Here are some the thoughts from those who covered NC State Wolfpack football's 45-42 win over Wake Forest on Saturday evening.
What they're saying
Know what else was also a bit unusual Saturday, especially when compared to 2019? NC State’s offense.
The evening began with the bombshell that was a well-kept secret: the Wolfpack was starting redshirt junior Bailey Hockman instead of redshirt sophomore Devin Leary at quarterback. The news was met with little excitement in social media. The truth is that there were almost as many negative replies than likes of The Wolfpacker’s tweet of the news.
Those doubters were silenced when Hockman completed his first 13 pass attempts on his way to a very solid outing. True fact: the last two times NC State has won an ACC game, Hockman started each.
However, the story of the offense was the utilization of the running backs, not the left arm of Hockman, all due respect to the starting QB. All total, NC State ran for 270 yards and averaged 5.5 yards per carry. That included three team rushes that resulted in a net loss of 15 yards. Junior Ricky Person Jr. (14 carries for 99 yards) and sophomore Zonovan Knight (11 runs for 97 yards) came tantalizing close to both breaking the century mark in the same game.
Know what else may have seemed a tad unusual about Saturday? The resiliency.
In that moment when the lights go down and that low voice breaks the news that the understudy will be playing the star role, there’s always a sense of anticipation amid the disappointment. Everyone has to start somewhere. Maybe Saturday was one of those moments for N.C. State.
In the Wolfpack’s curtain-raiser against Wake Forest the role of starting quarterback was played by Bailey Hockman, a surprise and last-minute replacement for Devin Leary, and not four hours later Dave Doeren was fending off questions about a potential quarterback controversy brewing.
“I’m going to enjoy the win tonight,” the N.C. State coach said. “You guys can talk about that one.”
There probably is not: Hockman’s performance was burnished by its novelty and bolstered by a nearly unstoppable running game, and in the big picture the Wolfpack probably needs more out of the position. But merely in the frame of Saturday’s 45-42 win over Wake Forest, Hockman did more than enough with his left arm and both of his feet, starting with 12 straight completions, throwing for one touchdown, running for another.
• Joe Giglio, WRAL.com — The launch of Dave Doeren, 2.0?
It’s only one game but given the opponent and the circumstances, NC State’s win on Saturday night might have been the launch of Dave Doeren 2.0.
At the very least, a 45-42 win over Wake Forest gets the bast taste of 2019 out of NC State's mouth after it lost its final six games.
Running back Ricky Person ran for two touchdowns and threw for another to lead a revamped Wolfpack offense under new coordinator Tim Beck.
The defense, chewed by Wake Forest running back Kenneth Walker (131 yards, three touchdowns), got two stops in the final 6 minutes when it needed them most.
In the end, there was no Jack Freudenthal to save the Demon Deacons this time. There now no goal-line heartbreak, just a good back-and-forth between two old teams who first met in 1895.
Wake Forest (0-2, 0-2 ACC) was gashed by N.C. State’s rushing attack to the tune of 270 yards, a major factor in the Demon Deacons’ 45-42 loss on Saturday night.
Clawson anticipated — as would anybody, given 10 returning starters — his defense would be able to shoulder the burden for an offense with new starters at every skill position and a revamped offensive line.
Instead, after Wake Forest’s first 0-2 start since 2007, it’s his top concern.
“You have all of those guys coming back on the D-line and all of those linebackers coming back and … this is a team a year ago that didn’t run the ball against us at all,” Clawson said. “… That right now is problem No. 1 that we’ve gotta get fixed.”
A year ago, in Wake Forest’s 44-10 win against N.C. State, the Wolfpack had 116 yards on the ground. Across the Demon Deacons’ last four games — all losses, the longest such streak since 2015 — they’ve given up 203 rushing yards per game and 490 total yards per game.
What made the breakdowns so startling was that the Wolfpack was making its debut, and just before the game announced backup quarterback Bailey Hockman, a redshirt junior who transferred from Florida State before last season, would make his third career start. Hockman made the start because Devin Leary hadn’t had enough preseason practice because of COVID-19 protocols.
All Hockman did was look like the second-coming of Boomer Esiason, who was also a left-handed quarterback and former NFL and Maryland star. Hockman completed his first 12 passes, and at one point was 6 for 6 in third-down conversions. He wound up 16 of 23 passing for 191 yards and one touchdown as well as rushing eight times for 30 yards.
Boogie Basham, an All-America candidate on the defensive line, said the Deacons learned that Hockman was starting after seeing a Twitter post just before the game. Basham was part of 10 returning starters for this season, giving the Deacons plenty of confidence.
That confidence has been shaken.
New offensive coordinator Tim Beck can call his N.C. State debut a success.
Even with the guy projected as the No. 2 quarterback running things, the Wolfpack racked up 463 total yards and its highest scoring output since hanging 58 on East Carolina at the end of the 2018 season. Beck’s no-huddle, fast-moving and decision-on-the-run attack ran smoothly almost the whole game and resulted in just one turnover with Hickman’s costly interception in the third quarter.
Otherwise it was an impressive performance, highlighted by 270 yards rushing, for a unit running a new offense that was installed during sporadic preseason camp hindered by a series of starts and stops.
“Coach Beck did a great job calling plays at the right time for the right coverages,’’ Hockman said.
• Jaylan Harrington, Technician — NC State’s offense worth watching again as Pack outscores Deacons
While NC State fans lauded the hire of new offensive coordinator Tim Beck, some derided it because of troubles at his last two stops in Texas and Ohio State. Both ended with Beck losing play-calling duties to offensive-minded head coaches, and likely turned Beck off working with that type of head coach.
Coming to NC State meant more freedom for him to run his system, and it meant that while NC State had something to prove in hiring him, Beck also had something to prove in coming to Raleigh. Forty-five points, 463 total yards and one victory later, this message was received loud and clear. NC State’s offense hasn’t looked this explosive in a long time; it was even more explosive than some points in Eli Drinkwitz’s tenure.
NC State recorded 18 chunk plays and showed a wider variety of formations than we saw last year. Junior running back Ricky Person Jr., who said he constantly reminds the coaches he played quarterback in middle school, even got to throw a Tebow-esque jump pass for a touchdown.
“They had a lot of fun tonight, and it’s been a long time coming,” said head coach Dave Doeren. “Started fast in the opening quarter, started fast in the third and had to overcome some adversity, but [I’m] proud of them.”
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