Here are some of the thoughts from those who covered NC State's 34-27 win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday night at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.
• Matt Carter, TheWolfpacker.com — Column: Hard work still to be done for NC State
The month of October is off to a good start for the Wolfpack. It did not receive a high grade for its performance Saturday, allowing Louisiana Tech to seemingly come back from the grave a few times behind its potent offense, but it still gets a passing score by adding one to the W column.
“It was great to, I guess, not play great and win a football game against a team that I think is really good,” Doeren said. “I said this all week. I didn’t just say it. I think Louisiana Tech’s offense is really good.
"We helped them at times, but from an offensive standpoint they were the best offense we’ve played against and they looked like it in the second half.”
NC State can have a really good football season, and it’s certainly easier to dream about potentially competing for the ACC when you are 4-1 going into the bye vs. 3-2.
But Saturday also showed nothing can be taken for granted.
The long haul to potentially reaching that dream has only yet begun, and there are a lot more tense games ahead.
• Matt Carter, TheWolfpacker.com — Notebook: NC State is ready for a bye week
NC State enters its bye week with a 4-1 record after surviving a scare from Louisiana Tech to prevail 34-27 Saturday evening at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.
The Wolfpack has concluded its non-conference slate and faces nothing but league action the rest of the way. NC State and Wake Forest are the only Atlantic Division teams without an ACC loss, with the Demon Deacons having already played three conference games and NC State just the one win over Clemson Sept. 25.
It will not be an easy path for the Pack returning from the bye. NC State has to play four of its next five games on the road.
Thus, the bye will be a nice mental reset, more than anything, for head coach Dave Doeren’s program, which had to rebound from its headline-grabbing win over the Tigers to face the Bulldogs Saturday.
“We need a bye right now,” Doeren confirmed. “We are definitely ready for one, physically and mentally. It was a lot getting back up from the win the previous week.”
“It’s good to go into the bye on a winning streak,” redshirt junior linebacker Isaiah Moore, who had a team-high 10 tackles, including one for a loss, added. “We’ve played five really hard games, so far.
“Getting guys healed up, getting some rest — we know we’ve got conference play coming up. So, it’s definitely a good time for it.
The good news is that Doeren’s team appears to be “somewhat healthy,” as the coach described it, going into the off week.
There would be no Clemson hangover for N.C. State.
But, boy, did the Wolfpack have fans on the edge of their seats inside Carter-Finley Stadium against Louisiana Tech. Jakeen Harris picked off Austin Kendall in the end zone on the final play of the game, sealing the 34-27 victory.
No. 23 N.C. State was coming off the biggest win of the Dave Doeren era last week, and there were whispers of a letdown with the overlooked Bulldogs coming to town. Louisiana Tech was no pushover and made the Wolfpack faithful sweat a little bit.
Louisiana Tech pulled to within one score twice in the fourth quarter, both on touchdown passes from veteran Austin Kendall, who was a game-time decision.
N.C. State (4-1) led the Bulldogs by seven with 12:05 remaining after Kendall threw his second touchdown of the night, a 23-yard strike to Bub Means. This came after the Wolfpack took a comfortable 14-point lead with 3:02 remaining in the third quarter. But the Bulldogs answered quickly, covering 68 yards in five plays.
But N.C. State countered, knocking almost five minutes off the clock, ending with a 4-yard Zonovan Knight touchdown run. Knight carried the ball five times for 37 yards on the drive. He finished with 85 yards rushing on 13 carries.
Success is often incremental.
It can be a head-scratching, hair-pulling experience, especially with N.C. State.
Wolfpack fans had seen this movie before; a program-building win one week turning into a disastrous performance the next.
Maybe that's where this team is different? Instead of an entire game of agony, how about just the first half? Instead of a gut-wrenching loss, how about another win — even if it's too close for comfort — to build on?
Saturday's 34-27 win over Louisiana Tech may not have come in convincing fashion, but No. 23 N.C. State (4-1, 1-0 ACC) heads into the bye week nationally ranked with three straight wins and a slew of winnable games ahead on its ACC schedule.
