Doeren said. “We struggled to run the ball, and when we did drop back [to pass] there was pressure. When you turn the ball over and don’t get any takeaways, and they run for 200 yards, and we run for 45, that’s not a good recipe for victory in the rain.”
Both teams got off to a slow start. The first big play came on a 48-yard pass from senior quarterback Jacoby Brissett to junior wide receiver Jumichael Ramos. However, as he was attempting to break a tackle with the end zone in sight, he fumbled the ball and Louisville took over on its 8-yard line.
This costly turnover gave the Cards some momentum, as it was able to capitalize on a seven-play, 92-yard drive, capped off with a 68-yard touchdown run from freshman quarterback Lamar Jackson to give Louisville a 7-0 lead with 3:54 remaining in the first quarter.
One the next drive, the Cardinals once again went on a draining 13-play, 93-yard drive that chewed 6:15 off the clock. Jackson threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to 6-foot-6 freshman wide receiver DeVante Peete to give Louisville a 14-0 lead with 8:36 remaining in the first half.
On the ensuing kickoff, freshman wide receiver Nyheim Hines returned the ball 90 yards all the way to the opposing 10-yard line, and a facemask penalty gave the Pack the ball at the 5-yard line. Dayes scored on a 3-yard jet sweep to close the gap 14-7.
“We were sputtering on offense, so someone had to make a big play; we were all trying to make a big play, and it just happened to be me this game,” Hines said.
After a pair of uneventful drives, the Cards marched down the field under the command of Jackson. Louisville ended the drive with a 36-yard field goal to extend its lead to 17-7 with 1:01 remaining in the half.
Jackson led all rushers with 102 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries and added 90 yards and a touchdown in the air at the half. For the Pack, Brissett went 9-of-13 for 115 yards. However, NC State managed to gain merely eight yards on the ground in the first half.
As the weather worsened, both teams struggled on their first drives of the second half. However, on the Wolfpack second drive, Dayes burst out a 28-yard run to give it some momentum. Then, sophomore fullback Jaylen Samuels took a screen pass 21 yards to the end zone to cut the lead. However, freshman kicker Kyle Bambard missed the PAT, making the score 17-13.
Once again, State was on a promising drive when Dayes fumbled the ball to give the Cards possession at the Wolfpack 45-yard line with 2:36 remaining in the third quarter. Louisville took advantage by kicking a 26-yard field goal to expand its lead to 20-13.
It was a horrifically uneventful fourth quarter of sloppy football, with both teams struggling to get anything going offensively. On its final drive, Louisville chewed up 5:38 of play clock to give the Wolfpack the ball on its own 5-yard line with just 1:45 to play
While a lot of Brissett’s passes were short down the stretch, he still finished the game with a respectable 183 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. Dayes led the team in rushing with 68 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Samuels led the Pack in receiving with five catches for 75 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, sophomore linebacker Airius Moore led the team with nine tackles and sophomore defensive tackle Josh Jones followed close behind with eight. Fellow sophomore defensive tackle B.J. Hill finished the game with seven tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss and one sack.
“We’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves,” Doeren said. “We’re going to get up, come in tomorrow and go to work and get ready to play a short week against Virginia Tech.”
NC State looks to solve its offensive woes Oct. 9 for a Friday night matchup as it travels to Virginia Tech.
