NC State weekly offense notebook: Matthew McKay is okay with competition
NC State football redshirt sophomore quarterback Matthew McKay has probably learned a lot over the past month, which included his first four games as a starter for the Wolfpack.
He has completed 83 of 143 passes for 890 yards with three touchdowns and one pick, while adding 22 rushes for 68 yards and four scores. However, he understands the need to be more consistent.
McKay has also understood that until he locks down the position with his play over backups redshirt sophomore Bailey Hockman and redshirt freshman Devin Leary that he cannot necessarily take the starting job for granted.
“There’s always competition,” McKay said. “Competition with them, competition with yourself.”
McKay is learning, though, what he needs to do to improve. For instance, at West Virginia, where McKay completed less than half of his passes (23 of 48 for 207 yards), he gained a better appreciation for situational football.
“Converting on third downs, stopping plays from being drive-stoppers, taking the layups, and taking what they give you,” McKay listed. “Don’t force anything.”
When McKay was rolling in the second quarter against Ball State, NC State played at a faster tempo during which he felt more comfortable.
“I like tempo, I like playing with tempo, especially when the o-line is moving with tempo,” McKay said. "...I definitely feel like that is something I could play well with.”
Last week, McKay was just 1-of-8 passing for one yard in the second half. This came after the offense in general struggled to move the football after halftime at West Virginia.
The lessons learned during those second-half struggles?
“It’s all about focus,” he said. “Just focus on the little things, eliminating the pre-snap penalties and just doing our jobs. That’s the main thing.”
Cecil Powell Adjusting To New Wide Receiver Role
Learning new positions is never easy, regardless of age, but freshman Cecil Powell has played both defensive back and wide receiver during his short time at NC State.
Powell arrived in August and was originally thought to be playing in the secondary, but he is now a full-time wide receiver for the Wolfpack. Part of that is because redshirt junior starter C.J. Riley suffered a season-ending torn ACL during the season opener. Powell has not only moved to Riley’s position, but he ironically also has a No. 19 jersey, like Riley.
Powell has caught one pass for eight yards in his 11 offensive snaps this season.
“Whatever helps the team, I’m down for it," Powell said.
Powell was a bit of a late bloomer at Sunrise (Fla.) Piper High, but he rode a big senior year to earn an NC State offer and committed Feb. 6. The one-time Baylor pledge picked the Wolfpack over offers from Indiana, Kansas and Louisville.
Learning multiple positions in college isn’t easy, but the full-time switch to wide receiver will help ease some of the pressure. He still considers himself a defensive back and “loves defense” more than anything in football.
“It has been difficult but I just have to put my mind into it and stay focused,” Powell said. “They are helping me out all the way. [The veterans] say to stay focused, make sure I do what I have to do and keep my head on. To listen to the coaches and do what they say, and it will all work out.”
Powell’s time at Piper High helped prepare him for a jack-of-all-trades kind of role. The track star had 45 tackles, eight interceptions (one pick-six), four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries on defense his senior year.
He also returned 11 kickoffs for an average of 38.0 yards with one TD, caught eight passes for 198 yards and two scores, and ran for a touchdown.
“I played half the season [at wide receiver],” Powell said. “I wanted to help the team.”
Powell figures at least four members of his family will make the trip to Tallahassee for the NC State at Florida State game. He is friends with FSU freshman defensive back Akeem Dent.
Maybe at some point Powell will get to play offense and defense in the same game, which was part of the recruiting pitch coming out of high school.
“I prefer both, but I love defense and will forever be a DB,” Powell said.
Ricky Person Jr. Preaches Preparation
NC State is riding a two-game winning streak in the series against Florida State. A year ago it rolled to a 47-28 win at home, and a big part of that offensive success was then-true freshman running back Ricky Person Jr.
The former Rivals100, four-star recruit from Heritage High in Wake Forest, N.C., didn’t necessarily gash the Seminoles defense. He rushed 17 times for 42 yards, which is a less-than-impressive 2.5 yards per carry. Most of the load was done by then-senior Reggie Gallaspy Jr., who rushed 21 times for 106 yards.
But in the red zone, Person produced when it mattered most. He ran for two touchdowns and caught a short pass for a third score, a two-yarder that was his lone reception of the game.
“It just came with the preparation,” Person recalled. “That comes from watching film all week. I hope to repeat the same every weekend, but it just came with preparation.”
Being prepared may matter even more to Person this year. The arrival of a pair of talented true freshmen in Zonovan Knight, who like Person was a four-star signing, and Jordan Houston, a one-time Maryland commit who flipped to NC State after the coaching change in College Park, have created a true running back-by-committee approach thus far this year.
In NC State’s first road game at West Virginia, Knight ran 12 times for 72 yards and Person added 11 rushes for 52 yards, but it was Houston who got the lone rushing score. During last Saturday’s win over Ball State, Person got the heaviest load (17 rushes for 53 yards and a score) after Knight (eight carries for 36 yards) had an injury, but Houston also ran well with his carries, finishing with six rushes for 55 yards.
For the season, Knight leads the team with 269 rushing yards followed by Person (176) and then Houston (165).
Person credits running backs coach and co-offensive coordinator Des Kitchings with keeping the running backs room happy.
“We know when our turn is going to be,” Person said. “Coach communicates well with us about who’s going to be on the field and who’s not. That comes with everybody inside the room. We got playmakers, so playmakers got to get on the field.”
Person acknowledged that a rotation can make finding your rhythm challenging, but that’s when the preparation kicks in.
“It’s kind of hard, but it comes with the preparation,” Person said. “[If] we’re watching film and we’re practicing all week and doing the things we’re supposed to do — we’ll be ready.”
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