NC State 49 ODU 22: What Went Wrong?

NC State defeated Old Dominion 49-22 last night, to improve to 2-1 on the season. Here are some of the things that the Wolfpack didn’t do well.

• The NC State defense allowed Old Dominion to accumulate 321 yards of total offense. I don’t want to take anything away from Old Dominion, but the Wolfpack doesn’t have any business allowing them to move the ball down the field this much. I don’t care that a big chunk of these yards came in the 4th quarter.
• ODU QB David Washington entered the game completing 50% of his passes. He managed to complete 61.5% of his passes against the Wolfpack with a passing efficiency of 151.5.
• One of two things have to happen. Either our defensive line needs to put more pressure on the quarterback, or cornerbacks Mike Stevens and Jack Tocho need to step their game up. On numerous occasions Stevens and Tocho were unable to handle the Monarch’s wide receiver’s. WR Zach Paschal had his way with the Wolfpack, collecting 8 reception for 104 yards and two touchdowns.
• RB Matt Dayes didn’t rush for over 100 yards. Is it fair for me to consider this something that went wrong? He rushed 14 times for 71 yards (5.1 yards per carry), but also caught 4 passes for 49 yards. Dayes also had an uncharacteristic fumble.
• TE Jaylen Samuels came up limping after a play, and the medical staff was taping his foot. Thankfully NC State has a bye next weekend. We do not know the extent of Samuels’ injury at this point.
• Bra’Lon Cherry had an electric punt return for a touchdown that was called back because of a block in the back penalty. A penalty like that didn’t cost us the game against ODU, but it might against many other teams on the rest of the schedule.