4 Reasons NC State Lost to Louisville 20-13

Yesterday NC State fell to Louisville 20-13 in their ACC opener, and since a loss can’t be attributed to one single thing, I am going to give you four reasons that the Wolfpack fell short.  You will notice that the four reasons are offensive, and that is because I believe they are more to blame in this loss, and I will have more to say about the defense later today.

Jacoby Brissett

After the game Brissett took a lot of the blame upon himself, and I think that was humble, but I also think it was accurate.  Yesterday’s performance was not the worst of his career, but it was easily his worst performance of 2015.  He completed 16 of 28 for 183 yards and a touchdown.  It doesn’t appear to be a horrific game statistically, but it is how Brissett threw the incompletions that give me pause.  You can blame an offensive coordinator or credit the defense all you want.  A lot of Brissett’s incompletions fall on him, and him alone.  They were either short, or deep, or in the dirt.

“There are some plays I know Jacoby would like to have back,” said Doeren. “He didn’t complete a couple that he would normally complete.  That’s not because of who we played.  We had guys open.”

Offensive Line

When Brissett had time in the pocket yesterday he missed plays that he normally makes, but the reality is he didn’t have time in the pocket a lot yesterday.  You can’t blame his incompletions on a play call when the player was open and the throw was poor, but you can look at the fact that the Louisville defensive line lived in the backfield yesterday.  The Wolfpack offensive line didn’t always give adequate time for Brissett, and they didn’t provide Matt Dayes with much to work with, in regards to running lanes.

Missed Opportunities

I don’t blame yesterday’s loss on the Wolfpack’s easy non-conference schedule.  I blame it on a failure to finish.  Three of NC State’s offensive possessions in the first half made it to the Louisville 40-yard line or beyond, and they walked away with zero points.  On the first, Jumichael Ramos fumbled on the 5-yard line.  On the second, the Wolfpack coaches decided to punt on 4th and 10 from the 33-yard line.  On the third, Brissett threw a 39-yard pass to Jaylen Samuels, moving the ball to the Cardinals 41-yard line.  The Wolfpack then lost three yards on the next three plays and punted from the 41-yard line.  You can’t get within the 40-yard line and walk away with no points three times in a game.  Well, you can, but you will probably lose.

Turnover Margin

NC State turned the ball over twice to Louisville, and the Cardinals did a perfect job of keeping the ball to themselves.  Jumichael Ramos fumbled the ball on the Louisville 5-yard line in the first quarter.  Had he not done so, NC State would have walked away with a touchdown or a field goal, which would have been the first points on the scoreboard.  Instead, the Wolfpack never had the lead a single time.  Matt Dayes fumbled right at midfield at about the halfway point in the third quarter.  NC State had the momentum at this point.  They had scored on a Jaylen Samuels touchdown two possessions’ before, and had held the Cardinals to two straight 3-and-out’s.  Dayes rushed for a gain of 7 and caught a pass for 9 yards before fumbling.  The Wolfpack were on their way down the field to possibly tie the game, but the wind was taken out from their sails.  Louisville scored 10 points off of NC State’s two turnovers.  The Wolfpack on the other hand scored zero points off of turnovers, because they failed to create any.