NC State football redshirt sophomore quarterback Matthew McKay knew what he had to do following the Wolfpack’s 44-27 loss to West Virginia. For the first time in his brief tenure as NCSU’s starting signal-caller, he had to flush out a game on Sunday.
“It’s been different, just staying away from social media, blocking out all the news and moving on to the next game,” McKay said. “I learned a lot from when we watched the film on Sunday.
“I put that in the past, used it as fuel for my fire and went out and focused on my practice.”
The lessons McKay learned from last Saturday — during which he completed 23 of 48 passes for 207 yards with a touchdown — were plentiful, but chief among them was being more consistent for four quarters.
McKay noted that the offense needs to come out for the second half ready to go.
“We lost a rhythm offensively,” McKay said. “I could have done a way better job too, just getting the ball to receivers and making smarter plays.
“I thought the first half was solid, but we didn’t come out and execute in the second half.”
What especially hurt the offense, McKay thought, was not turning freshman linebacker Drake Thomas’ interception in the third quarter into more points than a field goal, and failing to convert on third downs. NC State was 2 of 9 on third downs in the second half after being 3 of 6 in the first.
McKay acknowledged that he needed to be smarter in his decision making and throw the ball with more accuracy. He also admitted that he needs to understand that on third-and-short he should hand the football off to the running back rather than trying to throw a pass off a run-pass option play, even if the throw looks open.
“Just hand it to the running back, let him get those yards and move on to the next play,” he explained.
That’s a lot to take away from a loss in his third start, but McKay is not discouraged.
“I’m good,” he said. “My confidence is really good.”
Wolfpack redshirt junior tight end Cary Angeline, who has nine catches for 128 yards and two scores in three games, and junior wide receiver Emeka Emezie, who leads State with 21 receptions for 205 yards, reiterated that McKay’s teammates still have his back.
“We still all believe in Matt a lot,” Angeline said. “He’s a great quarterback. We all trust him. He’s always confident. He’s a very confident guy. We believe in him, and he believes in himself.”
Emezie is roommates with McKay and has confidence he’ll enjoy a bounce-back game against Ball State on Saturday evening.
“He’s a strong kid and my roommate. I trust him and he trusts himself,” Emezie said. “He is going to be fine.”
Angeline added that it takes time for an offense to gel.
“We are still getting comfortable with each other,” Angeline said. “A lot of us haven’t played with each other. We’re still kind of meshing as an offense, but I definitely think we are taking steps in the right direction.”
TE Cary Angeline finding his comfort zone
When redshirt junior tight end Cary Angeline arrived at NC State as a transfer from Southern Cal, there were high expectations for him. He was rated a four-star prospect by most recruiting services coming out of Downington East High in Chester Springs, Pa., in the class of 2015.
But while he flashed potential last year, catching nine passes for 169 yards and a score, he acknowledged that the transition required time to find his comfort level in the Wolfpack offense and its playbook.
“I’d say I kind of had it down without any constraints probably in the spring,” Angeline admitted. “Last year, I was still learning throughout fall camp, throughout the season. I would say this spring is when a lot of the little errors stopped happening.”
That has shown through three games. Angeline caught four passes for 47 yards and a touchdown in week two against Western Carolina, and he added four receptions for 74 yards and a score at West Virginia. His 39-yard reception versus the Mountaineers was the Pack’s longest pass play of the afternoon.
The 6-7, 250-pounder makes an ideal target in the passing game, which partly led to those high expectations a year ago. Angeline is now playing more like the receiving threat many envisioned, but he is just glad to have a contributing role.
“Whatever I can do to help the team, whether that’s catching the ball or blocking, I’m willing to do whatever,” he said. “It’s definitely been fun so far.”
A year ago at this time he was just becoming eligible. Because he played the first three weeks at USC as a redshirt freshman before leaving, he had to wait three weeks before he could suit up for NC State.
“This year, being here over a year now [and] having a full camp, a full offseason, I'm definitely a lot more comfortable now,” he confirmed.
Angeline is also becoming more used to his surroundings. Going from Los Angeles to Raleigh is quite a contrast.
“It’s been great so far,” he said. “I like the Raleigh area a lot. I'm definitely feeling a part of it here.”
Emeka Emezie enjoys being feature receiver
Junior wideout Emeka Emezie has gone from being the "third pitcher" in the rotation to the proverbial ace this season.
The 6-3, 210-pounder has had to adjust to defenses concentrating on him with the likes of Kelvin Harmon (Washington Redskins) and Jakobi Meyers (New England Patriots) playing in the NFL. Emezie is averaging an impressive seven catches a game and is enjoying his role of being a “volume” receiver. He even played an astounding 81 snaps at West Virginia on Saturday.
“I’ve always wanted to be in this position,” Emezie said. “I’ve been working, coming in every single day, catchings [balls from the] Jugs, watching film to get ready for how many balls are thrown my way,” Emezie said.
One other head-turning stat that emerged from the West Virginia loss was Emezie got targeted by McKay 23 times.
"I definitely have a high comfort level with Emeka, but the defense gave me what they gave me," McKay explained. "I go through my progressions and reads, and that’s what happened. Every game plan is different. It’s not always going to be the same."
Emezie came away with 12 catches for 103 yards against the Mountaineers, pushing his season totals to 21 receptions for 205 yards.
“I wish I could catch all 23,” Emezie noted. “I love that he has the confidence in me, and I have the confidence in me as well. I just have to bring some of those in.”
NC State and West Virginia were tied 21-21 at halftime, but the Mountaineers pulled away in the second half to win 44-27. Emezie knows the squad has to learn from the loss.
“It’s disappointing to lose, really,” he said. “I thought we played really well in the first half, but there are some small things we have to key on. It was really a close game until the fourth quarter. The score looks a lot worse than it actually was.”
Two goals moving forward are scoring his first touchdown of the season and eclipsing his longest reception of 17 yards. Stretching the field proved difficult against West Virginia.
“If it’s there, it’s there,” Emezie said. “If they are giving us the one-on-one, we’ll take it.”
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