Monday morning quarterbacking: NC State 34, Ball State 23
NC State football head coach Dave Doeren acknowledged postgame it was not always pretty, but the Wolfpack prevailed 34-23 over visiting Ball State.
It’s time for a final look at the contest with some Monday morning quarterbacking:
Key Moment Of The Game
The game was over for all intents and purposes when redshirt sophomore receiver Thayer Thomas fielded a line-drive rugby punt at the NC State 24-yard line and weaved his way through the Ball State coverage unit for a 76-yard touchdown, putting NC State up 27-7 with 13:03 left in the third quarter.
It was NC State’s first punt return for a score since Nyheim Hines ran one back against Pittsburgh in 2017.
Three Things That Worked
1. Second-quarter Matthew McKay
Who knows if a fire was lit under McKay after watching his classmate, redshirt sophomore Bailey Hockman, receive a series in the second quarter. Whatever the reason, for three drives after that, McKay looked the part of a bonafide Wolfpack starting quarterback.
He went 10-of-13 passing for 127 yards and ran twice for nine yards, including a touchdown. He was an impressive 3 of 3 on third downs for 26 yards, too. The first two drives resulted in touchdowns. The last started at the NC State 20-yard line with 27 seconds left and ended at the Ball State 36, giving the Pack a chance for a 53-yard field goal that missed wide left.
2. Big plays on special teams
NC State did not have much to brag about in the second half, but it received two huge plays from special teams. One was the aforementioned punt return for a touchdown. The other was redshirt sophomore receiver Max Fisher blocking a punt that was picked up by redshirt freshman corner Malik Dunlap and nearly returned for a touchdown. Dunlap was tackled at the Ball State 7, and three plays later McKay ran in for a score.
3. Defense for three quarters
Statistically, Ball State has one of the better passing attacks in the country. They entered the game 11th nationally at 348.3 yards per game through the air. Yet they were contained effectively for three quarters by NC State. The Cardinals had just 173 yards passing at that point on 37 attempts and finished with only 247 total yards overall.
Three Things That Did Not Work
1. Second-half offense
It was an issue for a second straight week. In a loss at West Virginia, NC State had just five first downs and 97 total yards after halftime. It scored six points, three of which came after its defense forced a turnover at the West Virginia 21-yard line.
This Saturday, NC State had five first downs and 104 total yards after the break, and the only seven points it contributed came after the blocked punt. Of particular concern is the passing attack netting only 16 yards against a Ball State defense that entered the contest allowing 304.3 yards per contest in the air.
2. Fourth-quarter defense
After allowing Ball State only 4.0 yards per play in 61 snaps through three quarters, the Wolfpack defense gave up 8.5 yards a play in the fourth quarter. Ball State had 26 plays and gained 170 total yards, including going 15-of-20 passing for 160 yards.
3. Offensive line focus
NC State finished the game with nine penalties for 62 yards. Six of them were false starts on the offensive line, and there were multiple offenders (at least four officially). The line was also called for a holding penalty.
Position-By-Position Battles
NC State’s offensive line vs. Ball State’s front seven
When it was not drawing flags, this was a win for NC State. There were only two tackles for loss by Ball State’s defense. The Pack ran for an average of 5.0 yards per carry and allowed no sacks.
Ball State’s offensive line vs. NC State’s front seven
The Cardinals’ rushing total of 84 yards and 2.0 yards per carry was skewed by a miscommunication on a shotgun snap that lost 16 yards. Remove that from the tally, and Ball State still only had 100 rushing yards and 3.4 yards a run. Both of those numbers were below its season averages, and NC State also had a couple of sacks.
It’s a win for the Pack, but not as strong as probably hoped.
NC State’s wide receivers vs. Ball State’s secondary
Thomas and junior Emeka Emezie both finished with four receptions, but overall NC State needed better numbers from its wideouts. Fifth-year senior Tabari Hines’ mishandling of a pass from Hockman also led to an interception.
Ball State’s wide receivers vs. NC State’s secondary
For three quarters, NC State was winning the battle. But it lost the edge in the fourth.
Quarterbacks
Ball State’s Drew Plitt, a redshirt junior, finished with 333 yards passing and turned it over only once and ended the day with a better evening than his counterparts.
NC State had two interceptions from its quarterbacks, and the fact is the Pack’s passing game was nonexistent in the second half. McKay was just 1-of-8 passing for a single yard after halftime.
The bottom line is NC State is still searching for some answers here after back-to-back inconsistent efforts.
Tight ends/fullbacks
Curiously, NC State only targeted redshirt junior tight end Cary Angeline once in the passing attack after he had two good games in a row. He was overthrown on a deep ball. Ball State redshirt junior Nolan Givan had three receptions for 23 yards.
Special teams
NC State was not perfect on special teams. It allowed an onside kick to be recovered by the Cardinals, for instance, but the fact is NCSU owed all 14 of its second-half points to its special teams. Redshirt sophomore Trenton Gill also averaged an impressive 51.0 yards on three punts as well.
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