MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Quick hits and notes from NC State’s 44-27 loss to West Virginia in front of 57,052 fans at Milan Puskar Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Second half offense falters
Short-handed defensive line
NC State played this game short-handed on what has been a snake-bitten defensive line thus far this year.
Freshmen defensive tackles Joshua Harris and C.J. Clark both missed either all or most of preseason camp and have yet to be cleared for games. Sixth-year senior defensive end Deonte Holden missed the opener against Western Carolina.
Redshirt junior nose tackle Val Martin missed week two versus East Carolina. Both Martin and Holden were back for West Virginia, but two more defensive ends were not: most noteworthy sixth-year senior James Smith-Williams, who was spotted in a walking boot on the sideline, and redshirt freshman Joseph Boletepeli.
Couple of other noteworthy facts
Sophomore kicker Christopher Dunn’s streak of 19 made field goals in a row, which was the longest active streak in the country, ended after he missed a 51-yard field goal.
Dunn rebounded to make field goals from 41 and 37 yards after that.
Junior receiver Emeka Emezie shattered his career high in catches with 12 (previous was seven done twice before) and had his first 100-yard receiving game with 103 yards.
Spotted at the game
Former NC State defensive coordinator Steve Dunlap, a former player at West Virginia, was inducted into WVU’s Hall of Fame and was introduced on the field during the game.
Also there was the quarterback who was supposed to play NC State last year — current Carolina Panthers Will Grier of Charlotte.
True freshmen vs. redshirt freshmen watch
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 West Virginia.
• Offensive lineman Ikem Ekwonu — 3 games*
• Running back Jordan Houston — 3 games*
• Running back Zonovan Knight — 3 games*
• Receiver Keyon Lesane — 3 games*
• Offensive lineman Dylan McMahon — 3 games*
• Long snapper Joe Shimko — 3 games*
• Linebacker Drake Thomas — 3 games*
• Safety Cecil Powell — 3 games*
• Safety Jakeen Harris — 2 games*
• Defensive end Savion Jackson — 2 games*
• Linebacker Jaylon Scott — 2 games
• Nickel Jalen Frazier — 1 game
• Safety Khalid Martin — 1 game
What the loss means
NC State is 2-1, and NC State still has not won a regular season, non-conference game against a Power Five opponent on the road since topping Texas Tech in 2002.
The loss snaps a 16-game winning streak of noon starts. West Virginia now leads the all-time series 6-5.
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