Entering Saturday’s contest between No. 23 NC State and No. 14 North Carolina, the biggest unknown for the Wolfpack started at the quarterback position.

When redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary broke his fibula late in the third quarter of the 31-20 home win over Duke, the Pack likely lost its starting signal caller for the rest of the season.

Next up on the depth chart was redshirt junior Bailey Hockman, who made his third start of the year Saturday in the Pack’s 48-21 loss to UNC.

Had the coaching staff learned before the game that they would get a 27-of-44 passing performance for 358 yards and two touchdowns from the quarterback position, they likely would have felt good about their chances Saturday afternoon.

That didn’t matter, however. The Pack lost the turnover margin 4-0 and was gashed by North Carolina’s run game on defense. We’ll get to that.

Despite the disappointment of a lopsided defeat to an archrival, NC State had to be encouraged by the production that came from the passing game at times.

The Wolfpack offense started slowly in Kenan Memorial Stadium. It picked up just one first down in its first three possessions with Hockman under center, all of which ended with punts.

UNC jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead and the Pack decided to put freshman Ben Finley into the game.

Finley, the younger brother of former NC State and current Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ryan Finley, came in to begin the fourth drive with 11:59 remaining in the second quarter and immediately gave the offense a new wind.

According to NC State head coach Dave Doeren, it was the plan all along.

“Ben went in and kind of sparked us there in the first half and I was happy to see that,” Doeren said. “Our plan was to play him in one series in the first half. Obviously, we didn't do much in the first two series. He came in and sparked us and we stayed with him.”

He opened with an eight-play, 61-yard drive which should have ended with a 14-yard touchdown to pull the Pack within one score.

Instead, Finley’s pass on first-and-goal was bobbled in the end zone by fifth-year senior tight end Dylan Parham which allowed North Carolina defensive back Don Chapman to intercept it for a touchback.

After a 13-play, 75-yard drive by the Tar Heels which ended in a 22-yard missed field goal attempt, Finley was able to put the Pack on the scoreboard on the ensuing possession.

With 54 seconds remaining in the first half, the freshman connected with senior wide receiver Emeka Emezie for a 42-yard touchdown pass to make it a 14-7 game.

A late second-quarter field goal from UNC made it a 10-point deficit before heading to the locker room but the Wolfpack stuck with Finley to begin the second half. After moving the chains twice on NC State’s first possession of the third quarter, the freshman threw his second interception of the day on a pass that was tipped by Tar Heels linebacker Tyrone Hopper.

Finley’s next two drives ended with a punt and a fumble on a sack inside the NC State 10-yard line.

“His inexperience showed up,” Doeren said. “The plan was to have [Hockman] start and finish the game and get Ben some game reps because he's one play away from being the quarterback. He did some good things, did some bad things and he'll learn a lot from the game today.”

Finley finished the afternoon completing 13 of 20 passes for 143 yards and one touchdown but three turnovers, two of which were arguably beyond his control.

Down 38-7 with 1:27 remaining in the third quarter, Hockman came back in and led the Pack on a four-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. By that point, however, the game was out of reach.

“I told Bailey at halftime, 'You've done nothing wrong. You're going to get another opportunity,'” Doeren said. “He came in and played really well, I was proud of him.”

Hockman put together a solid second-half performance which included two touchdown drives. He finished the game completing 14 of 24 passes for 215 yards, one passing touchdown, one rushing touchdown and one interception.

Not including sacks, North Carolina ran for 347 yards and averaged 6.7 yards per carry.

Following a three-week stretch in which the Wolfpack’s run defense held opponents to an average of 101 yards per game, the Tar Heels starting running back duo combined for 266 yards on the ground.

UNC junior running back Javonte Williams had 160 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries and senior running back Michael Carter added 106 yards for one score on 17 attempts.

The Wolfpack coach admitted the defensive breakdown boiled down to one key element.

“Missed tackles more than anything,” Doeren explained. “What happens in the course of the game is you're fitting things well, then you don't. As a coordinator you start calling different things to stop it, then as a player, sometimes you start trying to do someone else's job.

“There were some plays in the first half where I just didn't feel like we got off blocks. We had guys in the right spots and didn't get off blocks… It doesn't matter what you call, if you have unblocked players at the ball and they miss the tackle, it's not going to be a good defense.”

Typically a team known for its explosive playmaking, North Carolina’s longest offensive play netted just 32 yards.

Instead, the Tar Heels were able to methodically drive down the field with 34 first downs and control the time of possession 39:08 to 20:52.

“It's very disappointing,” Doeren said. “It's been something that we've put a lot of time into. We fitted the run well throughout the week in practice, but just didn't get it done.”

Since bringing out the new “Takeaway Bone” for the Virginia game, the NC State defense forced seven turnovers including six interceptions in its past two contests.

The Wolfpack was unable to force a single turnover Saturday afternoon, however. It also gave up four of its own which allowed North Carolina to score 14 points off of takeaways.

“Like I told them in the locker room, if you don't stop the run and you turn the football over, it's a really hard day,” Doeren said. “And that's what happened.”

Now NC State will go back to the drawing board as it enters a bye week before hosting Miami in 13 days on Friday, Nov. 6.

“Our team needs a bye week, I'm glad one is coming,” Doeren said. “Give Carolina credit, I thought they played well. We got to play better, got to coach better.

“They're not going to quit. That's one thing about these guys, they're not going to quit. It's a great group of young men and they're going to play hard. We just didn't play good enough to win, didn't give ourselves a chance with the turnovers.”

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