Quick hits and notes from NC State’s 28-26 loss at Georgia Tech in front of 38,198 fans at Bobby Dodd Stadium Thursday night in Atlanta.

NC State finished the night with 457 yards of total offense. It is the first time since the Pack went over 500 yards in each of the opening two weeks of the season that NCSU eclipsed 400 yards. Its previous high in an ACC game had been the 377 yards it posted last Saturday against Louisville.

NCSU also ran for 230 yards, almost 100 yards better better than any other ACC game and its second highest output of the year after the 309 yards against FCS opponent Western Carolina.

The 5.7 yards per play topped the 5.6 it had against Syracuse for the best mark in an ACC game.

Freshman running back Jordan Houston set a new career-high with 16 rushed for 89 yards, and he was just NCSU’s second-leading rusher on the night. Freshman Zonovan Knight ran 18 times for 100 yards and a score for his third 100-yard rushing game of his rookie season.

It was also redshirt freshman quarterback Devin Leary’s most efficient performance of the year. In his four prior games when he received extensive action, Leary had completed over 50 percent of his passes only once. He went 24-of-44 passing (54.5 percent) last Saturday against Louisville.

At Tech, Leary was 19 of 31 (61.3 percent) for 227 yards and a score. One of his favorite targets was fifth-year senior grad transfer Tabari Hines, who caught four passes for 88 yards, a new season-high in receiving yards. Hines had 74 yards rin the opener against East Carolina and since then had not exceeded 36 in a game.

The defense did not have a lot to be happy about after allowing Georgia Tech to gain season-highs 395 yards of total offense and 266 rushing yards.

But it did create something that has not been seen in NC State in a long time: a turnover. The Pack had forced/picked up zero turnovers in six prior ACC games. Against the Jackets, fifth-year senior Larrell Murchison recovered a pair of fumbles. It also nearly had an interception in the fourth quarter, but redshirt freshman Malik Dunlap could not hold onto the ball as he was falling to the ground.

When NC State makes mistakes, it tends to be ultra-costly. Redshirt sophomore receiver Thayer Thomas’ fumble on a muffed punt resulted in a costly end-of-half touchdown that loomed large at the end of the game.

That was NC State’s 17th turnover of the season. It entered this week tied for 81st out of 130 FBS teams in turnovers lost. Ironically one of the few ACC teams worse than them is Georgia Tech, who now has 19 turnovers after the two it had Thursday.

Another issue has been the red zone touchdown rate. NC State was at 50.0 percent before Thursday, tied with Georgia Tech and a couple others for 109th nationally and ahead of only UNC (48.7 percent) in the ACC.

On Thursday, Georgia Tech improved their percentage, but NC State did not. The Pack had to kick two field goals and also turned it over on downs in six red zone trips. The other three times it scored touchdowns.

The Yellow Jackers were 3 for 4 on getting touchdowns, with one of their fumbles ending the other possession.

We’ll keep a rundown in quick hits of how many games the Wolfpack true freshmen have played. They can play up to four games before burning their redshirt. An asterisk means they participated against Georgia Tech.

Linebacker Jaylon Scott played his fifth game and became the 10th true freshman to lose the redshirt. Defensive tackle Joshua Harris and guard Dylan McMahon are one game away from losing the redshirt. Neither played Thursday. Freshman running back Delbert Mimms did play for the first time this year according to the participation report.

• Offensive lineman Ikem Ekwonu — 11 games* (burned redshirt)

• Running back Jordan Houston — 11 games* (burned redshirt)

• Running back Zonovan Knight — 11 games* (burned redshirt)

• Long snapper Joe Shimko — 11 games* (burned redshirt)

• Linebacker Drake Thomas — 11 games* (burned redshirt)

• Safety Jakeen Harris — 10 games* (burned redshirt)

• Receiver Keyon Lesane — 10 games (burned redshirt)

• Defensive back Cecil Powell — 9 games* (burned redshirt)

• Defensive end Savion Jackson — 8 games (burned redshirt)

• Linebacker Jaylon Scott — 5 games* (burned redshirt)

• Defensive tackle Joshua Harris — 4 games

• Offensive lineman Dylan McMahon — 4 games

• Cornerback Shyheim Battle — 3 games

• Defensive end Terrell Dawkins — 3 games

• Offensive guard Timothy McKay — 2 games*

• Safety Khalid Martin — 2 games

• Defensive tackle C.J. Clark — 1 game

• Nickel Jalen Frazier — 1 game

• Running back Delbert Mimms — 1 game

NC State is 4-7 and 1-6 in the ACC. Georgia Tech is 3-8 and 2-6. Both teams will not be bowling this season. The Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series 20-10 and have won three in a row versus NC State. It is 11-4 against the Pack in Atlanta.

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