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Wolfpack Mauled by FSU 49-17

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NC State was no match for #2 Florida State on Saturday as they were romped 49-17.

To be honest, the final score is even a little forgiving to the Pack, who was down 42-0 in the first half. Luckily, FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher pulled the Seminole starters only one series into the second half. That is when NC State started to get things going.

A recap of this game won’t really do you any good. It was a ton of Florida State and barely any NC State highlights. Pack QB Brandon Mitchell, who was coming off of a broken foot, looked nervous, rattled and rushed, while FSU QB and Heisman hopeful Jameis Winston was on fire from the get go.

It was literally all FSU until they pulled their first string. At that point it was already 42-0 and the game was well in hand. After that, there was a lone bright spot for NC State. Shadrach Thornton rushed for 173 yards and 2 TDs (most of which came in the 2nd half). He looked quick, strong and seemed to have his burst back against FSU’s 2nd team.

So, Pack fans, let’s just wipe this one away. There really isn’t much to learn here. This was maybe the top team in the nation and State is still trying to find out who they really are. The real prize can be had next weekend when State takes on rival UNC at 12:30pm at Carter-Finley.
Postgame Quotes

Dave Doren
Head Coach, NC State

“Obviously really disappointed in the start of the game. We put our defense in the opposite position we wanted to
with the turnovers and they did a good job maximizing those opportunities with the short fields and that was the
opposite of what we wanted to do. We thought we could run the football which we were able to do in the second
half and try to keep the ball away from an offense which we could not do early on. They are a good football team;
we made it easier than we needed to early on. I think Brandon’s (Mitchell) first game back obviously didn’t start
the way he wanted to and he pressed a little bit, tried to make too many plays then settled down and started to play
better as the game went on.”

Can Florida State compete for a national championship…
“Yea, I said that to Jimbo (Fisher) afterwards – go win the whole thing. He’s got a quarterback playing at a high
level, their offensive line is protecting him, their receivers make plays, they have good backs, their defense is
playing at a high level. They are not missing anything ingredient-wise. They’ve got a lot of good things going right
now for them.”

Is Jameis Winston as good as advertised…
“Yea, going into the game everybody has been bragging about him all week and it’s well deserved. He’s accurate,
he’s got good players, they run a good scheme, they protect him … that’s what I told our guys in there – that’s what
a championship team looks like. They played well in all of their phases of the game – we need to aspire to play
better and play like that.”

Do you take anything out of outscoring them for the final three quarters…
“I challenged our guys to win the second half. I know they had their back-ups in at some point in there but until the
last reverse they ran for a touchdown I felt like we played a good half defensively. We did some better things on
offense, we had had some explosive plays, it was obviously a much better performance after the first quarter.”

Did Florida State’s fake punt throw you off …
“No, I’m just mad we didn’t stop it. We had a guy there and we missed the tackle. We were in a sound defense
right there. We actually had an extra guy to that side and didn’t make the play.”

On Shadrach Thornton’s performance…
“He’s just been really steady for about four weeks. He’s practiced really hard. He’s been focused. I knew this was
going to be a big day for him if we blocked what we said we were going to block and we did. When you are a
consistent guy in practice, you show up and you are the same guy every day, then you are going to continue to get
better and better and better, and that’s what he has done for the last month.”

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NC State Football

NC State DB Cecil Powell Enters the Transfer Portal

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NC State Redshirt Junior Defensive Back Cecil Powell just announced he is entering the Transfer Portal.

Powell played in 12 games this season, but in 7 of those games, he strictly played on Special Teams. In the 5 games he played on defense, he logged 5 tackles in 43 snaps.

He missed the past two seasons due to injury after playing a significant role in 2020, when he started 5 games and played 497 snaps. In that year, he had 47 tackles, and 4 pass breakups.

In 2019, his first season at NC State, Powell played Cornerback…then Wide Receiver…then Cornerback again, logging 95 snaps in 4 games from the line of scrimmage (he did play in 7 other games on Special Teams).

Powell was listed as Robert Kennedy III’s backup at Nickelback this season. He has 2 more years of eligibility.

NC State has had 19 players enter the Transfer Portal

WR Christopher Scott
OL Jaleel Davis
WR Josh Crabtree
OL Lyndon Cooper
WR Terrell Timmons
LB Torren Wright
NT C.J. Clark
QB MJ Morris
S Jakeen Harris
TE Cedd Seabrough
WR Porter Rooks
DB Nate Evans
LB Daejuan Thompson
RB Jordan Houston
RB Michael Allen
DB Darius Edmundson
WR Anthony Smith
TE Christopher Toudle

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NC State’s Payton Wilson Earns USA Today All-American 1st Team Honors

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The honors keep rolling in, and I don’t expect them to stop. NC State Linebacker was named to the USA Today All-American 1st Team yesterday.

First team

Offense
QB: Jayden Daniels, LSU
RB: Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State
RB: Cody Schrader, Missouri
WR: Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State
WR: Malik Nabers, LSU
TE: Brock Bowers, Georgia
OL: Olumuyiwa Fashanu, Penn State
OL: Zak Zinter, Michigan
OL: Jackson Powers-Johnson, Oregon
OL: Cooper Beebe, Kansas State
OL: Joe Alt, Notre Dame

Defense
DL: Laiatu Latu, UCLA
DL: Jer’Zhan Newton, Illinois
DL: T’Vondre Sweat, Texas
DL: Jalen Green, James Madison
LB: Payton Wilson, North Carolina State
LB: Dallas Turner, Alabama
LB: Jay Higgins, Iowa
CB: Cooper DeJean, Iowa
CB: Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama
S: Malaki Starks, Georgia
S: Xavier Watts, Notre Dame

Specialists
K: Graham Nicholson, Miami (Ohio)
P: Tory Taylor, Iowa
RET: Zachariah Branch, Southern California
ALL-PURPOSE: Ashton Jeanty, Boise State

(USAToday)

Wilson was also named to PFF and CBS’ All-American 1st Teams. Also, last night he won the Butkus Award, given annually to the best Linebacker in college football.

