Here are the various headlines and tweets for Sunday, Nov. 3.
What they're saying
• Matt Carter, TheWolfpacker.com — Column: A harsh reality for a young Wolfpack football team
On the evening of Sept. 21, after a 34-23 win over Ball State at home to conclude NC State football’s non-conference slate with a 3-1 record, we wrote that the season-defining four-game stretch for the Wolfpack was approaching.
Four games against ACC opponents, three on the road. All perhaps winnable but also all losable.
Four games later, during which NCSU went 1-3, the defining reality is settling in — this team, in its current configuration which includes a bevy of injuries that continued to pile on Saturday, has too many holes on both sides of the ball.
Everything was in front of N.C. State the last time it saw Wake Forest. After Saturday’s 44-10 loss to the Demon Deacons, that optimism feels like the distant past.
Jamie Newman had as many touchdown passes (three) in the game as N.C. State had completions in the second half. That stat, more than any other, summarizes the lopsided nature of the game and where the two programs currently are.
Wake Forest, No. 23 in the country, is 7-1 and in position to grab the ACC’s spot in the Orange Bowl. N.C. State (4-4, 1-3 ACC), a year after peaking at No. 14 in the College Football Playoff rankings, is left to reconcile how so much has changed in a year.
“I can’t even look at the score right now,” N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said. “I just have to get better. We had 10 penalties. We had three turnovers. We have a lot to fix.”
• David Kehrli, Burlington Times-News — Wolfpack wilts under Wake Forest’s dominance Coming off an open date, the North Carolina State football team was looking for some refreshing results.
The only thing fresh about it was the new starting quarterback.
Everything else, quite stale, as Wake Forest rolled with ease to a 44-10 Atlantic Coast Conference victory on Saturday afternoon at BB&T Field.
“They just converted. They made plays,” N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said. “We didn’t.”
Redshirt freshman Devin Leary made his first career start, becoming the third different Wolfpack player to start at quarterback this season. It became a baptism by fire with not much Leary could do to change the early course of action.
Leary was able to pick up a first down on the game’s first drive, but a stalled effort led to a punt and Wake Forest’s destruction began.
Newman looked smooth and showed only the smallest signs of being slowed by the left shoulder injury that kept him from suiting up two weeks ago against Florida State.
If he could go, he would go, Coach Dave Clawson said of Newman early in the week (and repeated Saturday, to a degree).
He went, and he was “really good,” per Clawson.
And it was like Newman had never missed time — even though it had been three weeks since he was in a game.
“Um, no, honestly it didn’t,” Newman said when asked if it felt like he hadn’t been in a game for that long. “Just because, being mentally prepared always helps. Even when you’re not there physically, if you stay mentally prepared — like the Florida State game, I still prepared like I was going to play that Saturday.
“Staying mentally prepared always helps being ready to get back out there.”
Striding down Easy Street on a Saturday afternoon stroll, Wake Forest is following the sun.
The Deacs are now on a road to the Orange Bowl.
Granted, there’s a lot of football between now and Dec. 30. But among those in attendance this afternoon was an Orange Bowl committee member.
Wake played its best football game of the season against an old rival that’s struggling right now, winning 44-10 over N.C. State. The one-sided win was the largest margin of victory against a conference opponent in the history of Wake’s stadium.
But if anyone was thinking beyond this afternoon, it wasn’t apparent.
There was a bowl of oranges on the ledge in the end zone, a curious coincidence probably. No one thought to throw them onto the field. It’s still too early for that.
• Jake Caccavaro, Technician — Leary struggles on the road in first collegiate start
Redshirt freshman quarterback Devin Leary made his first official start Saturday afternoon against Wake Forest, and the former two-time New Jersey Gatorade State High School Player of the Year played like someone making his first career start.
On the road against the No. 23 Demon Deacons, Leary completed 17 of 45 passes for 149 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, struggling to string together multiple completions in a row against a Wake Forest defense that was allowing over 257 yards and two touchdowns per game through the air.
Throughout the 44-10 loss, Leary mixed in good, on-target throws with some truly puzzling decisions. For every perfectly-led sideline pass, there was a near-interception or, twice, an actual interception.
Nothing comes easy for a first-time starter, but in a hostile environment against a ranked opponent, Leary’s supporting cast didn’t help him out much.
On a well-designed first-quarter flea flicker, freshman wide receiver Devin Carter stopped running just as Leary was winding up to throw deep down the left sideline. On another play in the third quarter, redshirt junior tight end Cary Angeline broke open 15 yards down the field but bent his route too far inside, and Leary’s well-thrown ball fell harmlessly incomplete near the left hashmark.
Headlines
• The Wolfpacker — Column: A harsh reality for a young Wolfpack football team
• The Wolfpacker — Notebook: Devin Leary, offense struggle to get untracked
• The Wolfpacker — Quick hits from NC State’s loss at Wake Forest
• The Wolfpacker — Video/audio: NC State coach Dave Doeren after Wake Forest loss
• Associated Press — Wake Forest routs NC State, 44-10
• Raleigh News & Observer — Wake Forest shows NC State how it’s done with a lopsided victory
• Raleigh News & Observer — Jamie Newman, No. 23 Wake Forest crush NC State
• Raleigh News & Observer — NC State falls to Boston College in ACC action
• Burlington Times-News — Wolfpack wilts under Wake Forest’s dominance
• Burlington Times-News — Completely in control: Demon Deacons demolish Wolfpack, relax at end
• Greensboro News & Record — Wake slams NC State as a bright orange dream comes into focus
• Technician — Leary struggles on the road in first collegiate start
• Technician — Wolfpack falls to Wake Forest for third year in a row
• Technician — Volleyball plays against Orange on home court
• GoPack.com — Pack unable to overcome slow start at No. 23 Wake Forest
• GoPack.com — Wolfpack set for rematch with Cardinals Sunday in ACC Championship quarterfinal
• GoPack.com — Freshmen remain unbeaten in doubles at Kitty Harrison Invitational
• GoPack.com — Wolfpack finishes 5th in ACC, will host tournament in first round
Tweets of the day
Video of the day
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