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NC State Football

NC State’s Recipe for Beating FSU in Tallahassee

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7 years ago

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NC State pulled off a astronomical victory over #12 Florida St. down in Tallahassee yesterday 27-21, and there quite a few important ingredients that went into the Wolfpack’s recipe for victory.

Time of Possession and Turnover Margin

Florida St. might have had more total yards than NC State (385-362), but the amount of time the Wolfpack possessed the ball was more important than their total offensive production. NC State possessed the ball for 33:22, compared to Florida St.’s 26:38.

The Wolfpack also won the turnover margin game. In the second quarter Bradley Chubb forced the Seminoles to fumble the ball deep in NC State territory. Ryan Finley also managed to extend his streak of pass attempts without an interception. He entered the game with 192 straight pass attempts without a pick, and that number increased to 224 yesterday. Finley’s streak is the longest current streak in the FBS, and the 5th longest streak in ACC history.

Red Zone Defense

It’s not easy to keep any team out of the endzone when they get within 20 yards of the goal line…especially Florida St. in their own stadium. If you want to win big games, you have do hard things, and NC State did just that yesterday.

Florida St. was practically in the Red Zone when Bradley Chubb popped the ball out of FSU Quarterback’s hands (22-yard line). On five other Seminole possessions, the Wolfpack held them to a field goal attempt (they made 4 of 5) when they were in the Red Zone.

If you can hold a team to 5 field goal attempts in the Red Zone, that’s a crucial ingredient to victory.

Bradley Chubb

NC State preseason All-American Defensive End Bradley Chubb put on a clinic against Florida St. yesterday. His stat line of 7 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 forced fumbles is impressive, but it doesn’t do justice to the impact he made on the outcome of the game. Chubb had 8 QB pressures yesterday, with many of those ending with him pulverizing true freshman Quarterback James Blackman through the crust straight into the mantle of the earth right after he released the ball. Blackman was shaken up on many occasions, and fearfully altered his pass attempts whenever Chubb was in close proximity, which was most of the game.

Jaylen Samuels

I’m not quite sure how a player can quietly collect 12 receptions in a game, but NC State H-Back Jaylen Samuels did so. He had 12 receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown, and while that’s a nice line, Samuels contributed much more than that. Samuels also had a 2-yard rushing touchdown, and a clutch 25-yard pass to Tight End Dylan Parham. His 14-yard touchdown reception was a brilliantly drawn up fake pitch to Hines, that turned into a nifty shovel pass in which Samuels literally skipped into the endzone untouched. Florida St. knew NC State was going to go to JaySam, but their knowledge of that fact didn’t do any good. Finley completed 92.3% of the passes he threw Samuels’ way.

Jakobi Meyers

Florida St. boasts two of the best defensive backs in the country in Safety Derwin James and Cornerback Tarvarus McFadden, and they made sure that the Wolfpack’s dynamic duo of Kelvin Harmon and Stephen Louis didn’t beat them. What they wern’t prepared for was Jakobi Meyers.

The NC State coaches kept Meyers out of the Marshall game last week because they weren’t pleased with his preparation leading up to the game. Meyers obviously learned his lesson. He had 5 receptions for 112 yards and a 71-yard touchdown. On the touchdown reception, Meyers needed to elude the elite Derwin James, and elude him he did. Meyers put a video game worthy juke on James, and then he was off to the races.

Nyheim Hines

Hines was the little engine that could. He rushed for 94 yards, and he earned every last one of them. Not one of them came easy. He ran hard, and his legs never stopped moving. What was most impressive was Hines performance in the fourth quarter. 65 of Hines 94 yards came in the final segment. A lot of ingredients cooked up the Wolfpack victory, but Hines’ 15-yard run on 3rd and 7 was the play that was the cherry on top that guaranteed a W.

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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.

NC State Football

Does the Addition of the UVA Series Equal the Elimination of NC State’s Series with App St.?

