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On Saturday night, the NC State defense gave up 305 yards to the Troy Trojans, and allowed them to put 21 points on the board.  I’m not going to make excuses for the defense, but it is worth noting that 157 of those yards were from 4 big plays.  That’s 51% of Troy’s total yards.  (The 4 plays are all in the video at the bottom.)

Two of those plays were runs by Brandon Burks and the other two were receptions by Bryan Holmes.

Let’s look at Brandon Burks’ two big plays first.  Burks had a 30-yard run that led to a Troy score at the end of the first half, and then busted loose for a 57-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.  On the 30-yard run at the end of the first half, a Troy defender was holding NC State Nickel Dravious Wright, begging for the referee to throw a flag.  Burks should have been brought down earlier, but Linebacker Jerod Fernandez was slow in making a read, because he was blocked by a double-team on Defensive Tackle Kentavius Street.  On the 57-yard touchdown run, Defensive End Mike Rose and Nickel Dravious Wright miss-fit the play, and Safety Josh Jones was completely out of position.  If you take away those two runs, he had 12 carries for 37 yards, for an average of 3.01 yards per carry.  Troy averaged 4.8 yards per carry on Saturday, which is an eyesore on the Wolfpack stat sheet, but if you take out those two runs, the Trojans would have averaged 1.48 yards per carry.

Now let’s look at Holmes’ two big plays.  Holmes had two big catches of 33 and 37 yards.  For what it’s worth, each of these plays had two things in common: Brandon Silver threw a perfect pass and Bryan Holmes made an incredible catch.  Holmes was covered by Wolfpack cornerback Jack Tocho on each of these plays, and they both came in the first half.  The first was 33-yard strike on the sideline, that led to a Troy touchdown.  Tocho couldn’t have been in much better coverage, and even managed to get his hand up, but not high enough.  If he would have gotten his inside hand up, it could have been a different story.  The other one was a 37-yard touchdown pass that Silver laid perfectly over the shoulder of Holmes.  Truth be told, Tocho was adjusting and playing catch up on this play, tackling him as he caught it in the end zone.  If you take away those two plays, Silvers still would have completed 10 of his 14 passes, but he would have only been good for 79 yards.

You obviously can’t take away these 4 big plays, or ignore them as if they don’t count.  They absolutely do.  Games are won off of big “chunk” plays.  They change the momentum of the game.  In a matter of seconds, everything can change. NC State cannot afford to give up these types of big plays to Troy, or any other opponent.

With that being said, I don’t believe in this particular game that the defense was playing awful football outside of these four plays.  I don’t think there was anything distinctly impressive about any players individual performance, but as a unit, they did well consistently outside of these 4 big plays.  They held Troy to a 3-and-out on 6 out of their 13 possessions.  NC State forced a turnover on two of the other possessions.

What I think the defense lacked was a spark that comes with players that lead with passion and energy.  Big time defenders make big time plays, and their passion and energy is contagious.  The Wolfpack will have to eliminate the big “chunk” plays going forward, and a passionate leader might be the recipe for success.

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Matthew is Publisher and Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He is also the Lead Pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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NC State Football

Congrats to NC State Football’s Spring Graduates!

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15 hours ago

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May 3, 2024

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Congratulations to the 7 NC State Football Players that just graduated this Spring.

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2024 Football Spring Graduates

Linebacker Devon Betty (1 year of eligibility)

Defensive End Davin Vann (1 year of eligibility)

Cornerback Aydan White (1 year of eligibility)

Offensive Guard Anthony Carter Jr. (2 years of eligibility)

Offensive Lineman Matt McCabe (2 years of eligibility)

Offensive Tackle Patrick Matan (2 years of eligibility)

Offensive Lineman Brendan Lawson (no longer on the roster)

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NC State Football

Proposed Bill in the NC House Would Require NC State & UNC To Play One Another, as well as ECU, UNCC and App St.

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23 hours ago

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May 3, 2024

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A bill has been proposed by members of the North Carolina House of Representatives that would force NC State and UNC to play one another, as well as East Carolina, UNC Charlotte and Appalachian State.

According to House Bill 965, which you can read here in full, NC State and UNC would be required to play one another annually in Football, Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball. The Wolfpack and the Tar Heels would also be forced to play a game annually in all three sports against either ECU, UNC-Charlotte or App St. Every six years, NC State and UNC would be required to have played a home and away game against each of the three school in all three sports.

Here’s the exact wording from the proposed bill:

Competition Required. – A high-enrollment institution shall do all of the following in each eligible sport: (1) Every academic year, play at least one home or one away game against (i) another high-enrollment institution and (ii) an eligible constituent institution that is not a high-enrollment institution. (2) Every six academic years, play at least one home and one away game against each eligible constituent institution that is not a high-enrollment institution. A high-enrollment institution shall alternate home and away games that are scheduled against the same eligible constituent institution that is not a high-enrollment institution.

For glossary of terms being referenced above:

For the purposes of this bill, “High-enrollment institutions” = NC State and UNC, while “Eligible constituent institutions” = East Carolina, UNC Charlotte and Appalachian State.

It’s worth noting that NC State already has games schedule against each of these teams home-and-away in Football between now and 2031.

2025 – East Carolina (H)

2025 – @ App St.

2026 – App St. (H)

2028 – @ East Carolina

2030 – Charlotte (H)

2031 – @ Charlotte

What are your thoughts?

For more details, check out this article at WRAL.

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NC State Football

Akron Safety Kerry Martin Jr. will Take an Official Visit at NC State Next Week

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2 days ago

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May 2, 2024

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Akron Safety Kerry Martin Jr. (6’1″/195) confirmed with me that he will be taking an Official Visit to NC State next week beginning on May 7th.

After receiving an offer from NC State yesterday, it didn’t take him long to set up the visit.

Martin Jr. is familiar with NC State, because he was recruited by Wolfpack Defensive Coordinator Tony Gibson before he left West Virginia to come to Raleigh. Even though he never coached him, a relationship was established.

Martin Jr.’s connections to NC State are deeper than that. Former NC State Cornerback Derrek Pitts, who is currently a member of the Tampa Bay Bucs, is his cousin.

This past year, Martin Jr. recorded 45 tackles, 2 interceptions and 6 pass breakups for Akron, starting in 9 of the 11 games he played in. His PFF Grade was 68.9.

In 2022, he had 53 tackles, 1 interception and 1 pass breakup, starting in 9 of the 11 games he played in. Martin Jr.’s PFF Grade was 60.9.

In 2019, as a Freshman for West Virginia, Martin Jr. earned PFF Freshman All-American honors, recording a grade of 70.6, with 50 tackles and 3 pass breakups.

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NC State Football

NC State Sits in the Top-20 in 247’s Post-Spring 2024 Preseason Poll

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2 days ago

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May 1, 2024

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247’s Brad Crawford released his Post-Spring 2024 Preseason College Football Top-25 recently, and NC State moved up 1 spot to #20.

ACC Teams in the Top-25

11. FSU

14. Miami

16. Clemson

20. NC State

24. Virginia Tech

25. Louisville

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