Monday morning quarterbacking: NC State 34, East Carolina 6
NC State football rolled over an overmatched East Carolina team in a 34-6 win. It’s time for a final look at the contest with some Monday morning quarterbacking.
Key moment of the game:
In our postgame column, we called it the moment reality was restored. Give East Carolina credit for an effective plan on its opening drive. It marched from its own 25 to the NC State 9 where it had first and goal. That’s when NC State sophomore safety Tanner Ingle knocked the ball out of ECU sophomore quarterback Holton Ahlers’ arm and forced a fumble that NC State fifth-year senior safety Jarius Morehead recovered in the end zone.
That truly was the last threat ECU made.
Three things that worked:
1. Defensive adjustments
The Pack defense, expected to be a strength of this team, was a tad shaky on the first two drives, allowing 119 total yards and seven first downs. It was fortunate to hold ECU to just a field goal. However, after that NC State shut East Carolina down. The Pirates gained a meager 89 yards on its next 10 drives combined and had five three-and-outs in that stretch.
2. Using the depth
This may have been the most liberal use of substitutions by NC State under head coach Dave Doeren. There were times where nearly the entire defense was switched out for a third-down play. Multiple offensive linemen rotated into the contest as well, and no running back received more than nine carries, but three had at least five runs.
3. Kicking the football
Redshirt sophomore Trenton Gill did well in his debut. He punted for a respectable average of 41.6 yards on five kicks with one inside the 20. With better coverage, two more could have been downed inside the five. Gill also showed a very promising leg on kickoffs, booting three for touchbacks and a fourth was returned out of the end zone.
Three things that did not work:
1. Sputtering offense at times in first half
NC State’s first drive made it look like it could hang 40-plus points easily on East Carolina. Yet NC State came away empty-handed on four of its next five possessions with only a field goal on the other. First-time starter Matthew McKay was more uneven in the first half than the second. He had completed 10 of 19 passes at the break for 140 yards.
2. Third downs
Part of the problem for NC State’s defense on the first two drives and the Pack offense through the first three quarters were issues on third downs. ECU converted on three third downs to start the game, two of them thanks to penalties by NC State. Meanwhile, NC State's offense was just 1 of 8 on third downs going into the fourth quarter.
3. Traffic control
It has nothing to do with the football team, but traffic stalled out way too much on Trinity Avenue, causing delays that seemed far longer than normal. Pedestrians were not being made to use the underground crossing, and cars seemingly crawled forward waiting for turns to go through the fairgrounds intersection.
Position-by-position battles
NC State’s offensive line vs. East Carolina’s front seven
No sacks allowed and a very healthy 6.2 yards per rush for NC State. An easy win for NC State here.
East Carolina’s offensive line vs. NC State’s front seven
The Pirates gave up three sacks and had just 1.4 yards per rush, with no runner averaging more than 2.1 yards a carry. An easy win for NC State here.
NC State’s wide receivers vs. East Carolina’s secondary
The Pack exploited the matchups at times here. Redshirt sophomore Thayer Thomas was effective in the slot early in the game, and then junior Emeka Emezie picked on ECU’s freshmen corners later in the contest.
East Carolina’s wide receivers vs. NC State’s secondary
ECU went with high percentage passes early in the game and NC State’s cushion allowed them to do it, but very little emerged open down the field during the afternoon.
Quarterbacks
McKay had some throws he would love to take back, but all total, he comes away with a pretty good grade in his debut. Most importantly, he did not turn it over (although he did fumble it once the Pack recovered it). Ahlers had a couple turnovers and could have had more.
Running backs
The talk of going by committee at running back is true for NC State, but collectively they were far more effective than East Carolina’s. NC State also showed some potential for using their running backs in the passing game. Sophomore Ricky Person Jr. caught a 45-yard pass and freshman Jordan Houston finished with three receptions for 10 yards.
Tight ends/fullbacks
This is one of two areas where ECU at least matched NC State, if not did better (at least in the passing game). The Pirates’ Zech Byrd had one of the longest gains of the game (20 yards). NC State tried a few times to get the ball to redshirt junior Cary Angeline, but only connected once for seven yards.
Special teams
This is the other area where ECU might have won on the day, although the Pirates did miss a field goal from 52 yards. Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren was not happy about the long kickoff return allowed that was luckily called back by an illegal block flag. NC State also gave up another 36-yard return in which Gill had to make the tackle.
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