NC State’s Defense has to Go Back to the Drawing Board After Being Dismantled by Clemson

NC State’s defensive performance against #21 Clemson this afternoon was alarming to put it mildly. The Tigers outscored the Wolfpack 59-35 in the contest, but that score doesn’t begin to tell the story of how bad NC State’s defense was.

Clemson’s starting Quarterback Cade Klubnik was pulled from the game midway through the 3rd Quarter.

The Tigers were up 28-0 at the end of the 1st Quarter.

Yes, NC State lost the turnover battle 3-0, and that didn’t help, but the Wolfpack had 0 answers for Clemson’s offense.

The Tigers scored 59 points against the Wolfpack in 3 Quarters.

NC State allowed 523 yards today, and that number would have been higher if Clemson didn’t take their foot off of the gas.

The Tigers rushed the ball at will, churning out 269 yards on the ground, averaging 8.2 yards per carry.

Wolfpack Defensive Coordinator Tony Gibson has spear headed a Top-25 defense year-in-and-year-out over the past couple of years. Before the season began, with expectations lower due to the loss of Payton Wilson to the NFL, Gibson reaffirmed that the Wolfpack defense has set a standard that wouldn’t decline with the absence of one player. He didn’t expect that standard to take a dip this year.

Leading up to the season, Wolfpack defenders doubled down, sharing that their mantra this offseason was ‘no drop off.’

Well, one thing is clear after 4 games. The standard has taken a dip, and there has been a drastic drop off.

This defense doesn’t look anything like what we’ve come to expect from Tony Gibson.