NC State picked up a STATEment victory over Arizona St. today in the Sun Bowl, defeating the Sun Devils 52-31 in El Paso. The 51 points is the second highest point total the Wolfpack has ever scored in their 31 bowl games.

The Wolfpack offense was a force to be reckoned with, punting only once all game long. Their balanced attack tipped the time of possession ticker in their favor by roughly 10 minutes.

Junior running back Nyheim Hines rushed for 3 touchdowns in the 1st half, tying Stan Frits NC State record for rushing touchdowns in a bowl game (1974).

With 1 minute left in the 1st half, Wolfpack quarterback Ryan Finley connected with Jakobi Meyers for a 25-yard touchdown, giving NC State a 28-10 lead at the half. Meyers finished the game with a team high 7 receptions for 76 yards (tied with Jaylen Samuels who also had 7 receptions).

Wide receiver Steph Louis has been lost in the shuffle the second half of the season, due to an injury, and the emergence of Jakobi Meyers. He reminded everyone that he is still a very dangerous receiving threat today. In the first half, Louis had 3 receptions for 115 yards. All three receptions were for over 25 yards (25, 40 and 50).

Shortly into the third quarter, Kyle Bambard connected on a 26-yard field goal (yes, you read that right!) increasing NC State’s lead to 21 points, 31-10.

Nyheim Hines is the face of NC State’s rushing attack, but Reggie Gallaspy wanted to make sure that no one forgot about him today. I mean, they are “thunder and lightning.” Gallaspy exploded for a 23-yard touchdown run at the beginning of the 4th quarter, increasing NC State’s lead to 38-10. Gallaspy actually led the Wolfpack in rushing today, racking up 78 yards on only 12 carries, along with 2 touchdowns.

You know it’s going to be an interesting game when your opponent kicks 4 onside kicks, and that’s exactly what Arizona State did. They were only successful on 1 of them, but that one made the game interesting. As a result, Sun Devils quarterback Manny Wilkins connected with Kyle Williams for a 19-yard touchdown, giving ASU 14 unanswered points, and only a 14-point deficit with roughly 9 minutes left.

The drama didn’t last long, with NC State responding with a roughly 5-minute drive that ended in a 2-yard Jaylen Samuels touchdown, putting the Pack back up by 21.

Each team scored once again, but NC State was able to not only cover the spread of 5 points, but convincingly beat Arizona St. 52-31.

Ryan Finley’s performance was sneaky amazing. He quietly completed 24 of his 29 pass attempts (83%) for 318 yards and a touchdowns.

Jaylen Samuels needed 6 receptions to break Jerricho Cotchery’s record for career receptions at NC State, and JaySam picked up 7 for 46 yards.

The Wolfpack won the turnover battle 4-1, picking off Wilkins 3 times (Airius Moore, Nick McCloud, and Jarius Moorehead).

NC State entered the game ranked 24th in the final college football playoff poll, and ensured they will finish the season ranked in the Top-25 for the first time since the conclusion of the 2002 season.

The Wolfpack dominated the Sun Devils from the kickoff till the final second ticked off the clock, and that is very impressive considering the fact that Bradley Chubb, Tony Adams and Mike Stevens didn’t play.

NC State finished with a 9-4 record, becoming only the 11th team in school history to win 9 games in a season.

Only 8.8% of the football teams in NC State history have won 9 games. I’d say today confirms things are continuing to move in the right direction.