NC State proved it could win in a different and exciting way Saturday.
NCSU pulled off a 48-41 victory over Marshall to improve to 4-2 overall, and a meeting at Duke next Saturday. Marshall suffered its first loss of the season to fall to 4-1.
NC State turned to sophomore quarterback MJ Morris to a myriad of results. NC State let Morris be his authentic self in his season debut and he had ups and downs. He went 17-of-32 passing for 265 yards, four touchdowns, but three interceptions.
“He gave us the spark we needed,” NCSU coach Dave Doeren said. “He’s a mentally tough young man. He’s going to respond.”
Doeren usually knows the value of a victory. In this one, it will lead to the excitement of a shoot-out, the dissection of Morris’ mistakes and if the defense got exposed. The truth is usually in the middle and the Wolfpack might look back at this game as a “one-off” but it is one they won.
A wild first quarter set the tone that this game wasn’t going to be anything like the defensive rock fights that NCSU played in defeating Virginia and barely losing to Louisville.
Some nice play-calling led to Morris throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Kevin Concepcion to tie the game up at 7-7.
The problem was that the reason Marshall went up 7-0 was due to Morris’ interception when he tried to complete a pass to Concepcion and it deflected into the hands of Marshall defensive back J.J. Roberts’ who returned it nine yards to the NCSU 29. That eventually sent up quarterback Cam Fancher rushing for a seven-yard touchdown with 11:14 left in the first quarter.
Then Morris’ start got even more complicated, when he threw a pick-six interception to Marshall nickel Josh Moten, who returned it 27 yards to give the Thundering Herd a 14-7 lead with 2:57 remaining in the first quarter.
“We put the defense in tough situations with three turnovers,” Doeren said.
Morris then settled down for the most part in the first half, which led to NC State getting a 18-yard touchdown run from redshirt junior running back Delbert Mimms, and Morris found a wide open Trent Pennix for a 39-yard touchdown. The Wolfpack had a 21-14 lead with 9:45 left in the second quarter.
That helped set the tone for a wild back and forth game, which NC State hadn’t been a part of this season, and a complete 180 from last week’s 13-10 loss to Louisville.
“They supported me and had my back, and that gave me a lot of confidence going into the game,” Morris said. “I had three turnovers that I’ll need to clean up. The emotions were high because I hadn’t played since Boston College [on Nov. 12, 2022].”
The end of the half almost showed the differences between the confidence Marshall coach Charles Huff and Doeren had in their offenses. NC State took over at its own 26-yard line with 2:34 left in the first half. Three conservative play calls later, the Wolfpack punted.
Marshall too lover at own 34-yard line with 1:49 left in the half and marched right down the field for a touchdown, with Fancher running it in from four yards. Marshall surged to a 24-21 lead with 26 seconds left in the half.
NC State had to rely on running backs Michael Allen, a sophomore, and Mimms with freshman Kendrick Raphael injured. Morris isn’t the runner Armstrong is, so a void had to get filled.
Allen got some great inside blocking and took off 37 yards untouched for a touchdown and that gave NC State a 28-24 lead. The Mimms-Allen duo combined for 24 carries for 135 yards and two touchdowns.
The various pop passes to Concepcion were very much like running plays, and he finished with eight catches for 102 yards and two scores.
Doeren said it was important to get the bal in Concepcion’s hands and having the running backs contribute in their own ways.
“He was electric running the ball, though they were counted as completions right now with what we are doing,” Doeren said.
Later Pennix had his second huge play when Marshall blew a coverage and he had a wide-open 62-yard touchdown. The two big touchdowns by Pennix felt redeeming considering he entered the game with eight catches for 37 yards.
“It was great to get Trent Pennix going in our offense,” Doeren said. “It was well designed plays called at the right time by [offensive coordinator] Coach [Robert] Anae and well executed by guys.”
Senior kicker Brayden Narveson tacked on a pair of field goals, and the pop pass returned with Concepcion getting an eight-yard touchdown, giving NC State 48-34 lead with 3:04 left.
Fancher tacked on a late touchdown pass, but NC State recovered the onside kick to end the wild back-and-forth. Fancher was the catalyst in many ways of the emotional contest. He was involved in 71 plays — 51 passing and 20 rushing — and he accounted for 340 yards of offense and four touchdowns.
Fancher was simply unpredictable in what he might do, which helped lead to him getting sacked six times, and he threw an interception. NCSU and Marshall tied at three turnovers apiece.
“That is fastest quarterback that I’ve ever played in my life,” said senior outside linebacker Payton Wilson, who had 14 tackles and one sack. “It’s awesome to play a quarterback like that because you never know what he’ll do. He’ll keep you on your toes. Big plays can be made — sacks, interceptions.”
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