NC State Needs Downfield Passing

Through five games, NC State has had a hard time coming by big plays through the vertical passing game.  Before the Louisville game, this wasn’t a huge concern as the Pack appeared to be content playing “vanilla” offense, and racking up huge numbers on the ground.

That all changed Saturday.  Louisville is a fast athletic team who gambles and will sell out to stop the run, and dare you to challenge their secondary.  Whether it was due to poor throws, poor protection, or poor play calling, the NC State offense just wasn’t up to that challenge.

This was probably the first game all season in which NC State took multiple shots deep downfield, but for a variety of reasons, nothing came from it.

1. The O-Line couldn’t give enough time.

There were multiple instances where Rankins, or one of Louisville’s blitzing Linebackers came free through the middle, and got to QB Jacoby Brissett just as he had completed his drop.  Brissett throws only an average long ball already, so adding any degree of difficulty only exacerbates the problem.

2. Brissett Was Not Accurate

Its hard to criticize Jacoby.  By all accounts he is a fantastic leader, and for the most part he has been a rock for the team, but during the 4th quarter he looked shaky.  Every throw seemed to be one hopped to the receiver. There were multiple times where WR Nyheim Hines got a step on his man, only to be under or overthrown.  It isn’t really time to be too concerned about this yet, but if this trend continues into next week, it might be.

3. Check Downs need to be check downs.

Matt Dayes and Jaylen Samuels are fantastic weapons, I get it, I really do.  I would even acknowledge that they need to get more touches in a game.  But when a passing play is dialed up, it seems as if Brissett only gives the wideouts a brief check before checking down to the flats.  Primary routes are named that for a reason.  On one play Maurice Trowell had about 10 yards of separation, and would have scored an easy TD had he gotten the ball. Brissett chose to instead pass the ball to Jaylen Samuels.  The play resulted in a big gain, but the drive didn’t result in points.

Where does it go from here?

If NC State wants to be a high scoring team, it is going to have to mix in some long passes. While they may have been able to manhandle inferior teams with the run, they just can’t do that versus ACC competition.  Simply put, the line needs to give a little more time, Brissett needs to be a little more accurate, and our wideouts need a few more chances.