NC State completed its spring football game on Saturday, April 10 in Carter-Finley Stadium.

The Red team, composed of mostly first-string players, defeated the White team, mostly reserves and freshmen, 37-17.

The Wolfpack will host South Florida for its 2021 season opener on Thursday, Sept. 2 in Raleigh.

Spring games can be notoriously misleading, but there is some value and information that can be gleaned from the scrimmage.

Prior to the game, we wrote three things to watch on offense in NC State's 2021 spring game.

Now, here are three things to watch on offense, revisited:

Prior to the game

For the first time in almost six months, redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary will take the field for live reps in the spring game Saturday. The last time Leary was fully suited up in Carter-Finley Stadium, he suffered a season-ending leg injury in NC State’s 31-20 win over Duke on Oct. 17.

After surgery and months of physical therapy, Wolfpack fans will get a first look at their QB1 post-rehab.

Leary won’t be at risk of taking any live hits, but he will be able to showcase his ability to move his feet and throw the ball post-injury.

Prior to his leg break, Leary was posting impressive numbers in 2020. In three starts, the 6-1, 212-pounder completed 60 percent of his 110 pass attempts for 890 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions.

Freshman quarterback Ben Finley will also be one to watch Saturday. He appeared for five drives in the road loss to UNC in 2020, and Finley has taken great strides in his first true offseason according to NC State head coach Dave Doeren.

The 6-3, 201-pound younger brother of former Wolfpack quarterback Ryan Finley completed 13-of-20 pass attempts for 143 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in his collegiate debut last season.

Then there is true freshman quarterback Aaron McLaughlin, the No. 19 pro-style quarterback in the 2021 class according to Rivals.

Wolfpack fans will presumably get their first look at the young talent from Cumming, Ga. How comfortable will he look in his first live reps at the college level? How quickly can he pick up Wolfpack offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s system? Is he the future QB1 at NC State?

All things to consider when watching the quarterbacks in the spring game Saturday.

Postgame observations

The most pressing question in the quarterbacks room entering the spring game was simple. How will Leary look post-rehab?

While it's not a fool-proof sign that he is well past his injury by looking good in a spring game in which he's not allowed to be hit, he passed the eye test of looking comfortable in live reps on the field, which is a promising first sing.

Leary completed 12 of 23 passes for 175 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for 13 yards on three carries.

After a slow start that resulted in four incompletions in his first four attempts, Leary settled down and showed off the arm strength that made Wolfpack fans fall in love with him during his five starts of his redshirt freshman season.

He appeared comfortable moving around in the pocket and extending plays to find open receivers downfield. He also didn't look a step behind where he was when fully healthy in the front half of the 2020 campaign.

His chemistry with redshirt junior slot receiver Thayer Thomas and redshirt sophomore wide receiver Devin Carter was on full display.

After Leary's first completion of the day resulted in a 58-yard touchdown to freshman receiver Porter Rooks, his only other completions of the first quarter were caught by Carter, resulting in first-down gains of 15 and 22 yards, respectively.

On Leary's second-to-last drive of the first half, he connected with Thomas on three straight plays for a gain of 39 yards, resulting in a nine-yard touchdown on the third.

Finley was at the receiving end of an early-game scare in which his leg was caught up by junior safety Tanner Ingle, who dove at the line of scrimmage to break up a run hand-off.

The second-year freshman quarterback was quickly evaluated and sat out the next two drives before returning for the White team's third series in the first quarter. He played the remainder of the first half under center for the White team and took snaps with the Red team in the third quarter.

Finley finished the day by completing 10 of 20 passes for 160 yards. He netted -3 rushing yards on four attempts but found the end zone with a four-yard touchdown rush in the second quarter. He appeared wobbly on his impacted leg while celebrating his lone touchdown of the afternoon, but the fact that he was able to return and complete the game indicates his early-game injury scare was nothing serious.

McLaughlin looked predictably green in his first public outing in Carter-Finley Stadium, just four months removed from playing high school football in Alpharetta, Ga. Granted, he took a majority of his snaps with the White team in the first and third quarters before finishing the game under center for the Red squad in the fourth quarter, when most of the starters were benched by that point.

The 6-5, 230-pounder completed one of his five pass attempts for two yards. He also netted a loss of 15 rushing yards on four attempts.

The spring game is not at all an indication of McLaughlin's future at the college level, but it did display the true freshman has plenty of room to develop and get comfortable in Beck's system.

Prior to the game

Returning talent is the theme of NC State’s offseason, but few position groups had more turnover than the offensive line.

The Pack is returning essentially all of its offensive skill players from 2020, except tight end, but can the Wolfpack continue building upon the success it had last fall in year one under Beck?

Whether or not it does will depend on how well the offensive line performs up front, and Saturday should at least present a preview of what the unit could look like this fall.

