Notebook: NC State cruises in 38-22 win over Florida State

NC State defeated Florida State 38-22 Saturday night in Carter-Finley Stadium but the game was not as close as the final score would indicate.

The Wolfpack (5-3, 5-3 ACC) scored five of the first six touchdowns in the contest and outgained the Seminoles (2-6, 1-6 ACC) 335-to-190 in yards of total offense after three quarters.

The win ended a two-game losing streak for the Wolfpack and gave NC State its first victory in nearly a month since beating Duke 31-20 on Oct. 17.

“It's hard when you lose a game like we did against Miami, when you invest so much and come up short, to be able to do it over,” NC State head coach Dave Doeren said. “I was really proud of them, the way that they put it all back in and invested. We started fast offensively and defensively. I thought we really played a clean first half.

“There were a lot of things that were fun to watch. Happy to get the W. It's great to be back in the win column. I look forward to what that does for our guys mentally moving forward.”

The Pack was also able to pull out the Takeaway Bone for the first time since the mid-October victory over the Blue Devils. After failing to force a single turnover in the past two contests, the Wolfpack claimed two takeaways including one interception and one fumble.

Junior nickel Tyler Baker-Williams came down with the first interception of his career on a pass thrown by Florida State’s back-up quarterback Tate Rodemaker with nine seconds remaining in the first half.

NC State was able to convert its second turnover, a fumbled punt recovery by Florida State at the Seminoles 45 yard-line with 3:33 remaining in the third quarter, into points. The Wolfpack scored a touchdown five plays later to grow its lead to 26, the largest of the night.

It didn’t take long for redshirt junior receiver Thayer Thomas to get involved in what turned out to be a career night for the 6-0, 195-pounder.

Thomas was targeted on six of the Pack’s first eight pass attempts and caught all of them. In the first three offensive drives, he reeled in eight receptions for 78 yards and one touchdown.

Thomas finished with 11 receptions for 135 yards, both career-highs. He also had two receiving touchdowns, which tied his career-high for most in a single game.

Thomas’ 11-reception performance Saturday marked the first time a Wolfpack receiver has come down with at least 10 passes in a single contest since Emeka Emezie’s 12-catch game at West Virginia last season.

His 135 receiving yards marked an individual season-high for the team this fall and tied for 10th all-time in school history for a single game.

“I've always had confidence in myself,” Thomas said. “My second career game here, I had over 100 yards, so I feel like I was always capable of doing stuff like that. The opportunities that come my way, I just got to make the most of them.

“I just put my head down every day in practice and go to work. The whole quarantine, I took very seriously and I prepared for this game, this season. I feel like it's paying off at the moment, so we just got to keep doing what we're doing and continue to work hard, put our head down and finish the season strong.”

His second touchdown, a 24-yard score off of a screen pass, gave NC State a 35-9 lead with 2:09 remaining in the third quarter, its largest of the night.

He was also the Wolfpack most efficient pass catcher Saturday. He came down with 11 of the 12 balls thrown his way and was routinely left open between the seams by the Florida State defense.

“They were just giving us the slants inside,” Doeren said. “The way people play us, there's obviously a progression in different route concepts. We were expecting a certain form of quarters coverage. When the Mike went in a certain direction, he was going to go back to the other side where Thayer was.”

Thomas appears to have developed a rhythm with redshirt junior quarterback Bailey Hockman, who made his fifth start of 2020 for the Wolfpack Saturday. All three of his touchdowns this season have been thrown by Hockman.

“He's a great player and he works his butt off every day,” Hockman said. “I'm lucky to have him as a teammate. Last week, he had one catch for nine yards. I told him after practice this week, 'I'm coming to you, I got you bro. He told me, 'Let's just keep working, we're going to get it," It just happens and sometimes that's how it goes. I'm proud of him, he did a great job.”

“This whole year, the quarterback, receivers, we've been practicing butt off,” Thomas said. “I feel like on Saturdays, it's showing off. One guy might have a good game one game, and then the other guy in the other game. We're practicing so hard, we're reaping the rewards from it.”

Hockman was NC State’s honorary game captain Saturday night and played like one.

The southpaw quarterback completed 24 of 34 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns, both career-highs.

A hot start was key. Heading into the locker room at halftime, Hockman was 17-for-21 for 193 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 10 yards on five carries including one touchdown in the opening half.

“He was on fire early, he was very accurate,” Doeren said. “He had a great week of practice. That's why he's one of our game captains today. He was very well prepared. He knew what he was looking at, he knew where to go with the football and he threw on time.

“They max blitzed him in two empties. He had an unblocked guy coming right at him and he was able to work the ball, arm angle wise, to open guys and convert. When your quarterback is playing like that, and you get off to a good start, it gives a lot of people on the sideline confidence. I'm excited for him and the progression that he's made these last two weeks.”

Saturday marked the second consecutive game for Hockman in which he achieved a career-high in passing yards and touchdowns. Last Friday in the 44-41 loss to Miami, Hockman threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns.

Playing the Seminoles tends to bring out something extra in Hockman. The 6-2, 200-pounder is a transfer from Florida State that originally committed to play for former FSU coach Jimbo Fisher out of high school.

He also played his first significant snaps for the Wolfpack in Tallahassee in 2019 and had a season-high 208 yards in that contest.

“If you're playing the school you committed to, went to and loved, it definitely is a little personal,” Hockman said. “It's no type of revenge or anything like that, hats off to them. I hope they become a great program and continue to keep going. It was just great to get the win.”

Thomas was the biggest benefactor of Hockman’s success against the Seminoles. He accounted for 11 of the quarterback’s 24 completions.

“It's all about reps,” Thomas said. “With Devin [Leary] playing, they were sort of rotating. He would get half the reps, Devin would get half the reps with the ones. Obviously, we were trying to get both quarterbacks in there to see what they can do. It's even hard for receivers to build chemistry with the quarterback when he's constantly being switched like that.

“Devin had a stable three week period, you saw his growth from week to week. At practice, he was with the ones for a decent amount of time, so we saw him his growth. Now we're seeing Bailey's growth with the consistency of him running with the ones everyday at practice. That's just helping his confidence and building our chemistry even more.”

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