Quick hits from NC State football's 24-13 win over James Madison

At game time, with the official start of just two minutes past noon, the temperature was 87 degrees. During the afternoon, the themometer rose to 92 degrees with a heat index of 102. Players were seemingly dropping like flies at times, and head coach Dave Doeren joked that he was going to try to find a better prayer to ask for cooler temperatures next weekend when NC State has a 12:30 p.m. kickoff against Georgia State.

The forecast will undeniably change between now and then, but early indications are temps reaching 90 throughout the week and approaching that again Saturday.

Dominant receiving corps

The most notable individual performance belonged to redshirt junior receiver Jakobi Meyers, who caught 14 passes for 161 yards. Those numbers all shattered his previous career-highs. He was one away from tying Torry Holt (in 1998 against Wake Forest) and Jaylen Samuels (last season versus South Carolina) for catches in a game at NC State.

A couple more more wideouts had good afternoons, but perhaps not the two expected.

Redshirt sophomore C.J. Riley caught four passes for 45 yards, including his first career touchdown. It was a personal best in receptions and matched his top effort in yards. Sophomore Emeka Emezie added five catches for 60 yards, tying his career-high in receptions.

The debuts

• Redshirt freshman defensive end Ibrahim Kante was credited with two sacks and a forced fumble, although one sack and forced fumble on JMU quarterback Ben DiNucci may have been incorrectly credited to him instead of fifth-year senior defensive end Deonte Holden.

• Freshman defensive tackle Alim McNeill knocked down a pass at the line of scrimmage.

• Redshirt freshman linebacker Isaiah Moore had 10 tackles in his start at linebacker, including six solo.

• Freshman Tanner Ingle started at nickel and had four tackles, including the hit of the game.

• Redshirt junior and former junior college transfer Larrell Murchison had four tackles, including 1.5 for loss. He started at defensive tackle.

• Junior college transfer corner Kishawn Miller had two tackles.

• Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Grant Gibson assisted on a tackle.

• Redshirt freshman receiver Thayer Thomas returned a punt for 40 yards and then had a 16-yard touchdown reception.

• Freshman running backs Ricky Person Jr., Trent Pennix and Tyler Baker-Williams had limited success. Person ran six times for five yards, Pennix carried twice for a yard and Baker-Williams was dropped for a six-yard loss before fumbling after making a catch.

• Redshirt freshman left guard Bryson Speas received snaps after fifth-year senior starter Terronne Prescod was banged up and left for a few plays.

• Freshman kicker Christopher Dunn made a 25-yard field goal but missed a 43-yarder.

Ryan Finley watch

The sixth-year senior quarterback completed 29 of 43 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns. That was Finley’s 11th 300-yard game, one away from tying Russell Wilson for second most in school history behind Philip Rivers’ 19.

Finley needs 114 yards to become the fifth quarterback in school history to reach 7,000 yards passing. The two touchdowns moved him to within one of Terry Harvey for sixth most at NC State.

Finley moved past former Pack quarterback Mike Glennon into fourth all-time in total offense with 7,170 yards.

Defensive performances of note

In addition to the strong debuts of Kante and Moore, there were some other noteworthy standouts.

Fifth-year senior linebacker Germaine Pratt led the Pack with 12 tackles, a career-high, and just his second double-digit tackle performance. He had 10 last season against UNC.

Redshirt junior safety Jarius Morehead had 10 tackles, like Pratt his second career double-digit effort. Morehead was one off his career-high tally last fall against Louisville.

Redshirt junior defensive end James Smith-Williams, who left the game for a few plays after getting hurt but returned, had two tackles for losses among his seven overall hits. Smith-Williams had 2.5 career tackles for loss entering Saturday.

Junior corner Nick McCloud’s nine tackles were a career-best for him.

Spotted at the game

The most notable uncommitted recruiting targets in attendance were sophomore linebacker Jack Hollifield from Shelby (N.C.) High and junior linebacker Mohamed Kaba from Clinton (N.C.) High. Both have been offered by NC State.

Many of the in-state commits were also in attendance.

Receiving sideline passes were a pair of new Pack pros from last year’s Wolfpack defensive line: Denver Broncos’ Bradley Chubb and New York Giants’ B.J. Hill. Both were shown to the crowd during the game.

What the win means

NC State is 1-0 and James Madison is 0-1. The Wolfpack is 6-0 in home openers under head coach Dave Doeren and has an active nine-game home-opener winning streak. It is also 5-1 in season openers with Doeren as coach.

Since Doeren took over in 2013, the Pack is 16-4 in the month of September and 14-1 overall in non-conference home contests. It is 20-5 in non-ACC games. The Pack remains undefeated at 20-0 when holding opponents to less than 20 points under Doeren.