NC State’s defense proved its mettle over and over throughout its 20-6 victory against Miami on Saturday.
The Wolfpack improved to 6-3 overall and 3-2 in the ACC and have become bowl eligible for the fourth straight year and ninth time in 11 years. NCSU will play at Wake Forest next Saturday.
How good was NC State’s defense? The Hurricanes went 4 of 17 on third- and- fourth downs, and veteran quarterback Tyler Van Dyke played confused with three interceptions and a fumble.
NC State coach Dave Doeren won his 78th game at NC State to become the all-time leader. NCSU athletic director Boo Corrigan gave him a No. 78 jersey in the locker room.
“We love Coach Doeren,” NC State sixth-year senior outside linebacker Payton Wilson said. “He is amazing coach and he is an amazing players coach. We’ll fight for him until the end of the day.”
Wilson led the way with a team-high 16 tackles, one tackle for loss and two passes broken up. The defense came through with three sacks, including junior defensive end Jy’Keveous Hibbler stripping Van Dyke at the Hurricanes’ nine-yard line. NC State cashed it in with the first of two Brayden Narveson field goals.
The irony could be that a defensive player, kind of, scored NC State’s first touchdown of the game. Linebacker-turned-running back Jordan Poole, slipped away for an easy 12-yard touchdown catch to give the Wolfpack a 7-3 lead with 2:17 left in the first quarter. NC State never trailed from there.
“It was something I’ve been thinking about for a long time and that I can do,” Poole said. “Happy the coaches trusted me enough to even really give me an opportunity.
“Probably one of the most nervous times I've been in a while and the most happy I've been in a while, so it was a good feeling.”
Van Dyke finished 21-of-38 passing for 173 yards and the three interceptions, and rushed four times for minus-15 yards.
Doeren talked about how when he talked to former NC State coach Lou Holtz a few weeks back, that Holtz said protecting the football is so important that they named the sport "football."
"I think it is in the 90 percentile when we are plus-two or more and we were plus-three," Doeren said. "No matter what, it is the most statistic in football."
NC State junior cornerback Aydan White, who had a big interception, credited defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.
“Coach Gibson lets us play free and fast,” White said. “All of us can do our job. It is so much fun to play with the boys. I love the boys.”
Miami’s offense revolved around whether freshman running back Mark Fletcher could find room or not. He was the bell cow with 23 carries for 115 yards, plus three catches for 17 yards.
However, Fletcher came up short on fourth down and one at the NC State three-yard line with 9:47 left in the game, trailing 10-6. NC State went on a 97-yard drive to put the game away, with freshman running back Kendrick Raphael looking like a pinball in rushing for a 31-yard touchdown to stretch the lead to 17-6 with 5:03 left in the game.
It proved fitting that freshman cornerback Brandon Cisse got the interception on the last play of the game for the Wolfpack. Junior safety Devan Boykin also had interceptions.
The yin and yang for the Wolfpack is the dominant defense was needed because the offense struggled and tried to piece it together with different alignments and personnel.
NC State finished with 231 yards and 12 first downs, and Miami won the time of possession battle 35:16-to-24:44 as the offense struggled to stay on the field.
Backup quarterback Brennan Armstrong led the team with eight carries for 51 yards, and team finished with 27 carries for 108 yards. Sophomore quarterback MJ Morris threw for 123 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a lost fumble. White’s big interception in the end zone helped negate Morris’ fumble at the NCSU 29-yard line.
Doeren praised how new offensive coordinator Robert Anae is using everything at his disposal to squeeze out the drives.
"Coach Anae has been in this game a long time," Doeren said. "He understands the strength of our team right now. You've seen his genius over these last couple of weeks. You've seen what he's done with formations, explosive plays, getting KC [freshman wide receiver Kevin Concepcion] the ball, using two quarterbacks, unbalanced shifts, motions. Recruiting will be a big part of that as well along with retention."
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