NC State has numerous areas to fix
NC State needed to make sure it muddied the game up against Louisville, but part of the winning formula went to pieces in the second half.
NC State didn’t get a point after halftime, opening the door for Louisville to rally for a 13-10 win. The Cardinals improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the ACC, while NC State fell to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the league.
For all the good the NC State defense achieved in shutting down the high-powered Louisville attack, the NCSU offense couldn’t muster much of anything in the second half. NC State threw for 82 yards and rushed for 33 after halftime.
NC State’s near-perfect defensive game plan simply wasn’t enough.
“The defense played extremely well and the offense did not,” NCSU coach Dave Doeren said. “It’s pretty obvious what the issues were between penalties and turnovers. We had a pretty good first half, but the second half wasn’t good enough.”
NC State had one last chance to try and at least get a field goal and force overtime. Senior quarterback Brennan Armstrong got blitzed and his wild pass went right to Louisville cornerback Quincy Riley with 1:27 left in the game. The Cardinals iced the game from there. Armstrong struggled to throw for 112 yards and two interceptions, and he rushed for a team-high 61 yards.
“We have a lot to fix,” Doeren said. “This is a tough football team and good kids.
“Nobody feels worse than Brennan does right now. We have work to do on the whole team. It’s football — you start blaming the head coach first and after that you go to the quarterback. That is what people do.”
NC State’s defense made Louisville earn everything it could. The Cardinals ran 18 times for minus-nine yards in the second half, and threw for 181 yards and an interception. Both teams ended with three costly turnovers apiece.
"We've been here before, we just have to stick together as a team," NCSU senior outside linebacker Payton Wilson said. "There is no team that wins when it is offense vs. defense.
"We just have to continue to love each other and play for each other."
Louisville found a way to get a touchdown on quarterback Jack Plummer’s deep toss to Chris Bell for a 39-yard score, and junior kicker Brock Travelstead made a 33-yard field goal and then boomed a 53-yard to win the game with 5:32 left in the game.
Doeren knows that leadership is easy during the good times, but now guys will have to lead during tough times.
“We have to stick together and pull together,” Doeren said. “We have to do an incredible job of helping them through that and putting them into position to be more successful. That is what our responsibility is.”
NC State went through all the key check points in building a 10-0 halftime lead.
A key fake punt had Wilson run for three yards and a first down, which kept alive the drive. That eventually led to redshirt junior running back Delbert Mimms rushing four yards for the first points of the game with 6:27 left in the second quarter.
The Wolfpack got a key interception from redshirt junior cornerback Shyheim Battle, which led to senior kicker Brayden Narveson making a 48-yard field to end the half.
NC State’s defense had just one sack, which was also a UL turnover. Safety Sean Brown blitzed freely and sacked and stripped UL quarterback Plummer for a 15-yard loss, with Wilson recovering the ball at the NCSU 47-yard line. However, that drive stalled.
Brown, who was on his way to an elite game, later got ejected for targeting, leading NC State to play its third-string safety for much of the second half in senior Rakeim Ashford.
“Sean is playing well and he played well last week too,” Doeren said. “It is unfortunate he was ejected on that hit. I thought it was a great tackle.”
Making Louisville’s offense one-dimensional helped lead to the aggressive blitzing against the slow-footed Plummer. NC State finished with four sacks, eight tackles for loss and six quarterback hurries in the game.
Wilson said defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Tony Gibson has created a culture of players giving their all every game. Wilson proved to be the catalyst, with one of his best games in an NC State uniform. He finished with 10 tackles, two sacks, and pass broken up.
“Payton is playing at a high level,” Doeren said. “He said some really powerful things down there to the team. He is playing at a high level and leading at a high level.”
NC State will get back to a normal Saturday schedule, hosting 3-0 Marshall at 2 p.m. on the CW Network. The Thundering Herd have wins over Albany, East Carolina and Virginia Tech, with a home contest against Old Dominion on Saturday. Brown will have to miss the first half against Marshall.
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