NC State still has some major goals to play for, plus in the wacky world of college football, who knows how Wake Forest will do in its last two games.
NC State hosts Syracuse at 4 p.m. Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium, with an undefeated home slate still attainable. The Wolfpack also host North Carolina at 7 p.m. Nov. 26. The other major goal still on the table with three games left is the chance for 10 wins. NCSU went 11-3 in 2002 for its only double-digit wins season.
“We have a lot to play for and it starts with this game against Syracuse,” NCSU coach Dave Doeren said. “They are a very physical team and a very good defensive football team. They are in the top 20 in a couple of categories [nationally], and in the top three in our league in several.”
The Wolfpack players are resourceful, though Doeren did say Monday that he has a beat-up squad at certain positions.
NC State entered the game without nose tackle C.J. Clark, defensive end Savion Jackson, linebackers Payton Wilson and Isaiah Moore and safety Cyrus Fagan. Then cornerback Shyheim Battle was ejected for targeting in the second half, and he’ll miss the first half of the Syracuse game Saturday. NCSU also had H-back Trent Pennix go down with a shoulder injury during the WFU game.
Doeren had several “what if” kind of thoughts concerning the 45-42 loss at Wake Forest. However, committing three turnovers and 14 penalties, combined with WFU going 10 of 19 on three-down conversions, is not the recipe for a victory.
“I think if we had gotten that onside kick with two timeouts left, we would have gone down and scored and won,” said Doeren on the illegal touching penalty to nearly end the game. “I think everyone on our sideline believed the same. It’s a game of inches.
“It is great to sit here after a game and say ‘I wish I would have done this. I wish I would have done that.’”
Not being able to slow down Wake Forest on third down was surprising.
“We have been tremendous defensively on third down all year,” Doeren said. “In this game, we weren’t enough.”
The Demon Deacons had 91 plays on offense, which was a high for opponents.
“It’s hard to play a 100-play game on defense, with that kind of depth reduction,” Doeren said.
Doeren hopes that they change the rule where a player misses the next week’s game or half a game due to targeting in the future. Cornerback Chris Ingram filled in for Battle against WFU.
“I hope they really look hard at that rule,” Doeren said. “A guy is losing a whole half of the next game.
“There are a bunch of guys on that side of the football that need to heal quickly.”
The question with Syracuse is which version will show up Saturday. The latest version was blown out in the first half in a 41-3 road loss at Louisville last Saturday to fall to 5-5. The Orange have ACC wins at Virginia Tech and Boston College, with the latter missing its quarterback.
Running back Sean Tucker has 220 carries for 1,362 yards and 11 touchdowns to lead the ACC. Quarterback Garrett Shrader, a Mississippi State transfer, who attended Charlotte (N.C.) Christian, has throw for 1,165 yards and seven touchdowns, and rushed 140 times for 713 yards and 13 scores this season.
“They’ve changed a lot,” Doeren said. “He’s playing to his personnel. They have a good back, they have a running quarterback and they have a big ‘ol offensive line.”
The Syracuse defense is led by linebacker Mikel Jones, who has 81 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. Defensive end Cody Roscoe has 41 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and seven sacks, and fellow defensive end Kingsley Jonathan, who attended Mebane (N.C.) Eastern Alamance, has 4.5 sacks on the season.
Linebacker Stefan Thompson, who attended Charlotte Chambers High (was Vance High when he played there) is second on the team with 62 tackles, eight tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.
“Their linebackers are really active and they’ve recruited well on the defensive line,” Doeren said.
Doeren isn’t going to root for other ACC teams to top Wake Forest, but he is hoping for some good luck to come NC State’s way.
“I have to focus on what we can control on this side of it,” Doeren said. “Lord knows we’ve had enough bad luck throughout the years. It would be great to have a little good luck down the stretch here.”
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