Clemson Exposes NC State Isn’t Ready for the Limelight

There’s still a lot of season left for NC State, but yesterday’s 41-7 loss to #3 Clemson was an embarrassment.

A loss can be swallowed. Covering the 17-point spread would have been acceptable.

After playing the Tigers close the past three years, to be throttled like that down in Death Valley is a significant step back for NC State.

Ryan Finley had one of the worst games of his career, posting a passing efficiency rating of 88.54. He couldn’t get in sync with his receivers. Finley has been able to be a little late on his throws against prior teams, and his receivers have bailed him out, but the Clemson secondary was too quick.

When Kelvin Harmon is targeted 6 times, and finishes the game with 2 receptions for 13 yards, it’s bound to be a blowout, and it was. Harmon didn’t thrive in the limelight, dropping what could have been a explosive play resulting in a touchdown, but he let it bobble off of his fingers and his face.

Honestly, the Wolfpack’s running back tandem of Reggie Gallaspy and Ricky Person was one of the only bright spots of the day. Gallaspy averaged 6.6 yards per carry, and Person averaged 4.5. On the other side of the ball, despite the fact that the Wolfpack defense gave up 41 points, they held Clemson running back Travis Etienne to 39 yards on 15 carries (2.6 yards per carry).

What looked effortless was Trevor Lawrence’s performance. He picked apart NC State’s secondary that seemed so fearful of giving up the big play, that they always had a 10-yard cushion between them and the receiver. Lawrence was 26 of 39 for 308 yards and 1 touchdown.

NC State posted a -2 turnover margin (NC State – 3/Clemson – 1), with two of those being Ryan Finley interceptions.

The Wolfpack converted only 15.4% of their third down opportunities, entering the game as the national leader in third down conversion. Clemson converted 53.3% of theirs.

Clemson had 471 yards of total offense. That’s not shocking in my opinion, or unexpected. They had 415 yards of total offense last year, and 495 in 2016. The difference was the anemic Wolfpack offense. NC State averaged 453 yards of total offense against Clemson the past two years, but settled for a measly 297 yesterday in Death Valley.

There are still 6 regular season games left, and all of them are winnable. NC State still has the chance to finish with the most regular season wins in school history. It still has the makings of a very special season, but this loss left a very sour taste in the mouths of Wolfpack fans.

NC State was unprepared to play the game on so many levels, and that is unacceptable, and Dave Doeren took the blame after the game, as well he should have.