NC State's offense striving for more balance
NC State threw the ball 48 times and the running backs had a combined 12 carries in the Wolfpack’s 30-20 loss at Clemson last Saturday.
That’s a formula that won’t work well for NC State’s offense, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tim Beck acknowledged Wednesday.
“We were just really inconsistent, and some of the details,” Beck said. “We left some plays on the field and had some opportunities to make plays, critical plays, and we didn’t.
“Do I want to throw the ball 48 times against Clemson’s pass rush? Not really. It felt weird.”
Another season-long theme has been the struggle to throw the deep ball. Redshirt junior quarterback Devin Leary took four shots downfield against Clemson, completing one of them to redshirt junior wide receiver Devin Carter.
“Teams are playing us deeper this year,” Beck said. “Three of the first five games, you are getting a lot of two-high, deep shell where they are helping. They want you to throw the ball underneath and run it.
“My biggest critique of myself is that I need to learn to be patient and just keep taking what they give us.”
Beck said his instincts are to throw the ball down the field, but defenses are trying to take that away. Clemson did a 180-degree turn on its defensive philosophy following the 51-45 win over Wake Forest in double overtime.
“They aren’t giving us as many,” Beck said.
NC State will look to bounce back against an improved 4-1 Florida State squad at 8 p.m. Saturday on the ACC Network.
“They are big, fast, physical, very similar to Clemson,” Beck said. “They don’t do as much defensively, but what they do, they are good at. They just line up and play.”
Beck pointed out that redshirt sophomore defensive end Jared Verse, an Albany transfer, has made a quick impact on the Seminoles defense.
“He’s good and they have a good defensive line and good defense,” Beck said. “They are a good football team and a reason why they are 4-1.”
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