With a 28-14 victory, the No. 19 NC State football team kept its ACC Atlantic division title hopes alive. Before the Wolfpack takes on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, let’s take one last look at what we learned Saturday:
Who needs wide receivers?
NC State (7-2, 4-1 ACC) has found explosiveness in its passing attack, but not how many people expected; the Wolfpack’s tight ends and running backs carried the load against Florida State. Between redshirt freshman tight end Chris Toudle, redshirt sophomore H-back Trent Pennix and junior running back Ricky Person, NC State’s unsung weapons amassed nine catches for 189 yards and three touchdowns. Offensive coordinator Tim Beck thwarted the Seminoles’ pass rush by utilizing screens and under throws to its matchup nightmares, and they repeatedly made Florida State pay for its lackluster tackling.
Getting the ball in playmakers’ hands is the objective of this offense, and those three guys have shown what they can do with the ball in their hands. Toudle, Pennix and Person should see their pass-catching roles grow moving forward.
Running game shows signs of life
After putting up a miserable 1.8 yards per carry last week, we saw improvement Saturday at a sack-adjusted 3 YPC — led by sophomore running back Zonovan Knight’s 75 yards on 4.2 YPC. It’s nothing to praise, but it’s worth continuing to keep an eye on. This offense will continue to be pass-first, but it’s seeing more and more success with runs off the edge and GT counters to the right side.
Devon Betty emerging
Only three linebackers played for NC State Saturday, as freshman Devon Betty got the start at weak-side with redshirt sophomore Drake Thomas and redshirt junior Vi Jones. Doeren said Monday that the coaching staff was looking to get more production at WILL and it certainly did, as Betty was the team’s second leading tackler. The Florida product had seven tackles, two TFLs and a hurry, and likely secured himself a starting role moving forward.
Third down defense
After a couple of rough weeks, NC State’s defense had one of its strongest third down performances of the season in Tallahassee, Florida. It held the Seminoles to 2 of 16 on such downs, improving it to third best in the country in getting off the field. Much of that can be attributed to the Wolfpack’s ability to get to the quarterback. McKenzie Milton was sacked three times and hurried on five other occasions, giving the secondary the leg up it needed in coverage.
For NC State to beat No. 9 Wake Forest, the defense needs a repeat performance Saturday.
Special teams a mixed bag
This takeaways piece is quickly becoming your weekly reminder that junior punter Trenton Gill is great at what he does, and it will continue to do so if he keeps having performances like Saturday’s: eight punts, five of which were downed in the 20, 45.2 yard average, and a long of 60 yards. The eye test shows, and stats also back up, that NC State has the best punter in the ACC.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a clean day for the special teams unit. Coming out of the half, NC State gave up a surprise onside kick recovery, one of the only stains on its performance. That recovery led to a touchdown, and while NC State responded well, that’s not a position it needs to put itself in again.