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2 days ago

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May 17, 2024

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Earlier this week it was announced that NC State and Virginia would play one another in a home-and-home series, with the Wolfpack hosting in 2025, and the Cavaliers hosting in 2026.

Prior to the announcement, NC State already had their non-conference slate booked for both of those seasons.

As a result of the addition of the Virginia series, a previously scheduled non-conference game from each season would need to be dropped. While it hasn’t been officially announced by the school, Joe Giglio and David Glenn seem to think that the series with Appalachian State is going to be dropped.

It would make the most sense, considering the Mountaineers were the only opponent the Wolfpack was scheduled to play in both 2025 and 2026. It would also make sense, considering the fact that ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips isn’t a fan of ACC teams playing Group of 5 schools on the road.

I will tell you this much. The Mountaineer faithful certainly believe NC State is dropping the series with App State, and it just takes a little scrolling on X (formerly Twitter) to get a read on their feelings on the situation.

This situation brings to mind the bill that has been proposed in the North Carolina House of Representatives that would force NC State and UNC to play App St., ECU and UNC Charlotte in Football, Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball.

If the addition of UVA means the elimination of App St. on NC State’s schedule, what are your thoughts? Share in the comments.

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NC State Football

CBS Sports Ranks Dave Doeren as 1 of the Top-20 Coaches in College Football

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3 days ago

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May 16, 2024

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CBS Sports released their Top-25 Power 4 Coaches in College Football, and NC State’s Dave Doeren came in at #16. Heading into last season, he went into the season ranked #25.

16) Dave Doeren: The NC State coach finally gets some overdue credit. He’s always hovered around the bottom of our top 25 or just outside it, and now he finds himself firmly entrenched in it thanks to all the changes at the top. Coaches who take mid-tier programs and overachieve never get enough credit, in my estimation, and the consistency Doeren has established at NC State — where he spent most of his time in a division with Clemson and Florida State — is one of the most impressive things any coach in the country has done. I’m glad to see Doeren getting closer to the top 15. 2023 rank: 25 (+9) (CBS Sports)

Numerous CBS Sports’ analysts voted in the poll, and Tom Fornelli actually ranked Doeren #8.

ACC Coaches that made the Top-25

3. Dabo Swinney (Clemson)

8. Mike Norvell (FSU)

16. Dave Doeren (NC State)

19. Jeff Brohm (Louisville)

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NC State Football

NC State vs. Tennessee Kickoff Time & TV Network Revealed

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4 days ago

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May 15, 2024

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Kickoff time and TV Channel details have been revealed for NC State and Tennessee’s game in the Duke Mayo Classic in Week 2 of next season.

The game will be a primetime game on Saturday 7th, at 7:30pm on ABC.

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This game has the makings to be a Top-25 matchup.

Here’s a look at some of the Way-Too-Early Preseason rankings for the Wolfpack and the Volunteers:

Action Network: NC State #24/Tennessee #17

ON3: NC State #22/Tennessee #15

247: NC State #21/Tennessee #11

ESPN: NC State #17/Tennessee #15

DraftKings released their way-too-early odds for the game, and Tennessee is currently a 5.5-point favorite.

Here’s the deal, as NC State fans, if we want to be a big time Football program, NC State fans need to gobble up tickets to this game. Let’s do our part and make sure that Bank of America Stadium is painted RED. Buy Tickets HERE.

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NC State Football

NC State and UVA Agree to Home-and-Home Non-Conference Games

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4 days ago

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May 15, 2024

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NC State announced this morning that the Wolfpack and UVA will play in a home-and-home non-conference series, with the game in 2025 being in Raleigh, and the game in 2026 being in Charlottesville.

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To reiterate, despite the fact that both teams are in the ACC, these games are considered non-conference games, and won’t count toward conference records. This is similar to what UNC and Wake Forest did a few years back.

Here’s what’s interesting about the addition of these games in 2025 and 2026. Prior to the announcement, NC State already had 4 non-conference games scheduled for both years.

It would be my assumption that one of the previously scheduled non-conference games for each season will not take place now.

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