The NC State football team improved to 2-0 in ACC play for the first time since 2006 Saturday with its 33-25 victory over Syracuse. Here is a look at what worked, and what didn’t, for the Wolfpack against the Orange:
The Good – The running game
This applies to both sides of the football, as State was phenomenal at both running the ball and completely stifling the Orange’s rushing game. Junior running back Nyheim Hines had the best game of his career, picking up 115 yards on 19 carries with one rushing touchdown. It was Hines’ first ever 100-yard rushing game, beating the 94 yards he tallied against Florida State the week before.
Hines was incredibly consistent for the Pack out of the backfield, averaging 6.1 yards per carry against a Syracuse defense that entered the game as the 31st best defense in the country at stopping the run.
Hines was also able to break out for big plays against Syracuse, having four runs of more than 10 yards which included a 39-yard carry on third and one that help set up a touchdown for junior running back Reggie Gallaspy II. Gallaspy was another facet of State’s strong running game, as he picked up 33 yards and had one touchdown.
Senior all-purpose back Jaylen Samuels also played a key role in getting the Wolfpack’s ground game going, racking up 74 yards and a rushing touchdown on nine carries. Samuels had a 16-yard score in the second quarter, as well as a pivotal 19-yard gain on a screen pass to set up a Hines touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The rushing attack is something that was slow for State at the beginning of the season, but has picked up significantly in the team’s first two conference games. Hines looks to be finding his form as the main back, and his speed partnered with Samuels’ playmaking ability suddenly has the Pack looking dangerous on the ground.
On the other side of the ball, State’s loaded defensive line absolutely shut down any hope of a running game for the Orange. Syracuse was only able to tally 59 yards on the ground, with 44 of those coming from quarterback Eric Dungey. The Syracuse group of running backs mustered a mere 15 yards, on 14 attempts, an average of 1.07 yards per carry.
The quartet up front for the Pack is as good as any in the country, and they more than proved it against the Orange. Seniors Bradley Chubb, Justin Jones, B.J. Hill and junior Darian Roseboro combined for seven tackles for loss, three sacks and 26 tackles overall. The defensive line was as strong as it has been all year, and the Orange couldn’t do anything to get past it.
The Bad- Passing defense
There was a lot more good in this game than there was bad, however, yet again State’s passing defense was a thorn in its side. Dungey torched the Pack for 385 yards and one touchdown, going 30 for 47 on pass attempts. It marked the third time in five games this season that the Pack has allowed more than 250 yards through the air.
Seventeen of Dungey’s completions went to Ervin Philips, who had a game for the ages against the Pack. Philips tallied a colossal 188 receiving yards on his 17 catches, an average of 11.1 yards per catch. State had no answer when it came to covering Philips, as he made this the fourth of State’s five games in which the Pack has allowed a 100-yard receiver.
If one 100-yard receiver wasn’t enough, look no further than Steve Ishmael, who also reached the century mark in yards against State. Ishmael hauled in one touchdown to go with his six catches and 120 yards.
The Ugly- The third quarter
For three quarters of this matchup, State was the abundantly superior team. However, in the third quarter this wasn’t the case. Syracuse outgained the Pack 167-23 in the third frame, outscoring State 10-0 and making a 26-7 halftime lead for the Wolfpack dwindle down to a nine-point advantage.
NC State managed to run just 11 plays, compared to the Orange’s 29, and mustered only one first down. The offense was completely stagnant for the Pack in the quarter, and the defense was just as bad at stopping Syracuse’s aerial attack.
If the Wolfpack would have continued its third quarter play into the fourth, this game would have been a completely different story.
