What they're saying about NC State's win over Florida State
Here are some the thoughts from those who covered NC State Wolfpack football's 38-22 win over Florida State on Saturday evening.
• Matt Carter, TheWolfpacker.com — Column: NC State handled business vs. Florida State
When Dave Doeren had his first go-round in the ACC, the year was 2013 and Florida State football was on top of the college football world. Literally, it won a national title with a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback in Jameis Winston.
Doeren’s first game against the Seminoles was a butt-whooping, with the Noles jumping NC State early in a 49-17 victory.
A year later, the game was far more thrilling, as Jacoby Brissett announced his presence on the national stage in a 56-41 shootout that the Seminoles eventually prevailed. Back then, FSU was the barometer game to measure where you stood.
On Saturday, Doeren, now in his eighth season with the Wolfpack, tied Dick Sheridan for the second most wins in school history with 52, and did so by beating a FSU team that is anything but the Noles team of Doeren’s first two years. NC State just handed it the Seminoles its 17th loss by at least two touchdowns over the past four seasons.
In a way, it was shocking to see firsthand the shell of the program that once was the flagship of the ACC.
• Justin H. Williams, TheWolfpacker.com — Notebook: NC State cruises in 38-22 win over Florida State
NC State defeated Florida State 38-22 Saturday night in Carter-Finley Stadium but the game was not as close as the final score would indicate.
The Wolfpack (5-3, 5-3 ACC) scored five of the first six touchdowns in the contest and outgained the Seminoles (2-6, 1-6 ACC) 335-to-190 in yards of total offense after three quarters.
The win ended a two-game losing streak for the Wolfpack and gave NC State its first victory in nearly a month since beating Duke 31-20 on Oct. 17.
“It's hard when you lose a game like we did against Miami, when you invest so much and come up short, to be able to do it over,” NC State head coach Dave Doeren said. “I was really proud of them, the way that they put it all back in and invested. We started fast offensively and defensively. I thought we really played a clean first half.
“There were a lot of things that were fun to watch. Happy to get the W. It's great to be back in the win column. I look forward to what that does for our guys mentally moving forward.”
Florida State head coach Mike Norvell had a tall task in year one of a rebuilding process in Tallahassee.
What was once a national powerhouse as one of two ACC programs to win a national championship in the past decade has now fallen to the bottom ranks of the conference.
Norvell, now the third Seminoles head coach in four seasons, was hired to return Florida State into a nationally competitive college football team.
He may be able to accomplish that, but such goals seem like a distant possibility after FSU lost its third consecutive ACC game by double digits Saturday in a 38-22 loss to NC State.
The Wolfpack (5-3, 5-3 ACC) has exceeded preseason expectations by already claiming more victories in eight contests than its four-win campaign in 2019.
“First off, congratulations to NC State, they did a good job tonight,” Norvell said. “They made the plays necessary to be successful.
Only in 2020 can Florida State serve as a tune up game for Liberty.
N.C. State needed to snap a two-game losing streak and it turns out the struggling Seminoles were just what the doctor ordered.
The Wolfpack (5-3, 5-3) finally got a win where they didn’t have to wait on pins and needles until late in the game to achieve. Ironically enough, most of the offensive damage was done by the magical arm of Bailey Hockman, the FSU transfer who has had his ups and downs since moving to Raleigh.
Hockman had a career-day, passing for 265 yards and three touchdowns. On the receiving end of most of those throws was Thayer Thomas, the wide out from Wake Forest, who also had a career night. Thomas caught 11 passes for 135 yards and two scores.
With what appears to be a dangerous 1-2 punch, N.C. State’s offense looks confident as ever heading into next weekend’s home game with No. 22 Liberty, which rolls into Raleigh undefeated, a statement that would have seemed odd back in August.
Bailey Hockman never said it was personal. He just made it look that way.
Hockman, who started his college career at Florida State before transferring prior to the 2018 season, let his former team have it Saturday night at Carter-Finley Stadium, leading NC State to a 38-22 blowout win against the slumping Seminoles (2-6, 1-6).
The redshirt junior set a career high for a second straight week, this time in a winning effort that snapped a two-game losing streak for the Wolfpack (5-3, 5-3).
Hockman completed 24-of-34 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns, adding another score with his legs while serving up sweet revenge to a team that passed him over as a starter three years ago.
"If you're playing the school you committed to and loved, it's definitely a little personal," Hockman said. "It was just great to get the win."
• Joe Giglio, WRALSportsFan — Dave Doeren doing his best work under difficult circumstances
By record, Dave Doeren has had better seasons at NC State.
Under the circumstances — in a pandemic and without his top quarterback — 2020 is one more win from being Doeren’s finest work yet with the Wolfpack.
