Published Nov 22, 2020
Quick hits from NC State's win over No. 21 Liberty
Matt Carter  •  TheWolfpackCentral
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Here are quick hits and notes from NC State football's 15-14 home win over No. 21 Liberty in front of a limited crowd at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh Saturday evening:

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Beating a ranked team

Head coach Dave Doeren picked up his fourth win over a ranked opponent during his eight-year tenure at NC State, joining triumphs in 2017 at No. 11 Florida State (27-21) and home against No. 17 Louisville (39-25) and a 30-29 victory at No. 24 Pittsburgh earlier this season.

It is worth noting that Doeren has also had a series of close calls against top-25 competition as well. In his first year, a controversial call about receiver Bryan Underwood being out of bounds on what appeared to be a touchdown run loomed large in the final outcome of a 26-14 home loss to No. 3 Clemson.

A year later, the Wolfpack jumped out to a 24-7 lead on No. 1 and defending national champion Florida State at home before falling 56-41 in a shootout. A somewhat similar game, and the exact score, occurred a year later against No. 3 Clemson in Carter-Finley Stadium.

In 2016, there was a famous overtime loss at No. 3 Clemson (24-17) and also a close call at home when a dropped interception in the end zone likely would have sealed a win in what was instead a 24-20 loss to No. 19 FSU.

NC State went down to the last play in 2017 at home against No. 6 Clemson, too, before losing 38-31. Then earlier this season it had a 10-point lead against No. 11 Miami evaporate in the final minutes.

The potential good news for next week's game at Syracuse? The Wolfpack has won all three times the following game after its previous wins over ranked opposition under Doeren.

Prolific defense, not-so prolific offense

NC State finished Saturday with just 321 total yards of offense, easily its fewest in a game this year. The previous low had been 355 yards in a home win over Duke on Oct. 17.

The major reason for that was just 154 passing yards against Liberty, which was also a season-low and just the second time this season it was under 200 yards, joining the 193 yards in a shootout win over Wake Forest in the season-opener. The Pack also managed to rush for 270 yards though in that victory over the Demon Deacons.

Against Liberty, the Wolfpack piled up 167 yards on the ground, which was actually the third most in a game this year and most since it had 179 yards in a win at Virginia on Oct. 10.

However, the defense stepped up by allowing just 279 total yards, bettering the previous best on the year of giving up 319 yards in the aforementioned game against the Blue Devils.

Liberty star quarterback, redshirt junior Malik Willis, had just one interception in his previous eight games before throwing three against NC State. Willis had completed at least 61.9 percent of his passes in all but one game previously, and in six contests he had connected on at least two-thirds of his attempts.

On Saturday, Willis was just 13-of-32 passing (40.6 percent), and his 172 yards was a season-low.

As a team, Liberty has had at least 400 yards of total offense in seven of its previous eight games, including 466 yards at Virginia Tech and 520 yards at Syracuse. NC State was the first team to hold the Flames under 350 yards in a game.

The three picks for the Wolfpack marked the third time it had done that this season, joining the wins over Virginia and Duke. Redshirt junior linebacker Isaiah Moore also picked up the Wolfpack's first safety in a game since a win at UNC in 2010.

Welcoming back, briefly, Tanner Ingle

This is just not proving to be junior safety Tanner Ingle's year. The team captain played only two snaps in the opener against Wake Forest before leaving with a hamstring injury that led to him missing the ensuing Virginia Tech contest.

He was then ejected for targeting in the first half of the win at Virginia before aggravating his injury against Duke, costing him to miss the next three games. In his return Saturday, Ingle had his second ejection of the season, being dismissed for targeting in the first half.

Ingle had assisted on a tackle for loss up to that point.

Inactives List

The following scholarship players were not active for tonight's game.

Sophomore safety Rakeim Ashford

Freshman receiver Jalen Coit

Redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Derrick Eason

Freshman nickel Jalen Frazier

Senior corner Chris Ingram

Redshirt junior defensive tackle Dante Johnson

Freshman defensive end Claude Larkins

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary

Redshirt freshman offensive tackle Zovon Lindsay

Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Timothy McKay

Sixth-year senior offensive tackle Tyrone Riley

Junior corner Teshaun Smith

Ashford, McKay and Smith have been ruled out for the season, while Leary and Martin are likely in that category as well. Ingram and Frazier have not played this year after suffering injuries that date back to last spring and fall, respectively.

This is the fourth consecutive game that Riley has missed, and depth at offensive tackle was thin with Eason and Lindsay also out, the latter for the first time this year.

What The Win Means

NC State is 6-3 overall and 5-3 in the ACC, while Liberty is 8-1.

Dave Doeren passed Dick Sheridan for the second most wins in program history with 53. Earle Edwards has the most with 77.

NC State has now won both games against the Flames in the series history. The two teams do not have any matchups lined up for the future.

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