NC State 16 Syracuse 10: OUR TAKE

NC State beat Syracuse 16-10 last night in a defensive battle, which is the complete opposite of the shootout that took place in the Carrier Dome last year.

The Wolfpack D showed tremendous heart and resiliency.

They were without Senior Captain Cornerback Nick McCloud once again. They lost Junior Cornerback Chris Ingram during the game, in what looked to be a serious injury. Graduate Redshirt Senior Defensive End James Smith-Williams and Redshirt Junior Defensive Tackle Val Martin were both dinged up during the game, but were able to return.

Despite all of that, NC State’s defense held Syracuse to 341 yards of Total Offense, 41 yards rushing (1.1 yards per carry) and 10 points on the scoreboard. Since the beginning of the 2018 season, only two other teams have held the Orange to 341 yards of Total Offense or less: Clemson and Notre Dame.

Junior Linebacker Louis Acceus had the game of his life, setting career highs in tackles (14), tackles for loss (3) and sacks (3). It goes without saying that he led the Wolfpack in each category last night. His partner in crime, Redshirt Sophomore Isaiah Moore also had double-digit tackles, bringing down 10 Orangemen.

As a unit, NC State sacked Tommy DeVito 8 times, marking the 2nd straight game with 8 sacks. The 16 combined sacks over the past two games set a school record for sacks in consecutive games (previous record 14 – 1982). The Wolfpack also stacked up 11 tackles for loss.

After earning ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week his last time out for his 3.5 sack performance against FSU, Redshirt Senior Defensive Tackle Larrell Muchison followed it up with an impressive encore. Murchison sacked DeVito twice, including what ended up being a walk-off sack to end the game.

Sophomore Alim McNeil showed how special he can be, finishing the night with 6 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and 1 sack.

The Wolfpack secondary could head up to Boston next week without their two starting cornerbacks. If that’s the case, this aggressive pass rush by the Wolfpack will need to continue, to help take the pressure off of the secondary.

While the defense showed they might be evolving into one of the better units in the conference, the offense is still trying to figure out who they are.

They settled for field goals inside the 30-yard line 3 times, with two of them coming from in the red zone, and 1 inside the 10. As good as the defense was, they won’t always be able to bail the offense out if they continue to settle for field goals.

After struggling to get the ball in the end zone, Redshirt Sophomore Wide Receiver Thayer Thomas threw his 2nd touchdown of the season, a 32-yard pass to Redshirt Freshman Running Back Trent Pennix. For perspective, Redshirt Sophomore Matt McKay threw 3 touchdowns in 5 starts, and Redshirt Sophomore Bailey Hockman has thrown 1 in a game-and-a-half of play.

Hockman started his first career game, completing 16 of 27 for 205 yards with no touchdowns (1 interception), for a passing efficiency rating of 115.6. While he wasn’t perfect by any means, there’s no doubt in my mind that Hockman has already proven that he is the superior quarterback to McKay.

With that being said, Redshirt Freshman Devin Leary had one drive, and it was enough to keep Wolfpack fans in a tizzy, dying to know if he is the best option. His pass to Thayer Thomas might have been the best throw by an NC State Quarterback in 2019.

Hockman reminded fans last night that a football can in fact be thrown further than 20 yards, connecting with Devin Carter and Emeka Emezie on deep balls. His tenacity and athleticism helped him make a few plays out of nothing. At times he would lock on one specific target, but showed the ability to check down as well. He still needs to see the field better, make better decisions, and throw with a little more touch, but he managed to walk off the field with a victory in his first career start in an Atlantic Division battle.