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NC State Football

NC State Suffers a Gut-wrenching Loss to Wake Forest, 30-24

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6 years ago

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NC State let the chance of a truly special season slip through their hands in Winston-Salem tonight, falling to their in-state rivals Wake Forest 24-30.

With 1:51 left on the clock, true freshman receiver Emeka Emezie caught a 10-yard pass, and looked to be heading into the endzone, before Wake Forest’s Demetrius Kemp knocked the ball out of his hands literally inches in front of the goal line, and the ball was recovered by the Demon Deacons in the endzone. He tried to extend the ball across the line, which ended up being a freshman mistake. Had he just tucked the ball, he probably would have ended up in the endzone. Even if he didn’t, NC State would have had a first down on the 1-yard line.

For a split second, it seemed like a dream come true. After B.J. Hill blocked Wake Forest’s PAT, the Wolfpack was going to win by one point at the end of the game.

Yes, the Pack forced Wake to punt after this, and Ryan Finley ultimately threw an interception at the end of regulation, but everyone will remember the play that should have been.

(For what it’s worth, the fact that an ESPNU game doesn’t have a pylon camera is STUPID. This is 2017. RIDICULOUS.)

But this wasn’t all about one play. Don’t you dare hang this loss solely on Emezie.

NC State had more total yards than Wake Forest (502-334). They won the time of possession battle (41:07-18:53). The Wolfpack was 14-23 on 3rd down and 3-4 on 4th down.

And they lost.

There are a variety of reasons, but one stat line that can mark out all of the above is the fact that NC State turned the ball over 3 times, which was uncharacteristic for this 2017 squad.

There were the dropped passes by Harmon.

There was Finley missing on a wide open Emezie at the end of the first half that could have gone for 6.

There was Defensive Coordinator’s strange decision to start true freshman Chris Ingram at Nickel, and move Shawn Boone (who had been starting all year at Nickel) to Safety. Why he chose to make this personnel change in this game on the road, I do not know. The result was disastrous. Ingram was picked on something fierce, and Wake Forest scored at least 14 points at his expense.

Then there was the factor that you can’t control, and that is Nyheim Hines missing pretty much the entire second half due to concussion protocol.

Really, NC State dominated the second half, but they have an L to show for it.

With the numbers the offense put up, they should have put more points on the board. Period.

You can’t drop passes. You can’t miss open receivers. You can’t make rookie mistakes.

What separated this game from being spectacular for NC State wasn’t a few more spectacular plays, but just a few more normally executed ones.

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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

Colorado DT Transfer Chazz Wallace is Taking an Official Visit to NC State Tomorrow

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21 hours ago

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May 6, 2024

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NC State has offered Colorado Defensive Tackle Transfer Chazz Wallace (6’2″/295), and he confirmed with me that he will be taking an Official Visit to Raleigh tomorrow.

Wallace played in 10 games for Coach Prime this past season, starting in 4. He finished with 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks. His PFF Grade was 56.4.

Prior to Colorado, Wallace spent his first three years at Old Dominion.

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NC State Football

NC State Offers FCS DT Brandon Lane

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1 day ago

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May 6, 2024

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NC State offered Stephen F. Austin (FCS) Transfer Defensive Tackle Brandon Lane (6’3″/300) yesterday.

Lane started in 6 of the 11 games he played in for Stephen F. Austin this past season. He finished the year with 44 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. His PFF Grade was 74.6, which ranked 4th on the Lumberjacks Defense. His 79.9 Run Defense Grade ranked 3rd on the team. In 2022, Lane played 7 games as a reserve for Stephen F. Austin, recording 11 tackles 2.5 tackles for loss and 1 sack.

Lane spent his first two collegiate seasons at South Dakota State (2000-21). In 2000, he played in 1 game. In 2021, he played in 3 games as a reserve for the Jackrabbits. The 2000 season was the Covid Year, and the 2021 season was his redshirt year. As a result, Lane still has two years of eligibility remaining.

Around a week-and-a-half ago, Lane committed to Michigan St., but then he decommitted from the Spartans on May 2nd.

I don’t think Michigan St. is necessarily off the table, and he has visited Washington and West Virginia.

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NC State Football

Congrats to NC State Football’s Spring Graduates!

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4 days ago

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May 3, 2024

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Congratulations to the 7 NC State Football Players that just graduated this Spring.

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2024 Football Spring Graduates

Linebacker Devon Betty (1 year of eligibility)

Defensive End Davin Vann (1 year of eligibility)

Cornerback Aydan White (1 year of eligibility)

Offensive Guard Anthony Carter Jr. (2 years of eligibility)

Offensive Lineman Matt McCabe (2 years of eligibility)

Offensive Tackle Patrick Matan (2 years of eligibility)

Offensive Lineman Brendan Lawson (no longer on the roster)

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NC State Football

Proposed Bill in the NC House Would Require NC State & UNC To Play One Another, as well as ECU, UNCC and App St.

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4 days ago

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May 3, 2024

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A bill has been proposed by members of the North Carolina House of Representatives that would force NC State and UNC to play one another, as well as East Carolina, UNC Charlotte and Appalachian State.

According to House Bill 965, which you can read here in full, NC State and UNC would be required to play one another annually in Football, Men’s Basketball and Women’s Basketball. The Wolfpack and the Tar Heels would also be forced to play a game annually in all three sports against either ECU, UNC-Charlotte or App St. Every six years, NC State and UNC would be required to have played a home and away game against each of the three school in all three sports.

Here’s the exact wording from the proposed bill:

Competition Required. – A high-enrollment institution shall do all of the following in each eligible sport: (1) Every academic year, play at least one home or one away game against (i) another high-enrollment institution and (ii) an eligible constituent institution that is not a high-enrollment institution. (2) Every six academic years, play at least one home and one away game against each eligible constituent institution that is not a high-enrollment institution. A high-enrollment institution shall alternate home and away games that are scheduled against the same eligible constituent institution that is not a high-enrollment institution.

For glossary of terms being referenced above:

For the purposes of this bill, “High-enrollment institutions” = NC State and UNC, while “Eligible constituent institutions” = East Carolina, UNC Charlotte and Appalachian State.

It’s worth noting that NC State already has games schedule against each of these teams home-and-away in Football between now and 2031.

2025 – East Carolina (H)

2025 – @ App St.

2026 – App St. (H)

2028 – @ East Carolina

2030 – Charlotte (H)

2031 – @ Charlotte

What are your thoughts?

For more details, check out this article at WRAL.

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