NC State expected playing at Louisville would be a defensive struggle and special teams would be big, and it was. However, playing at North Carolina could come to the Tar Heels offense vs. the Wolfpack defense Friday.
NC State coach Dave Doeren said the margin for error “isn’t much” with several starters injured and redshirt freshman Ben Finley and senior Jack Chambers are the quarterbacks. Doeren wasn’t going to say if freshman quarterback MJ Morris would play against North Carolina (9-2 overall, 6-1 ACC), which would likely leave Finley as the main signal caller due to his passing abilities.
“I don’t have any answers on medical things and I won’t talk about that this week,” Doeren said. “As far as Ben will play if that is where we are at, as well as Jack. Maybe both of them will play.
“We have four days and it is really nobody’s business the health of the roster right now.”
The Wolfpack moved Finley up from the scout team two weeks ago, and he responded by going 16-of-35 passing for 201 yards and a touchdown, plus an interception on the last play of the game.
“He threw some good balls in there and read the RPO game well,” Doeren said. “Going against our defense for 10 weeks [on scout team] probably helped him.”
Louisville also played with its backup quarterback, but got a spark from its running game and returned a kickoff for 98 yards for a touchdown. Doeren pointed out that the Wolfpack defense held Louisville from the end zone for nine possessions. Doing that against high-powered North Carolina won’t be easy, but Georgia Tech did supply a fresh new blueprint. The Yellow Jackets shocked the Tar Heels 21-17 in Chapel Hill on Saturday, and held them scoreless in the second half.
“I watched whole game on the way back [from Louisville] on the air plane, and multiple times since I’ve been home,” Doeren said. “UNC missed some opportunities and dropped some passes. Some of that was self-inflicted as well. You have to give Georgia Tech credit.”
Georgia Tech held star redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye to 202 passing yards and zero touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Josh Downs had just three catches for 31 yards and dropped what could have been the game-winning touchdown.
Doeren doesn’t like calling games like this their “Super Bowl.”
“Rivalry games are personal games,” Doeren said. “I think this will be our third in-state game with ECU, Wake [Forest] and UNC.”
Maye has thrown for 3,614 passing yards and 34 touchdowns, with four interceptions, and he’s rushed for a team-high 597 yards and five scores. Downs, the son of former NC State running back Gary Downs, has caught 77 passes for 878 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Doeren said with the shorter week, they have a good feel of what UNC offensive coordinator Phil Longo will do, based on facing him the last four years. He did see some differences with Maye at quarterback in place of three-year starter Sam Howell of the Washington Commanders. The Tar Heels allowed 49 sacks last year and 32 through 11 games.
“We are one of the best defenses in the ACC,” Doeren said. “We are going to go out there like we did against Wake Forest, against a really good offense.”
UNC has been winning the close games that they often lost last year. The defense has allowed at least 34 points in four games this season, including 61 against Appalachian State on Sept. 3. The Yellow Jackets played without their starting quarterback and rushed for 186 yards and three touchdowns.
“On defense, they’ve gotten better,” Doeren said. “They struggled early, but as the year has gone on, they’ve gotten better, better and better. They aren’t giving up as many points and explosive plays.”
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