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What they're saying about NC State's loss at Miami

Here are some of the thoughts from those who covered NC State's 31-30 loss to Miami at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

NC State Wolfpack football receiver Thayer Thomas
Pack receiver Thayer Thomas was tackled two yards short of a first down on NC State's final offensive play. (Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports)
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• Matt Carter, TheWolfpacker.com — Column: Not a championship performance from NC State

Miami deserves plenty of credit. It knew its season was on the line and played like it. They were spirited and aggressive on both sides of the football.

And to be fair, there are things Miami could point to as well, such as a running into the kicker penalty that negated a missed field goal in the fourth quarter from Pack junior Christopher Dunn and gave him a second chance, which he made from 40 yards out.

Yet, NC State was talented enough to almost win this game. That does show something, especially when considering its goal of an ACC title is still reachable.

The margin for error is cut down dramatically, though. No more hiccups, starting next week against a Louisville team that has a quarterback in Malik Cunningham capable of giving defenses fits.

Then a road date at Florida State, who suddenly appears to have found something after a disastrous start to the regular season.

If NC State can pull those two out, it sets up a huge showdown at Wake Forest, who now sits in an undisputed position as the top team in the Atlantic Division.

There is still a path for the Wolfpack, albeit much narrower now. Which means from now on out, it will require a championship effort each week.

• Justin H. Williams, TheWolfpacker.com — Notebook: Missed opportunities cost the Pack in Miami

There was no single play that cost NC State the game.

Had just one gone the other way, the Wolfpack could have been on the other end of a 31-30 road loss to Miami.

But that was not the case Saturday night.

In a game with five lead changes, the team that executed more plays down the stretch came out the victor.

Or, in other words:

“They've been in a bunch of one-possession games, and we didn't make the plays that we needed to make to win the game,” NC State head coach Dave Doeren said. “It's pretty simple.”

While the Wolfpack locker room would be the first to admit it didn’t put forth its best performance Saturday night, the Pack had more than its fair share of chances to steal one on the road.

• Jonas Pope IV, Raleigh News & Observer — 'We weren't good enough.' Dave Doeren doesn't hold back after loss to Miami.

The Hurricanes won 31-30, but the Wolfpack had the ball with a chance to drive and steal a win. A dropped pass and a blown coverage changed all of that.

Miami had one less yard (421-420) than N.C. State, but made one more play when it counted the most. That was the story of the night as the Hurricanes won a conference game for the first time this season.

“We didn’t make the plays that we needed to make, that we’ve been making,” N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren said. “We helped them in some key moments. We had some really good players not make the plays they are accustomed to making.”

For the second time this season, N.C. State didn’t force a turnover in a game. The first time that happened, versus Mississippi State, also resulted in a loss. Even still, the Wolfpack had an opportunity for a win right in front of them with 3:46 remaining.

On first down Devin Leary missed Anthony Smith on a deep ball. On second down Devin Carter dropped a pass over the middle, his second drop of the game.

The Wolfpack turned the ball over on downs and never got it back. N.C. State’s defense forced Miami into a third and 16, but Tyler Van Dyke hit tight end Will Mallory over the middle for a gain of 21, sealing the deal. After the play, linebacker Drake Thomas was visibly upset that another big play was given up. Without looking at the film yet, Thomas noted part of his frustration was a miscommunication on the assignment.

“That’s a play that me and some of the other linebackers had discussed and it wasn’t the same personnel out there,” Thomas said. “I take responsibility for not talking to the next guy up and not informing him on what he was supposed to do right there.”

• Jonas Pope IV, Raleigh News & Observer — Miami upsets No. 18 NC State. What we learned about the Wolfpack in Saturday’s loss

Nobody said this one would be easy.

No. 18 N.C. State and Miami slugged it out in South Beach, exchanging one big play after another.

Earlier this week Hurricanes’ quarterback Tyler Van Dyke said his offense felt confident they could move the ball on the Wolfpack defense and he was right. Miami (3-4, 1-2) picked up their first ACC win and first win over a Power 5 opponent in the last seven tries, defeating N.C. State, 31-30.

