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NC State Looked Like They Didn’t Belong in Meltdown Against Tennessee

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4 weeks ago

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Tonight, #24 NC State was embarrassed on national television, getting trounced by #14 Tennessee 51-10.

Seven of the Wolfpack’s 10 points came off of an interception returned for a touchdown, which means NC State didn’t score a single offensive touchdown in the contest.

With 3:29 left in the first half, NC State was on the Tennessee 16-yard line, and Redshirt Senior Quarterback Grayson McCall’s pass to Junior Tight End Justin Joly was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. The Wolfpack was primed for a chance to tie the game 10-10 going into the half, or at least make it a 4-point game. Instead, NC State went into the half trailing 20-3.

It’s not that things were going extremely well prior to that moment, but what followed after it was nothing short of disastrous.

The Wolfpack’s first 4 drives in the 2nd half all resulted in turnovers, with McCall losing two fumbles, failing to convert on a 4th and 1 QB Sneak and failing to convert on a 4th and 1 pass to Joly.

All the while, the Volunteers continued to effortlessly put points on the board.

The betting spread of the game continued to rise as this past week progressed, and by the time kickoff arrived, the spread was Tennessee by 13.5. A 41-point margin of victory was more than enough to cover.

The Volunteer defense held NC State to a pitiful 39 yards rushing, averaging 1.4 yards per carry. Tennessee had 13 tackles for loss in the game. Their Offensive Line was equally impressive, leading the Vols to a 249 yard rushing performance.

Genuinely, Tennessee exposed NC State tonight. The disparity on display this evening was impossible to miss.

Of course, there is still plenty for this NC State football program to play for. This was only Game 2, and no matter how bad you get killed in a loss, it still just equals 1 loss.

This wasn’t an ACC game. NC State is still 0-0 in conference play, meaning if they get their act together, they can still attain the goals they set out to achieve at the beginning of the season.

With that being said, those dreams are looking lofty after the first two weeks of the 2024 season. NC State struggled against Western Carolina in Week 1, who proceeded to lose to Campbell 24-16 today, and they were pummeled by Tennessee this evening.

I didn’t expect NC State to beat the Volunteers today. I didn’t even expect them to cover the spread. I did expect them to not lose by 41 points, and look like a Group of 5 school.

A lot of people gave a lot of money to NC State’s NIL collective this offseason to see a different brand of football. With all of the players that were added this offseason, the return on investment isn’t evident through 2 weeks.

The Wolfpack have found ways through Doeren’s tenure to turn lemons into lemonade, and they have the opportunity to do so again in 2024. They get to play with a chip on their shoulder again, and prove the doubters wrong.

Unfortunately, NC State fans are tired of embracing the chip on the shoulder mentality.

 

 

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Matthew is Publisher and Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He is also the Lead Pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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Laclasee45
Laclasee45
26 days ago

Nice

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Howler
Howler
29 days ago

Agreed.

And as for Dave, culture alone can’t make up for mediocre recruiting.

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NC State Football

NC State vs. WFU: Defensive PFF Grades Report

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48 mins ago

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October 7, 2024

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NC State lost to Wake Forest 30-34 on Saturday in Carter-Finley Stadium. Here’s a PFF Grade Report for the Wolfpack Defense in Week 6.

Redshirt Freshman Nickel Tamarcus Cooley – 77.8
Senior Safety Bishop Fitzgerald – 77.3
Senior Defensive End Davin Vann – 69.6
Redshirt Junior Safety Rente Hinton – 69.3
Junior Nose Tackle Brandon Cleveland – 69.0
Redshirt Junior Defensive End Travali Price – 67.9
Senior Linebacker Devon Betty – 65.9
Redshirt Freshman Defensive End Isaiah Shirley – 65.7
Senior Cornerback Aydan White – 61.9
Senior Nose Tackle Chazz Wallace – 61.4
Senior Safety DK Kaufman – 61.3
Redshirt Freshman Linebacker Kamal Bonner – 58.9
Redshirt Senior Defensive End Noah Potter – 58.9
Redshirt Junior Linebacker Caden Fordham – 55.2
Redshirt Junior Linebacker Sean Brown – 54.9
Junior Cornerback Devon Marshall – 48.8
Senior Nickel Ja’Had Carter – 44.1
Redshirt Senior Safety Kerry Martin Jr. – 42.1

Notes

  • Tamarcus Cooley started for the 2nd straight week at Nickel, despite the return of Ja’Had Carter.
    • This was the highest grade of his career.
  • Bishop Fitzgerald returned to his starting position at Strong Safety (KJ Martin started last week).
    • This was his highest grade of his career.
  • NC State only had 2 defensive players with a grade of 70+.
  • This was Rente Hinton’s highest grade of his career.
  • Travali Price returned to his starting job at Defensive End (Isaiah Shirley started last week).
    • This was Price’s highest grade of the season, and his highest grade since Week 9 last year against Clemson.
  • Devon Marshall started in place of the injured Brandon Cisse, rather than Corey Coley Jr.
    • Unfortunately, he posted a grade of 48.8, which is the lowest grade of his career.
  • This was Ja’Had’s 2nd lowest grade of his college career.