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NC State’s Payton Wilson Wins the Butkus Award

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NC State Linebacker Payton Wilson was named the winner of the 2023 Butkus Award tonight. The Butkus Award has been awarded to the best Linebacker in college football since 1985.

Wilson beat the following finalists:

Ty’Ron Hopper, Missouri
Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Clemson
Edefuan Ulofoshio, Washington
Nathaniel Watson, Mississippi State

Wilson becomes the first player in NC State history to win the Butkus Award. Levar Fisher was a semifinalist in 2001.

Wilson eclipsed the 400-career tackle mark in the final week of the regular season, just one of five active FBS players to achieve the feat. Throughout his storied career for the Wolfpack, Wilson has accumulated stats that rank him inside the top 10 of active FBS players in total tackles, tackles per game, solo tackles, solo tackles per game, assisted tackles, assisted tackles-for-loss, total tackles-for-loss, and tackles-for-loss per game.  

Wilson leads the conference and ranks fifth nationally this season with 138 tackles and an average of 11.5 tackles per game and has tallied the most total tackles for a Wolfpack player in a single season since Earl Wolff had 145 in 2012. (ACC)

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NC State’s Payton Wilson Named 1st Team All-American by CBS & PFF

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Expect these to be the first of many. NC State Linebacker Payton Wilson was named 1st Team All-American by CBS and ProFootballFocus.

CBS

PFF

QUARTERBACK: JAYDEN DANIELS, LSU TIGERS

Second Team: Bo Nix, Oregon Ducks

RUNNING BACK: OLLIE GORDON II, OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS

Second Team: Audric Estime, Notre Dame Fighting Irish

WIDE RECEIVER: MALIK NABERS, LSU TIGERS

Second Team: Luther Burden III, Missouri Tigers

WIDE RECEIVER: ROME ODUNZE, WASHINGTON HUSKIES

Second Team: Malik Washington, Virginia Cavaliers

WIDE RECEIVER: MARVIN HARRISON JR., OHIO STATE BUCKEYES

Second Team: Troy Franklin, Oregon Ducks

TIGHT END: BROCK BOWERS, GEORGIA BULLDOGS

Second Team: Ben Sinnott, Kansas State Wildcats

LEFT TACKLE: JOE ALT, NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH

Second Team: Javon Foster, Missouri Tigers

LEFT GUARD: COOPER BEEBE, KANSAS STATE WILDCATS

Second Team: Clay Webb, Jacksonville State Gamecocks

CENTER: JACKSON POWERS-JOHNSON, OREGON DUCKS

Second Team: Sedrick Van Pan, Georgia Bulldogs

RIGHT GUARD: CHRISTIAN HAYNES, UCONN HUSKIES

Second Team: Tate Ratledge, Georgia Bulldogs

RIGHT TACKLE: TALIESE FUAGA, OREGON STATE BEAVERS

Second Team: JC Latham, Alabama Crimson Tide

INTERIOR DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: T’VONDRE SWEAT, TEXAS LONGHORNS

Second Team: Byron Murphy II, Texas Longhorns

INTERIOR DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: JER’ZHAN NEWTON, ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI

Second Team: Howard Cross III, Notre Dame Fighting Irish

EDGE DEFENDER: LAIATU LATU, UCLA BRUINS

Second Team: Chop Robinson, Penn State Nittany Lions

EDGE DEFENDER: BRALEN TRICE, WASHINGTON HUSKIES

Second Team: Ashton Gillotte, Louisville Cardinals

LINEBACKER: PAYTON WILSON, NC STATE WOLFPACK

Second Team: Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Clemson Tigers

Wilson was the second-most valuable linebacker in the nation this year according to PFF’s wins above-average metric. His 21 tackles for loss/no-gain were tied for the most among all linebackers in the Power Five, as were his three interceptions.

LINEBACKER: EDGERRIN COOPER, TEXAS A&M AGGIES

Second Team: Edefuan Ulofoshio, Washington Huskies

CORNERBACK: KOOL-AID MCKINSTRY, ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

Second Team: Quinyon Mitchell, Toledo Rockets

CORNERBACK: SEBASTIAN CASTRO, IOWA HAWKEYES

Second Team: Terrion Arnold, Alabama Crimson Tide

SAFETY: TYLER NUBIN, MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS

Second Team: Malaki Starks, Georgia Bulldogs

SAFETY: CALEB DOWNS, ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

Second Team: Dillon Thieneman, Purdue Boilermakers

FLEX-D: KITAN OLADAPO, OREGON STATE BEAVERS

Second Team: Kris Abrams-Draine, Missouri Tigers

KICKER: JOSHUA KARTY, STANFORD CARDINAL

Second Team: Andres Borregales, Miami (FL) Hurricanes

PUNTER: JAMES BURNIP, ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

Second Team: Tory Taylor, Iowa Hawkeyes

RETURN SPECIALIST: ZACHARIAH BRANCH, USC TROJANS

Second Team: Xavier Worthy, Texas Longhorns

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