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Monday morning quarterbacking: West Virginia 44, NC State 27

For the first time this season, NC State football is having to deal with a setback following a 44-27 loss at West Virginia. It’s time for a final look at the contest with some Monday morning quarterbacking.

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Key Moment Of The Game

This game turned dramatically on a crucial stretch starting with 8:33 left in the third quarter. West Virginia was leading 24-21 when the Pack took over at its own 21-yard line. On first down, freshman running back Zonovan Knight ran for six yards. On second down, Knight added three more yards.

Facing third-and-one, rather than run it again with Knight, NC State tried to pass and redshirt sophomore quarterback Matthew McKay was sacked for a two-yard loss. That led to a punt, and an apparent blown assignment resulted in the Mountaineers blocking the kick.

WVU took over at the NC State 12, and on third-and-three, its senior running back Kennedy McKoy ran it in for a five-yard touchdown with 6:24 left in the contest.

Three Things That Worked

1. First-half offense

If you had said minutes before kickoff that NC State would have 272 total yards in the first half (119 on the ground and 153 in the air) and would score 21 points, many in Morgantown would have expected NC State to be on its way to a blowout win.

2. Responding to the early punches

West Virginia jumped out to early leads of 7-0 and 14-7, but NC State seemed to have seized control of the first half and was up 21-14 with 3:13 to go before halftime.

3. Effort

There is a ton to clean up from this game, but the effort seemed to be good. NC State had chances after falling behind 31-21 to turn the game around because it did not quit and continued to play hard.

Three Things That Did Not Work

1. Defense

For as much blame as NC State’s second-half offense and in particular the passing game will receive, the fact is the defense did not have a good game against an offense that had been sputtering up to that point.

WVU had 294 total yards (34 on the ground) against James Madison in its opener and 171 total yards (30 rushing) during a lopsided loss at Missouri. Against NC State, it piled up 173 rushing yards and 445 total yards.

The Wolfpack offense and special teams did give WVU some short field position, but the defense also allowed scoring drives of 66, 75, 75, 89 and 75 yards. Most damaging was giving up a late first-half TD on a nine-play, 75-yard drive to tie the score at 21-21 with just 34 seconds before the break.

West Virginia then turned around and took the opening possession of the second half 89 yards (after mishandling the kickoff) for a go-ahead field goal that saw it take the lead for good.

2. Second-half offense

The numbers are not good. NC State had just five first downs, 97 total yards (72 passing and 25 rushing) and scored just six points, three of which came after NC State freshman linebacker Drake Thomas returned an interception to the West Virginia 21-yard line.

Simply put, for whatever reason, the offense became inept after halftime. Much of the blame will likely fall onto the shoulders of McKay, and he would probably be the first to admit he should have been better. McKay was just 9-of-24 passing for 72 yards after the break.

3. Fundamentals and discipline

The one area that can be cleaned up most from this game was the sloppiness in all areas. NC State had a delay of game on the first snap of its opening possession. Twice it started drives with the wrong personnel on the field. The blown assignment on the blocked punt was a catastrophic breakdown.

There were nine penalties for 88 yards, including inexcusable ones, like a late hit out of bounds, and costly ones, like a pass interference on an incomplete third down pass that sustained a WVU drive just after NC State had cut its lead to 31-27.

There were dropped passes and even a dropped shotgun snap. Our guess is that the coaches will find quite a few missed assignments on defense, too, and the tackling was not near as good as it had been in the first two weeks.

NC State was anything but sharp, which for a young team on the road for the first time is not surprising. The good news is it can be correctable with more experience. However, with WVU making a number of similar mistakes, NC State missed a great opportunity to use that against the Mountaineers.

Position-By-Position Battles

NC State’s offensive line vs. West Virginia’s front seven

The first half was won by NC State, but give WVU credit for coming back in the second half and making it a draw. NC State averaged 5.4 yards per rush in the first half and just 1.6 in the second.

West Virginia’s offensive line vs. NC State’s front seven

This was a surprising win for West Virginia, who started three new starters on its offensive front. NC State was without four defensive linemen, including fifth-year end James Smith-Williams. WVU also did some smart planning on offense with quick passes, an up-tempo approach and surprising plays on the edge via the jet sweeps.

NC State’s wide receivers vs. West Virginia’s secondary

West Virginia gave NC State the short and underneath routes, but the Pack receiving corps did not have a catch longer than 17 yards. West Virginia would have probably taken that every game.

West Virginia wide receivers vs. NC State’s secondary

Not the best game for the Pack secondary. Redshirt freshman West Virginia wide receiver Sam James hauled in nine passes for 155 yards and a score.

Quarterbacks

Obviously, West Virginia redshirt junior Austin Kendall won the battle here — 27-of-40 passing for 272 yards with three scores while adding 33 rushing yards.

McKay did not play well. It was not all his fault, as NC State head coach Dave Doeren outlined in his postgame remarks, but McKay also has to do better, especially with his accuracy. He misfired on some passes that he simply needs to make.

Tight ends/fullbacks

Redshirt sophomore Cary Angeline is turning into a bright spot in the Pack offense. He caught four passes for 74 yards and a touchdown, and his 39-yard reception was the game’s longest pass for the Pack.

Special teams

The blocked punt in a game like Saturday is a catastrophic event. NC State also missed a long 51-yard field goal that was either tipped at the line or not struck as well as sophomore kicker Christopher Dunn normally kicks it. WVU was not great itself, with a kickoff out of bounds and a botched kickoff return, but its mistakes did not affect the scoreboard.

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