The Wolfpack dropped to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the ACC, coming up short in a game where they battled injuries and the inability to stop the big plays from Miami.

Miami scored on its opening drive of the game, then went on to score on their first drives of the second, third and fourth quarters, taking a 31-27 lead after Van Dyke hit Charleston Rambo for a 4-yard touchdown.

But a Chris Dunn field goal made it a one-point game with 5:39 remaining in the contest. N.C. State’s defense held Miami to - 5 yards inside its own territory, giving the ball back to Devin Leary and the N.C. State offense with 3:46 remaining. The Wolfpack offense only gained four yards, including two on fourth and eight, turning the ball back over to Miami with 2:49 remaining.

The Hurricanes were able to run out the clock, hitting victory formation for the first time in league play.

• David Thompson, Fayetteville Observer — Takeaways from Miami's upset win over No. 18 NC State

Van Dyke made headlines early in the week when he said N.C. State's defense would not be able to stop Miami's offense.

His words turned out to be prophetic.

The freshman threw for a career-high 325 yards and four touchdowns while completing 25-of-33 passes that included a four-yard fourth-quarter score — his second of the night to Charelson Rambo — that gave Miami a 31-27 lead with 9:14 left in the game.

Rambo finished with a game-high nine catches for 127 yards.

"That's the confidence in our mind that our team has been missing," Miami coach Manny Diaz said after the win. "We doubled down on what he said."

This was the first time this season that N.C. State's defense gave up more than 30 points.

"I'm very disappointed," Linebacker Drake Thomas said after the game. "(I'm) Unhappy with the performance."

• Associated Press — NC State falls to Miami 31-30 in first ACC loss

Tyler Van Dyke backed up his words. And Miami took a big step toward potentially salvaging its season.

Van Dyke passed for 325 yards and four touchdowns, two of them to Charleston Rambo, to lead the Hurricanes past No. 18 N.C. State 31-30 on Saturday night — snapping what was a six-game losing streak against Power 5 opponents.

The freshman, who started this season backing up the now-injured D’Eriq King, said earlier in the week that he didn’t think N.C. State could stop Miami’s offense. And after completing 25 of 33 passes, he proved himself right.

“How about Tyler Van Dyke? I mean, it’s unbelievable,” Miami coach Manny Diaz said. “Third conference game. And that defense is a hell of a defense. I mean, no one moves the ball on them.”'

Correction: No one had.

Jaylan Knighton had 166 total yards — 83 rushing, 83 more receiving — and a touchdown catch for Miami (3-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). Rambo finished with nine catches for 127 yards and Will Mallory had a touchdown grab for the Hurricanes.

Devin Leary threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns, plus ran for another for N.C. State. Thayer Thomas had both touchdown receptions for the Wolfpack (5-2, 2-1).

“Obviously, we’re very emotional, disappointed,” N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said. “Gotta give Miami credit. We didn’t make the plays we needed to make that we’ve been making and we helped them at some key moments.”

• Jaylan Harrington, Technician — Injuries, self-inflicted errors pile up for NC State

The Wolfpack has seen enough injuries over the past few years to last it a lifetime, and things got worse. With redshirt sophomore linebacker Payton Wilson, redshirt freshman defensive tackle C.J. Clark and graduate safety Cyrus Fagan already out for the year, the team was further hobbled by four other starters suffering various injuries.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary appeared to have his wind knocked out of him, but returned to the game. Junior running back Ricky Person Jr. suffered a leg injury, but also returned. Most impactful, though, had to be the injuries to redshirt junior linebacker Isaiah Moore and graduate guard Chandler Zavala. The latter man didn’t even travel with the team as he recovers — his second straight week of not seeing the field — while the former was hurt early in the first half. Despite having a bye recently, this team is banged up, and it’s hurting, especially on the defensive side.

Routine plays weren’t routine against the Hurricanes. Whether it was holding calls lengthening drives for the opposing offense, jumping offsides on field goals to give up a first down or just dropping easy completions, NC State shot itself in the foot over and over. No one player lost the game for the team, but it’s easy to look back and find so many that it’s shocking at least one of them didn’t go the Wolfpack’s way.

