Here are quick hits and notes from NC State football’s 45-0 shutout win over South Florida at Carter-Finley Stadium Thursday night in front of a crowd of 52,633 on a spectacular evening.

NC State has played South Florida four times and is now 3-1 against them. In two of those three wins, the defense shut out the Bulls.

The first time was a 14-0 win in the 2005 Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte. Linebacker Stephen Tulloch was the MVP of the game. Ironically, Tulloch was in Raleigh Thursday for the game, this time as a spectator following a long and productive NFL career.

It is the first time since 2004, when NC State opened with a 42-0 triumph over Richmond, that the Pack started the season with a shutout victory. The last time it held an opponent scoreless regardless of when it fell on the schedule was a 41-0 home win over Western Carolina in week two of 2019, which is the only other time it had a shutout under head coach Dave Doeren prior to Thursday.

The last time NC State shut out a FBS opponent was the 13-0 win over UNC in 2011, which followed a week of back-and-forth between the two schools' head coaches and included the infamous Tom O'Brien "triple play" remark, referring to UNC's multiple scandals with the NCAA at the time.

The most recent year the Wolfpack opened the campaign holding a FBS team scoreless was a 7-0 victory over Virginia Tech in 1991 with Dick Sheridan as its head coach.

Thursday represented the biggest margin of victory for an opener fo the Pack since 67-0 win over Western Carolina in 1990.

One thing about the first game that is always fun is tracking all the firsts that emerged:

• Former receiver and now redshirt freshman tight end Christopher Toudle caught his first two career passes resulting in a total of 22 yards, one of which was a 7-yard touchdown. Also making his first career reception was freshman Julian Gray, who went 10 yards on an end-around pop pass.

• Making his first career interception was junior Tanner Ingle, one of three picks on the afternoon for the Pack. In his NC State debut, former Florida State transfer and senior safety Cyrus Fagan also had an interception.

Sophomore linebacker Drake Thomas' second career pick was the first turnover gained on the evening for the Wolfpack.

• Fairmont State grad transfer and fifth-year senior Chandler Zavala made his debut at the FBS level by starting at left guard for the Wolfpack.

• Junior Ricky Person Jr. and sophomore Zonovan "Bam" Knight both went over 100 yards in a game together for the first time in their respective careers. The last time the Wolfpack had two 100-yard rushers in the same game was against South Alabama in 2015 (Matthew Dayes and Shadrach Thornton).

Person and Knight helped lead NC State to 293 rushing yards and 525 total yards, both better marks than any output in 2020.

Players in the 2020 and 2021 classes, both listed as freshmen on the roster because eligibility was frozen a year ago, can play up to four games and preserve their redshirt status.

The following players in the freshmen class played on Thursday. We will keep track of this list throughout the season to see who burns their redshirt.

Linebacker Devon Betty (class of 2020)

Receiver Jalen Coit (class of 2020)

Receiver Joshua Crabtree (class of 2020)

Safety Devan Boykin (class of 2020)

Center Lyndon Cooper (class of 2021)

Cornerback Nate Evans (class of 2021)

Quarterback Ben Finley (class of 2020)

Receiver Julian Gray (class of 2021)

Defensive lineman Claude Larkins (class of 2020)

Nickel Joshua Pierre-Louis (class of 2020)

Receiver Porter Rooks (class of 2020)

Receiver Anthony Smith (class of 2020)

Defensive lineman Davin Vann (class of 2020)

Tight end Kameron Walker (class of 2020)

Cornerback Aydan White (class of 2020)

Tulloch, and former NC State student and current country music star Scotty McCreery were both on the set of the ACC Network's location in the south end zone concourse at Carter-Finley Stadium.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips also made an appearance on set, and then spent most of the game viewing it from the press box.

NFL scouts from the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Tampa Bay Bucs, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins, Carolina Panthers, Washington Football Team, Los Angeles Raiders, New York Jets, Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers were also credentialed for the game.

NC State is 1-0 for the eighth time in nine seasons under Doeren, who improves to 56-46 overall as the head coach at NC State. The Pack is 9-0 in home openers under Doeren.

Under the coach, NC State is now 4-3 in Thursday games, including 4-2 at home.

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