Here are quick hits and notes from NC State football's 48-21 loss at UNC in front of a limited crowd at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill Saturday afternoon:

UNC's Mack Brown has scored two lopsided wins against NC State since he returned for his second stint as head coach of the Tar Heels, and the third quarter proved to be the killer ones for the Wolfpack both times.

NC State was hanging on by a thread at halftime Saturday, down 17-7 and fortunate enough to be only down 10. But after getting a defensive stop, the Wolfpack had an opportunity to close the gap to a single possession. Instead, freshman quarterback Ben Finley was intercepted on a tipped pass in UNC territory, and the Heels scored three unanswered touchdowns before the Pack closed out the quarter with a score.

At the start of the fourth quarter, UNC was leading 38-14.

A year ago, the Pack had a 10-6 lead at halftime before UNC unloaded in the third quarter, outscoring NC State 28-0 to take a 34-10 advantage into the fourth.

Finley was the most notable class of 2020 player to take snaps, completing 13 of 20 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown with two picks, both of which came off deflections. He also fumbled.

Granted, it came all against UNC’s reserves and late in a game already decided, but a pair of true freshman receivers caught their first career passes. Anthony Smith ended the game with four receptions for 63 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown. Christopher Scott Jr. hauled in a pair of passes for 49 yards, including a 34-yarder.

Another true freshman wideout, Porter Rooks, had four catches for 48 yards, while true freshman walk-on tight end Andrew Jayne snared a five-yard reception.

Defensively, nickel Joshua Pierre-Louis had six tackles while safety Devan Boykin added three. Defensive lineman Nick Booker-Brown had a tackle for loss.

Interestingly, this is just the second time in Dave Doeren's eight years at NC State that the Wolfpack had a winning record in the month of October, going 3-1. The other time was when it went 2-1 in 2017 en route to a 9-4 final record.

Here is how Doeren's teams have done pre- and post-byes at NC State (only including regular season and not bowls).

The following scholarship players were not on the active list for the UNC game:

Sophomore safety Rakeim Ashford

Freshman offensive lineman Anthony Carter Jr.

Freshman receiver Jalen Coit

Freshman receiver Joshua Crabtree

Redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Derrick Eason

Redshirt freshman nickel Jalen Frazier

Junior safety Tanner Ingle

Senior corner Chris Ingram

Redshirt junior defensive lineman Dante Johnson

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary

Redshirt freshman safety Khalid Martin

Redshirt freshman offensive tackle Timothy McKay

Freshman safety Nehki Meredith

Freshman linebacker Jayland Parker

Redshirt sophomore running back Trent Pennix

Redshirt sophomore receiver Jasiah Provillon

Sixth-year senior offensive tackle Tyrone Riley

Junior corner Teshaun Smith

Freshman tight end Ezemdi Udoh

Returning to the active list was fifth-year senior offensive tackle Justin Witt, who had missed three straight games, and redshirt freshman defensive tackle Joshua Harris, who missed the win over Duke last Saturday. Witt, though, did not start. Harris returned to his normal role on the goal line.

However, NC State was without Ingle, a team captain and leader of the secondary, for the first time since a week two loss at Virginia Tech.

Among the list above, Ashford, McKay and Smith have been officially lost for the year, while Leary and Martin are also likely gone for the remainder of the regular season. Ingram and Frazier have also missed every game with injury-related issues.

This is the first game that Riley, a starter in the first five contests, has missed.

NC State is 4-2 overall and in the ACC, while UNC is 4-1 in both.

Doeren is now 4-4 against his archival and loses for the first time in four trips to Kenan Stadium.

The Pack now enters the bye week before hosting Miami on a Friday night, while North Carolina plays at Virginia on Halloween.

——

• Talk about it inside The Wolves' Den

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook