Examining the Pack’s 46-34 Win Over ODU

Ok, so once again State was in a barn-burner with a team they really should be walking all over. I know a win is a win but at this point we need to start really digging in and seeing what’s going right and what’s going wrong with this team. The big boys are only 3 weeks away and if the Pack wants any shot against them they’ll need to fix their problems pretty quickly. With that said, let’s look at how this game went…

– State’s defense is looking slow, soft and confused. So far they’ve given up a total of 943 yards over their first 2 games. Now you can hype of Georgia Southern and talk about all the misdirection from their triple option or you can talk about how ODU has a senior QB who’s put up some pretty good numbers in the past. At the end of the day this is Georgia Southern and ODU. You are NC State, an ACC school with magnificent facilities and a lot of exposure. The point it, State’s defense needs to, and should be better. I know they are still young and this system is still somewhat new to most of them, but honestly, all eyes are on this group. They are group that’s going to make or break this season for NC State. The Monarchs pretty much had their way with State on Saturday. They put up 34 points and seemed in control for a lot of the first half. The Wolfpack secondary allowed ODU QB Taylor Heinicke to throw for 274 yds and 2 TDs while the team rushed for another 196 yds and 3 TDs. Unacceptable.

– On the other hand, the offense seemed to click on all cylinders. We saw what State was capable of during their comeback over Georgia Southern 2 weeks ago and they simply carried that over into this week. As we expected, Doeren went with a healthy dose of Shadrach Thornton and it paid off. The Jr. RB ran for 86 yds on 14 carries and hit pay dirt 3 times. (lingo lesson: Pay dirt is a common football term used for touchdown that originated during the California gold rush years. Miners would dig until they hit gold, which was the dirt that paid.) Brissett also carried over his performance and went 21-29 for 253yds and 2 TDs. He has still yet to throw an interception. While Brissett really spread the ball out, it was freshman Bo Hines who led the team in receptions once again, catching 4 balls for 61` yards.

– Establishing a running game was big. I think the ability to be productive on the ground really helped State move the ball on Saturday and will be big when they start facing faster, stronger D’s. Thornton is really running with a chip on his shoulder and Matt Dayes is proving to be a nice addition as well. Dayes also got 13 carries and went for 79 yards, so it wasn’t just Shadrach doing the damage. Where Dayes is the most dangerous right now however is in the passing game. For the second game he caught a TD out of the backfield. Coming into the season I pegged the run game as a question mark for State, and while there is a lot of season to play, so far it’s been pretty good.

– Brissett is as advertised. Another great performance from the Florida transfer. He’s been accurate, smart with the football and a good leader in the huddle. No complaint here.

– The wideouts have been actually a pretty pleasant surprise. Most didn’t really know what to expect here, but with Bo Hines really emerging as a true #1 receiver, Brissett looks like he has some pretty good options. It seems as if Valdes-Scantling is still building chemistry, but should slot in as the #2 here. So where is Bryan Underwood in this discussion? Good questions. The senior WR still doesn’t have a catch and had one carry on Saturday for 10 yards. I think everyone expected to have a little more production from him at this point.

– Up next is South Florida who just came real close to beating Maryland. Doeren and his defense are going to have to do some soul searching if they want to finish this non-conference schedule unscathed.