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NC State Football

NC State vs. WFU: Defensive Snap Count Report

Published

10 hours ago

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October 7, 2024

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NC State lost to Wake Forest 30-34 on Saturday in Carter-Finley Stadium. Here’s Snap Count Report for the Wolfpack Defense in Week 6.

Redshirt Junior Linebacker Sean Brown – 66
Redshirt Junior Linebacker Caden Fordham – 66
Senior Cornerback Aydan White – 66
Junior Cornerback Devon Marshall – 62
Senior Defensive End Davin Vann – 57
Junior Nose Tackle Brandon Cleveland – 53
Senior Safety DK Kaufman – 52
Senior Linebacker Devon Betty – 51
Senior Safety Bishop Fitzgerald – 48
Redshirt Freshman Nickel Tamarcus Cooley – 44
Redshirt Junior Defensive End Travali Price – 38
Redshirt Senior Defensive End Noah Potter – 27
Senior Nickel Ja’Had Carter – 20
Redshirt Freshman Isaiah Shirley – 18
Redshirt Senior Safety KJ Martin Jr. – 18
Redshirt Junior Safety Rente Hinton – 14
Redshirt Freshman Linebacker Kamal Bonner – 9
Senior Nose Tackle Chazz Wallace – 7
Redshirt Sophomore Cornerback Jackson Vick – 5
Senior Cornerback Corey Coley – 5

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NC State Football

NC State vs. WFU: Offensive Snap Count Report

Published

14 hours ago

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October 7, 2024

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NC State lost to Wake Forest 30-34 on Saturday in Carter-Finley Stadium. Here’s Snap Count Report for the Wolfpack Offense in Week 6.

Redshirt Sophomore Right Tackle Jacarrius Peak – 77
Redshirt Senior Right Guard Timothy McKay – 77
Redshirt Junior Left Guard Anthony Carter Jr. – 77
Redshirt Senior Left Tackle Anthony Belton – 76
Redshirt Senior Center Zeke Correll – 75
Freshman Quarterback CJ Bailey – 70
Sophomore Wide Receiver Kevin Concepcion – 55
Junior Tight End Justin Joly – 55
Junior Wide Receiver Wesley Grimes – 39
Junior Tight End Dante Daniels – 37
Redshirt Senior Running Back Jordan Waters – 37
Freshman Wide Receiver Keenan Jackson – 36
Sophomore Running Back Kendrick Raphael – 35
Redshirt Freshman Wide Receiver Noah Rogers – 32
Freshman Wide Receiver Terrell Anderson – 26
Redshirt Junior Jakolbe Baldwin – 17
Redshirt Senior Quarterback Grayson McCall – 7
Redshirt Senior Running Back Demarcus Jones II – 6
Redshirt Junior Tight End Reid Mitchell – 4
Redshirt Junior Wide Receiver Jalen Coit – 4
Redshirt Senior Center Dawson Jaramillo – 3
Sophomore Tight End Juice Vereen – 2

 

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NC State Football

WATCH: NC State CB Aydan White’s Postgame Press Conference After Loss to Wake Forest (with transcript)

Published

2 days ago

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October 5, 2024

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NC State Cornerback Aydan White met with the media for a postgame press conference after the Wolfpack’s 30-34 loss to Wake Forest this afternoon. You can watch the video ABOVE, and read the transcript BELOW.

What happened defensively in the 4th Quarter?

I think we just stopped playing together and we stopped just communicating. That’s what ended up happening on the last couple of downs.

There’s no communication by us. And they end up making the plays that we should have made.

What’s the key to bouncing back to a heartbreaking loss like this one?

Everybody’s got to stick together and just know what we want at the end and just keep chasing what we can do.

Just making sure we keep staying together and no outside noise from anybody.

Is there a specific message that you’re giving to your teammates?

We just got to finish. That’s what we didn’t do.

Up by 10 points in the fourth quarter and didn’t finish the game. I mean, that’s what it comes down to. We just got to finish as a whole.

What did the defense do early to try to support CJ Bailey?

Yeah, just letting CJ know he young. Just got to instill that confidence in him that we got your back.

If you make a play, you don’t make a play. The defense is going to go out there and play the same if Grayson was out there or not. So just telling CJ we got his back no matter what happens.

What was the message to him afterwards, given the way that things ended?

Just knowing that we still got your back no matter what. You came in the game, you end up leading us back to taking the lead. We got your back no matter what.

 

 

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