"It's great to not play great and win a football game against a team that I think is really good," coach Dave Doeren said after the win. "I think Louisiana Tech's offense is really good. We helped them some, but I think that's the best offense we've played."
• Bob Sutton, Associated Press — Leary throws 2 TDs, No. 23 NC State holds off Louisiana Tech
Beating Clemson was tough enough for North Carolina State. Getting refocused for a nonconference game a week later was another challenge.
“That was a monumental task,” coach Dave Doeren said. “More than people probably understand.”
The No. 23 Wolfpack did it just well enough. Devin Leary threw for two touchdowns and N.C. State held off Louisiana Tech 34-27 on Saturday night.
Louisiana Tech picked up five first downs on its last possession, reaching the N.C. State 22-yard line before Jakeen Harris’ interception in the end zone on the game’s final play.
“We did enough to win,” Doeren said. “It’s great, I guess, to not play great and to win a football game.”
N.C. State built on the upset of Clemson and improved to 4-1 for the second year in a row.
“You could tell our energy wasn’t there at the beginning of the game,” running back Ricky Person Jr. said. “As it went on, we started to come together as a whole unit and push forward.”
• Shawn Krest, North State Journal — NC State holds on to top Louisiana Tech
One week after upsetting Clemson, the Pack struggled with the 2-3 Bulldogs before holding on to win, 34-27.
“It was tough,” coach Dave Doeren said. “Getting back up from that win the previous week was a monumental task for the guys, more than people probably understand. I’m not sure how much guys respect teams like that. I was worried about that.”
Running back Ricky Person admitted that the team may have overlooked Louisiana Tech.
“We were kind of lax coming into the game,” Person admitted. “Coach said to me, ‘You’ve got to pull the team behind you. Get the team going.”
It took a half for the offense to respond. State had four three-and-out drives on its first six possessions and, while the Wolfpack never trailed Louisiana Tech, found itself tied at 10 with 38 seconds left in the first half.
Devin Leary led the team 57 yards to set up a go-ahead field goal by Christopher Dunn to give State a three-point halftime lead.
“It was two different halves,” Doeren said. “In the first half, we struggled on offense, didn’t finish drives. I didn’t think we strained on the offensive line. The defense did enough to have the lead. In the second half, the offense played really well. They responded. I was impressed with how physical they were. But the defense didn’t play well.”
• Jaylan Harrington, Technician — Isaiah Moore playing his best football as NC State needs it most
The middle linebacker had a season high 10 tackles along with a sack and additional hurry against Louisiana Tech as a deteriorating NC State defense tried to survive an onslaught from the best offense it’s faced this year. At differing points in the game, freshman defensive tackle Davin Vann, junior safety Tanner Ingle, graduate defensive tackle Cory Durden and graduate defensive end Daniel Joseph were forced to the sideline with injuries. While the former three all returned to the game, dealing with those nagging injuries certainly had an effect on the team’s play. After such a good first half, defensively, the cracks really started to show in the second, and by the end of the game, Austin Kendall seemed to be getting whatever he wanted.
The linebackers weren’t spared either, as sophomore Jaylon Scott played through a lower body injury which had him limping in the first half. Later in the fourth, Moore and sophomore Drake Thomas were slow to rise after a Louisiana Tech touchdown. In the first half, the Bulldogs averaged just over 5 yards per play, but in the second, that number jumped to just under 7.
“Defensively we didn't play well [in the second half],” said head coach Dave Doeren. “It was the opposite of what we saw in the first half. We didn't tackle, our corners didn't play technique football, didn't make plays on the ball. But we did enough to win.”
Playing through pain is the standard for football players, but to be hurting and still put in your best performance of the season thus far is impressive. When the going got tough for NC State, it was often Moore who made the aforementioned plays it needed. The linebacker had just one tackle in the first half and nine in the second.
When the game was 20-10, and with Louisiana Tech just outside the red zone on a drive which had gained 50 yards — including a big 31-yard reception, one of the longest plays of the day for the Bulldogs — Moore made three straight tackles for gains of 0, 0 and 5 to personally end the drive for a defense that was reeling.
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