NC State 48 Marshall 41: Initial Thoughts

Some initial thoughts from NC State’s 48-41 win over Marshall.

• NC State scored 48 points.
  • The offensive play calling looked closer to the creative and explosive offense we expected to get with the arrival of Robert Anae as Offensive Coordinator.
• MJ Morris could have easily lost his composure, instead, he held it together, leading the Wolfpack to a dramatic victory. He was 1 for 7 for 17 yards, with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions in the 1st Quarter.
  • He ended up throwing 3 interceptions. 2 of them were tipped. Quite a few balls went through receivers hands. He was off on quite a few.
  • Despite all of that, he finished the game with 265 yards passing, 4 touchdowns, and a Passing Efficiency Rating of 145.2.
• Marshall scored 41 points.
  • That wasn’t what I expected to happen today.
  • With that being said, 7 of those came off of a Pick-Six.
  • 7 of them came off of an interception that gave the Herd the ball on NC State’s 29 yard line.
  • Regardless, I didn’t expect NC State’s defense to give up 419 yards to Marshall.
  • It was good to see NC State to create 3 turnovers.
• Payton Wilson had 14 tackles.
  • That’s tied for the 2nd most in his career.
  • It’s the most tackles since he tallied 19 against Duke in 2020.
• Kevin Concepcion is special.
  • 8 receptions for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns.
  • They found a way to get the ball in his hands, in as many ways as possible. He was targeted 14 times. That’s what you do with a playmaker.
• Trent Pennix had 3 receptions for 99 yard and 2 touchdowns.
  • This is what people expected in the preseason. It was expected that Pennix would be a weapon in a Robert Anae offense.
• What a classless thing for NC State fans to do, booing Brennan Armstrong.
• EXPLOSIVE
  • NC State had 5 plays of 35+ yards.