Luck ran out for NC State in Hard Rock Stadium. The team forced no turnovers; it couldn’t get off the field on third down and converted at a horrendous clip on offense, and despite outperforming the Hurricanes in most statistical categories, it couldn’t ever make the one play needed to take the reins in the game.

The perfect example of this comes in the controversial third quarter muffed punt. Down 21-17, redshirt junior Trenton Gill punted the ball 46 yards to the Miami 12, where it was promptly muffed, recovered by Miami then fumbled again, recovered by freshman receiver Anthony Smith. Except Smith’s helmet had fallen off, making his continued participation a penalty which gave the Hurricanes new life as NC State was forced to replay the down.

• Gary Ferman, Cane Sport — Opinion: Diaz shows up to be evaluated and fights on to next week

On Friday afternoon, University of Miami Athletic Director Blake James summoned a few reporters onto his phone line to get the word out nationally that Coach Manny Diaz was being evaluated.

The point?

No clue.

Of course, Diaz is being evaluated. But he doesn’t want to be fired.

These failures that have been piling up have hurt bad. Diaz knows he is about at the end of the string because of them. He hears the noise. So being nationally embarrassed by his boss the day before a nationally-televised game in the middle of the season was piling on, something that was not really necessary.

But Diaz took it all in stride, at least publicly, and kept his head down, wasn’t rattled by the antics of his boss, and brought the Hurricanes to Hard Rock Stadium Saturday night the best prepared for a football game that they have been all season.

And this time Miami won the life or death, win-some, lose-some battle that is typical among all these average teams in the ACC to break a string of 322 days without a victory over a Power 5 team.

• Greg Cote, Miami Herald — Miami Hurricanes and embattled Manny Diaz just showed fight left in them in huge home win

One win, even this one, doesn’t shift all of the gloom in reverse. But, oh, how it helps. And, after Miami lost its first two ACC games on last-play, heartbreakers, this one felt like medicine. Like healing.

Miami had lost six of its previous eight games dating to late last season. That’s how big Saturday night was.

Van Dyke this week raised eyebrows in Raleigh when he brushed off an N.C. State defense ranked 11th nationally.

“It’s the same guys we faced last year and we put up 44,” Van Dyke said this week, of a 44-41 UM win with now-injured D’Eriq King at QB.

Wolfpack players were trash-talking Van Dyke in pregame warmups. But the strong-armed kid impressively backed up what he said by humbling that highly ranked defense.

“Tyler’s comments could have gone one of two directions,” Diaz said. “You don’t hardly see a quarterback with two career starts saying that. Since we lost D’Eriq, we were lacking a leader, lacking a star. We doubled down on what he said. We followed what he said. We needed something. That’s what Tyler did [for us].”

Said Knighton: “TVD [Van Dyke] didn’t tell no lies.”

Van Dyke: “They were saying stuff, but our team is a confident team. There’s a lot of fight in this team”.

• Susan Miller Degnan, Miami Herald — Miami upsets No. 18 North Carolina State, beats first Power 5 team since last December

The Miami Hurricanes still have a heartbeat, and on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium, it was vibrant. Whether it’s enough to preserve Manny Diaz’s job as head coach remains to be seen as the 2021 season unfolds.

Behind a dominant performance by quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, the University of Miami won its first game since late September, defeating No. 18 NC State 31-30 and earning its first victory over a Power 5 opponent since Dec. 5.

“We weren’t going down without a fight,’’ said Van Dyke, a second-year freshman with a cannon for an arm.

Van Dyke completed 25 of 33 passes for 325 yards and four touchdowns to dazzle the announced crowd of 43,293. His 21-yard completion to tight end Will Mallory on third-and-16 with about two-and-a-half-minutes left allowed Miami to run out the clock. His main target: Charleston Rambo, with nine catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns.

Second-year freshman running back Jaylan Knighton, taking over the lead role for injured starter Cam’Ron Harris, had 21 carries for 83 yards against the nation’s 11th rushing defense. Knighton added 83 receiving yards and a 53-yard touchdown catch on a fourth-and-1 play early in the second quarter to give UM a 14-3 lead.

Before Saturday, the Canes (3-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) had lost six consecutive games against Power 5 teams.

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