Here are quick hits and notes from NC State football's 44-41 loss to Miami in front of a limited crowd at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh Friday evening:

Going into the bye week, NC State had started a different defensive lineup every week. That trend continued on Friday.

The Pack moved junior Tyler Baker-Williams from nickel to free safety to replace injured junior Tanner Ingle, and Baker-Williams responded in his first career start at safety by having a career-high 14 tackles, 10 of which were solo and one being a sack. He also broke up a pass.

Starting at nickel for the second time this year was true freshman Joshua Pierre-Louis, who also got the nod in the win at Virginia when Baker-Williams was quarantined. Pierre-Louis had eight tackles against Miami.

NC State also played without its second-leading tackler, sophomore linebacker Drake Thomas, who had started all of the previous six games. Redshirt junior Vi Jones took his place and had seven stops, assisting on one for a loss. It was Jones' third start of the season.

There was no reason given for Thomas' absence, but he was on the sideline in street clothes.

The question emerging from the game is, how hobbled is redshirt sophomore Malik Dunlap, who struggled to walk after getting injured in the fourth quarter? The secondary has been NC State's most hard-hit area with injures.

Here are the stats by quarter for NC State, which best shows how the offense lost its rhythm in the fourth and decisive quarter.

NC State junior kicker Christopher Dunn matched his career long by making a 53-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter in what would be the final points of the game for the Wolfpack.

Dunn also made a 42-yarder earlier in the contest, making him 7 for 9 on field goals this season, including 3 of 4 from 40-plus yards, with two makes being from 53. Overall in his career, he is 51 of 59 on field goal attempts and has yet to miss in 108 extra point tries.

The 11 points he scored Friday moved him past former running back Stan Fritts and kicker Josh Czajkowski into fourth place all time in career points scored at NC State with 261. Dunn also moved past former NFL kicker Mike Cofer into second for all-time made field goals at NC State. He needs just four to tie Niklas Sade for the most.

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

Sophomore safety Rakeim Ashford

Sixth-year senior tight end Dylan Autenrieth

Redshirt freshman nickel Jalen Frazier

Junior safety Tanner Ingle

Senior corner Chris Ingram

Redshirt junior defensive tackle Dante Johnson

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary

Redshirt freshman safety Khalid Martin

Redshirt freshman offensive tackle Timothy McKay

Redshirt sophomore receiver Jasiah Provillon

Sixth-year senior offensive tackle Tyrone Riley

Sophomore corner Teshaun Smith

Ashford, McKay and Smith have been ruled out for the season.

Leary and Martin could possibly end up in that group as well, while Ingram and Frazier have not been active all season. This was the fourth straight game Provillon missed with an injury, and second consecutive for Riley.

The key loss was Ingle, who missed his second straight game and third of the year. Ingle’s fellow co-captain, Autenrieth, was out for the first time this season after getting hurt against UNC.

NC State is 4-3 overall and in the ACC, while Miami is 6-1 and 5-1, respectively.

Doeren remains winless against the Hurricanes, having fallen short in a couple of home against Miami. The only other ACC teams he has not beaten are Clemson (0-7), Georgia Tech (0-2) and Virginia Tech (0-2). He'll get a chance against the Yellow Jackets on Dec. 5 at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Miami leads the all-time series 10-5-1 and is now 6-4-1 in games played in Raleigh.

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