Quick hits from NC State's loss to No. 19 Texas A&M
Quick hits and notes from NC State’s 52-13 loss to No. 19 Texas A&M in front of 38,206 fans at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla. Monday evening.
Ryan Finley watch
The final chapter of the sixth-year senior quarterback’s career ended on a down note. He completed 19 of 32 passes for just 139 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions, including one pick-six.
Finley finished his career at NC State having completed 881 of 1,365 pass attempts (64.5 percent) for 10,505 yards and 60 touchdowns with just 25 interceptions. His completion percentage breaks Philip Rivers’ school record for highest ever, and he moved past Jamie Barnette for fourth place in career TD passes.
Finley’s year-long total of 326 pass completions and 3,928 passing yards were third most at NC State for a single campaign, while his 67.4 percent completion percentage was second highest and his 25 touchdown passes tied for sixth.
NC State was simply outclassed
• Texas A&M ran for 401 yards in the game. That alone would be good enough to be the seventh-highest yardage allowed for total offense by the Pack defense this year. It crushes the previous high for rushing yards allowed of 254 yards against Louisville, which is far above the third-highest mark of 163 yards in the opener by James Madison.
The 541 total yards by the Aggies trails only the 561 gained by Syracuse for the most allowed this season by the Wolfpack.
• Offensively, NC State mustered just 273 total yards, 24 yards fewer than its loss at Clemson for the season low. The only other game in which the offense did not reach 400 yards this year was against James Madison when it had 392. The same offense reached 500 yards of offense six times this year.
• The ultimate bottom line numbers: the 52 points were the most allowed in a bowl game by NC State, and it was the largest bowl defeat in program history.
Other notes on seniors
One record of Rivers’ that fell Monday: senior punter A.J. Cole passed him for the most career starts (52). Cole matched his career high with a 72-yard punt, the third time he’s done that. Cole becomes the first NC State punter to have three punts of at least 70 yards.
He closes the season averaging 42.4 yards per punt, and his career average of 42.2 yards is the third highest in program history.
Running back Reggie Gallaspy Jr. added 14 carries for 79 yards, giving him 228 rushes for 1,091 yards on the year. Those are the third-most carries and 10th-most rushing yards in a single season in school history.
Defensive end Darian Roseboro also played his best game of the season, tallying three tackles for loss and breaking up a pass at the line of scrimmage that would be picked off by senior defensive tackle Eurndraus Bryant for his one and only career interception.
Spotted at the game
NFL scouts from the Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins, Miami Dolphins, Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers were credentialed for the game. Also spotted on the sideline was former Pack player and current Miami Dolphins starting guard Ted Larsen.
True freshmen vs. redshirt freshmen watch
Here’s a rundown of how many games the Wolfpack true freshmen have played. They can play up to four games before burning their redshirt (players with asterisk were listed on the Texas A&M game participation report in the box score).
Kicker Christopher Dunn, nickel Tanner Ingle, defensive tackle Alim McNeill, running back Ricky Person Jr., cornerback Teshaun Smith, cornerback De’Von Graves and safety Tyler Baker-Williams had previously burned their redshirts.
The game participation report said that linebacker C.J. Hart played, and if that proves correct (there have been mistakes on game participation reports in the past), then Hart would have burned his redshirt.
Kicker Christopher Dunn — 13 games*
Nickel Tanner Ingle — 13 games*
Defensive tackle Alim McNeill — 13 games*
Cornerback Teshaun Smith — 11 games*
Running back Ricky Person Jr. — Nine games
Safety Tyler Baker-Williams — Eight games*
Cornerback De’Von Graves — Eight games
Linebacker C.J. Hart — Five games*
Wide receiver Devin Carter — Four games*
Running back Trent Pennix — Four games
Defensive end Derrick Eason — Three games
Defensive end Joe Boletepeli — Two games
Cornerback Malik Dunlap — Two games
Defensive end Joe Babros — One game
Wide receiver Jasiah Provillon — One game
What the loss means
For the second straight year, NC State finished the season 9-4. The last time NCSU had back-to-back nine-win seasons was 1990-91. The Pack lost its first-ever matchup with Texas A&M.
NC State is 3-2in bowl games in six seasons under head coach Dave Doeren, and 4-2 in the month of December (the latter includes this year's regular-season finale against ECU). For all the chagrin about noon starts, the Pack finished 7-0 this season in games that began in the noon hour and 2-4 in games that started past that hour.
NCSU falls to 16-14-1 all time in bowl games.
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