NC State 27 Texas Tech 14: Notes, Thoughts and Tidbits

#16 NC State improved to 3-0 yesterday, defeating Texas Tech in Carter-Finley Stadium. Here are some Notes, Thoughts and Tidbits on the Wolfpack victory.

• The victory was the 12th in a row at Carter-Finley Stadium. The streak is the 5th longest home winning streak, and the 2nd longest in school history. The longest winning streak at home is 16 games (1972-75).
• The W was the 2nd victory over a Non-ACC Power 5 opponent at home in the Dave Doeren era, and the first since the Wolfpack defeated Notre Dame 10-3 in 2016.
• Thayer Thomas had 4 receptions, moving him into a tie with Jakobi Meyers for 6th all-time in school history.
  • He also had 30 yards receiving, which propelled him past T.J. Williams, Jakobi Meyers and Mike Quick, moving him into 8th place in school history in career receiving yards (1,944).
• Though the Red Raiders had more Total Yards (353/270) and 1st Downs (20/15), NC State won the Turnover battle (4/1) and the Time of Possession battle (33:04/25:33).
  • Despite the fact that TT had 83 more yards of Total Offense, NC State should have had at least 11 more points on the board. If Demie Sumo doesn’t fumble on the goal line, and Anthon Belton doesn’t negate a trick play touchdown by getting flagged as an ineligible receiver down field, the score would have looked much more decisive.
• The Wolfpack had 9 penalties (74 yards), compared to Texas Tech’s 7 (69 yards). This has to improve.
• Redshirt Junior Linebacker Payton Wilson led the team with 10 tackles. The last time Wilson played a game from start-to-finish, was against Syracuse on November 28th, 2020.
• Redshirt Junior Devin Leary has looked a bit out of sync against ECU and Texas Tech. His Passing Efficiency Rating against the Red Raiders was 109.4. His Rating in 2021 was 157.0.
• Redshirt Junior Devin Carter didn’t catch a single pass in the game. This simply can’t happen as this season continues to progress. 121 yards passing in the game isn’t going to get it done.
• The Wolfpack defense held a potent Texas Tech offense to well below their season averages. They came in averaging 48 points per game, and were held to 14. They came in averaging 536.5 yards per game, and were held to 353. They came in averaging 411.5 yards through the air (#1 in the nation), and held them to 299.