Fifth-year senior guard Joe Sculthorpe and fifth-year senior tackle Justin Witt are the notable departures.

Returning linemen junior center Grant Gibson and sophomore tackle Ikem “Ickey” Ekwonu are among the ACC’s best at their respective positions, but how will the rest of the position group shape up?

Redshirt junior guard/tackle Bryson Speas, redshirt freshman guard Dylan McMahon and graduate tackle Tyrone Riley, who is returning for a seventh collegiate season, all started in multiple contests last fall and will provide returning talent.

Redshirt sophomore tackle Derrick Eason Jr. is a younger returning talent that could see an uptick in usage this fall. So is redshirt freshman tackle Timothy McKay, but he won’t be available Saturday as he continues to rehab a foot injury.

The most notable addition to the line is Fairmont State graduate transfer Chandler Zavala, who was an honorable mention Division II All-American in 2018 and a two-time all-conference selection.

The 6-5, 325-pounder’s experience and proven production — granted, at a lower level of college football — makes him an immediate contender for a starting spot on the Wolfpack offensive line, but he won't be on the field Saturday as he has yet to officially enroll.

Postgame observations

The Wolfpack went with this starting offensive line unit for the Red team:

Left tackle: Ekwonu

Left guard: McMahon

Center: Gibson

Right guard: Eason

Right tackle: Speas

Granted, NC State did not have all of its offensive line personnel available. McKay was held out of the game due to injury and Zavala has yet to enroll.

But the spring game gave Pack fans an early look at what the first-team offensive line could look like this fall.

The reserve offensive line units on the White team appeared to struggle at times, understandably considering they faced the first-team defensive front on the Red team, but actually came out of the game about even with the starters according to the stats.

Four total sacks were recorded in the game, two of which by fifth-year senior defensive end Daniel Joseph of the Red team, and one each by freshman linebacker Devon Betty and freshman defensive lineman Travali Price, both of the White team.

There were five total quarterback pressures recorded. Betty led all defenders with three, while walk-on linebacker Seth Williams of the White team and junior nickel Tyler Baker-Williams of the Red team each claimed one.

Prior to the game

As previously mentioned, NC State is returning essentially all of its offensive skill production from last season.

Leading ball carriers junior running back Ricky Person Jr. and sophomore running back Zonovan “Bam” Knight will not participate Saturday. Leading pass catcher senior wide receiver Emeka Emezie is also expected to sit out the scrimmage.

That will give more opportunities to guys that didn’t get as many touches last season but still possess plenty of talent.

Doeren mentioned in his spring practice update that the offensive coaching staff is trying to get redshirt sophomore running back Trent Pennix more involved.

Pennix, a 6-3, 236-pounder, only received one carry in 2020 but reeled in three receptions for 11 yards and one touchdown. Pennix is versatile because of his size and athleticism, so don’t be surprised to see him moved around in the backfield in an effort to get him on the field.

“Trent Pennix is someone that can do a lot of the things that you saw back when Jaylen Samuels was here,” Doeren said. “You're going to see his position kind of change. He can play running back but also play that H-hybrid type position for us to give us some flexibility in personnel."

There’s also sophomore running back Jordan Houston. Houston was the Pack’s second-leading rusher in 2019 with 638 all-purpose yards but saw his usage dip to 42 carries last fall once a healthy Person returned to the rotation.

The 5-10, 190-pounder should see plenty of action Saturday with Person and Knight out of the equation, but can he solidify a concrete role in the rotation once the Pack’s feature backs return?

Considering Beck’s history of getting running backs involved in the passing game, don’t be surprised to see an uptick in the speedster’s usage in 2021, particularly as a receiving option out of the backfield considering his 29 career receptions (5.9 yards per catch) through two seasons.

Postgame observations

The short answer here is to not expect too much creativity in the play calling in a spring game.

The most exciting play of the afternoon came in the first quarter on a trick play that resulted in Thomas completing a 28-yard pass to Carter, who made a diving catch in the end zone for the touchdown.

Other than that, there were a lot of basic play calls to not give too much away to the Pack's first three opponents of the regular season, but we were able to see some of the areas that were mentioned as "things to watch" entering the game.

Pennix was frequently used in several different spots on the offense and was targeted somewhat frequently, but a combination of poorly thrown balls and strong defense stopped him from compiling any offensive stats.

Houston stood out the most in run game, finishing the afternoon with 89 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries before leaving the game with what was believed to be turf toe in the second quarter.

Freshman receiver Julian Gray also displayed his versatility, gaining 17 yards and a first down on back-to-back plays in the first half. He first caught a 17-yard pass from Finley to move the chains and followed it up with a 17-yard rush on a reverse the very next play.

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