NC State handled a depleted Florida State team 38-22 on Saturday night to improve to 5-3 on the season.
The win itself wasn’t that impressive if you consider FSU (2-6) lost its top two players (receiver Tamorrion Terry and defensive tackle Marvin Wilson) during the week and was without promising quarterback Jordan Travis.
Then again, FSU did beat North Carolina earlier this season. Virginia, another team NC State’s scalp list, beat Carolina, too. The transitive property lends itself to such parlor games.
Regardless, this most unusual of seasons is boiling down to which teams care. Doeren – despite a disjointed offseason with an overhauled coaching staff, a month of training camp put on the shelf by COVID-19 protocols and the injury to quarterback Devin Leary in the fifth game of the season – has gotten his team to buy in.
NC State’s matchup against Florida State meant a lot. It represented a chance for the Wolfpack to get back on track following a blowout loss to UNC-Chapel Hill and a heartbreaker against Miami. But it represented more for redshirt junior quarterback Bailey Hockman, who took on his former team for the second time, and the first time as NC State’s starter.
Hockman’s career at Florida State was short-lived. The only non-biographical information on his player profile for the Seminoles mentions he was a scout team contributor. The most notoriety he ever received in the garnet and gold came in Florida State’s 2018 spring game, in which he went 11 of 22 for 200-plus yards and a touchdown. After the game, Hockman tellingly said he “was trying to get them to believe in me.”
But he couldn’t. Stuck behind Deondre Francois and James Blackman in the depth chart, Hockman went to JUCO and eventually ended up at NC State. A former blue-chip recruit, Hockman’s been searching for an opportunity to prove himself ever since he got to college, and he’s found himself in a stable situation with the trust head coach Dave Doeren has given him. And under the tutelage of offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Tim Beck, he’s finally blossoming.
Hockman showed something he never had before with his 19-for-28, 248-yard, two-touchdown performance against Miami and then had a great week of practice, which led to him being named NC State’s fifth captain for the game. The fact that he was made a captain against his former team was surely just a coincidence, and although Hockman downplayed his emotions, this game was important to him.
“If you’re playing a school you committed to, and went to and loved, it definitely is a little personal,” Hockman said. “But it’s no type of revenge or anything… it’s great to get the win.”
• Corey Clark, WarChant.com —Taking a glass-half-full approach after yet another loss for FSU
I learned my lesson last week, folks. There's really no reason to get angry anymore.
This Florida State football program is what it is. These games are what they are.
That doesn't excuse these losses, and I'm not about to write that Mike Norvell and his staff are doing a great job in 2020. Because that wouldn't be the truth.
But I'll get this out of the way right now: This team is really bad. And Saturday night's 38-22 loss to Bailey Hockman and the N.C. State Wolfpack wasn't as close as the final score indicated. This team is nowhere near anything remotely approaching average.
But what were we expecting on Saturday night?
Well before the final whistle sounded, it was clear that the Florida State football team was destined for another loss Saturday at NC State.
It seemed that, once again, FSU was unable to remain relatively competitive against an ACC team that is far from the conference's best.
With the Wolfpack leading 28-3 early in the second half, the Seminoles were on the verge of suffering perhaps their worst loss of the season, no small feat considering what has been an incredibly underwhelming 2020 campaign.
But the Seminoles did something they haven't really done this season, putting up a real fight in a game that was out of hand. FSU (2-6, 1-6 in ACC) made the final score of its 38-22 loss to the Wolfpack (5-3, 5-3) appear far closer than it was for the majority of the game.
"It was great to see, make a little rally there at the end, even in challenging situations," FSU coach Mike Norvell said.
"Guys on that sideline believe that we're going to find a way to come back and put ourselves in position to be successful. There were guys that were encouraging each other on both sides of the ball."
• Curt Weiler, Tallahassee Democrat — Three takeaways from Seminoles loss at NC State
The Seminoles managed just 98 yards of first-half offense (3.5 yards per play). This against an NC State defense that entered allowing 472.1 yards per game -- most in the ACC this season -- and 5.89 yards per play.
Without Terry, the wide receivers were lacking the big play. Without Love-Taylor, the offensive line struggled to handle NC State's pressure.
The Seminoles were constantly behind the chains, facing an average third-down distance of 9.2 yards. So it made sense that they converted on just 3 of 14 third downs (21.4%).
Were it not for FSU's five fourth-down conversions, those numbers would have looked noticeably worse.
Things improved somewhat after halftime as the Seminoles put together three second-half scoring drives, finishing with 347 yards in the game. But NC State didn't seem to be playing with any sort of urgency after halftime with the result essentially in hand.
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