Holliday: Pack gets Power Five win, but needs more offense to keep winning

By Bob Holliday, WRAL Sports contributor

In the final seconds of Miami’s 17-9 loss at Texas A&M, TV analyst Kirk Herbstreit talked about how much quarterback Tyler Van Duke misses the injured receiver Xavier Restrepo, along with departed Hurricanes’ stars Charleston Rambo and Mike Harley. Great point Kirk. But maybe NC State’s Devin Leary misses his guy Emeka Emezie even more.

Emezie caught 60 balls last season, many of them downfield, many of them on third down. With secondaries focused on containing Emezie, Thayer Thomas shagged 51 passes, and Devin Carter hauled in 31 at 18 yards per reception.

Without Emezie, Thomas has 10 catches through three games for a mere 102 yards. Carter, who did not catch a single pass against Texas Tech, has just four receptions for 54 yards. And without Emezie Leary is not completing passes downfield and not moving the chains on third down.

Against Texas Tech, Leary’s longest completion to a receiver who typically runs downfield routes went to Thomas for just 11 yards. Thayer had four catches overall for a total of 30 yards.

By contrast, Thomas, the slot back, threw a touchdown pass of 38 yards to Demie Sumo-Karngbaye. That was State’s longest pass play of the game, and it actually matched Leary’s passing yardage for the entire first half.

As for moving the chains, the Wolfpack converted just two of seven third downs in the first half-though it fared better in the second with four of nine.

None of this is to suggest that Leary has lost any of his considerable skill as a quarterback. He makes great decisions in the pocket, is very accurate (15-23 Saturday) and does not throw interceptions.

But against Texas Tech, much of Leary’s best work occurred when he targeted Jordan Houston and especially Demie Sumo-Karngbaye on passes out of the backfield. Leary hit Houston for 10 yards and a first down. He completed three passes to “Demie Sumo” including one of 19 yards and another of 25 yards. Number Zero, unfortunately, fumbled away the latter reception at the one yard line for a touchback. But those two passes to the running back were Leary’s biggest gainers of the night.

By contrast, his throws to NC State’s collective of wide receivers and tight ends went for single digits, except for the one pass to Thomas for 11 yards.

Did Texas Tech’s defensive schemes have something to do with this? Absolutely. The Red Raiders put pressure on Leary—and the quarterback probably misses departed left tackle Ikem Ekwonu almost as much as Emezie—limiting his ability to throw downfield. Texas Tech sacked Leary twice and was credited with four quarterback hurries, though it seemed like there were more.

Also, NC State’s offensive strategy vs. TT favored ball control over deep shots in an effort to monopolize possession and keep the Red Raiders’ potent offense on the sidelines. The strategy worked quite well as the Wolfpack dominated time of possession 33:04-26:56.

But going forward members of NC State’s receiving corps must get separation from defenders in offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s assorted pass patterns so that Leary can be Leary. Otherwise, the Pack may not generate enough offense to complement its outstanding defense in the big games of October and November.

Defensively the Wolfpack put on something of a clinic against the Red Raiders. Except for one or two occasions, Texas Tech’s Air Raid Offense was unable to get into the fast tempo that can quickly pile up points.

Texas Tech started with a three and out then fumbled a punt—though NC State could only get a field goal from that miscue. The Red Raiders’ third possession also resulted in a three and out.

The Raiders got a quick first down in the next series, but on the next play TT false started-with the help of NC State’s loud sellout crowd of almost 57,000. Then Savion Jackson and Tanner Ingle nailed Sarodorick Thompson for a five yard loss. A swing pass to Thompson gained 12 yards, but Payton Wilson prevented further damage when he ran down the fleet quarterback Donovan Smith. A first down there would have jumpstarted the Raiders’ coveted fast tempo. Instead, Coach Joey McGuire chose to punt.

Texas Tech finally did mount a drive late in the second quarter, but that ended when State’s Aydan White picked off Smith’s pass at the 16. He took it back 84 yards to the house.

Still, NC State couldn’t do much offensively the rest of the half after building a 20-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Tech demonstrated the dynamics of its offense in a two minute drill. The Raiders covered 62 yards on just four plays, leaving the Wolfpack with a much less comfortable halftime lead of 20-7.

But the NC State defense, led by its great linebacker trio of Payton Wilson, Isaiah Moore, and Drake Thomas, got back to business in the second half. State’s offense couldn’t score in the third quarter, but the defense preserved the 13 point lead.

C.J. Clark sacked Smith to stop one Raider drive near midfield. And in the next series, after Sumo-Karngbaye fumbled away a touchdown, Tony Gibson’s unit stood even taller.

Texas Tech faced a third and eight at its own 35. Time expired in the third quarter but the officials didn’t see that. Smith threw an incomplete pass. Should be fourth down right? No! The officials huddled and concluded that since the clock had run out that third down pass never happened. What if Texas Tech had thrown a 65 yard touchdown pass? Would that have been disallowed? In all my 50 plus years of covering ACC football I’ve never seen a play run with the officials not knowing the clock had struck zero. In this day of hi tech communication between the replay officials and the crew on the field, I’m a bit in credulous that NO ONE NOTICED that the quarter had ended!

So Texas Tech got a second try at third and eight-a do-over if you will. That also resulted in an incomplete pass. Then Joey McGuire gambled. On fourth and eight (actually the fifth down for the Wolfpack defense), Smith tried to sprint toward his line to gain, the 43. Smith ran for several first downs last week against Houston, but not against NC State. Wilson again ran him down with help from Jackson five yards short of a first down.

The Pack took possession on downs and immediately scored on Thomas’ 38 yard touchdown pass to Sumo-Karngbaye.

This was a perfectly timed play call by offensive coordinator Tim Beck. The Red Raiders’ defense is probably not used to seeing its offense stopped on fourth down and then having to rush onto the field. Texas Tech was certainly not ready for the Leary to Thomas to Sumo-Karngbaye combination.

Getting third down stops was a big part of NC State’s mission Saturday night. The Wolfpack succeeded, allowing just 2-12 third down conversions. But third down wasn’t the be all and end all against Texas Tech.

The Red Raiders ran four plays on fourth down. And one really made a difference.

After Drake Thomas and Wilson tackled Smith for a four yard gain on third down, the quarterback elected to pass on fourth down. He hit J.J. Sparkman for 17 yards.

The Raiders then hit the accelerator. Smith completed three passes in quick succession, and moments later ran into the end zone. The drive took all of 1:44 following the big play on fourth down. This was the offense Texas Tech fans are used to seeing. For NC State to keep the Red Raiders from getting into their fast tempo, indeed bottling up the Texas Tech air raid offense for 90% of the game is a monumental achievement.

Special teams played a part in this victory. State capitalized on Texas Tech’s aggressive kickoff return philosophy. The coverage teams kept the Raiders pinned deep most of the first half. Texas Tech started drives at the 19, 18, 14, and 17 during the first 30 minutes.

Pack punter Shane McDonough averaged 39 yards per punt and State’s punt coverage team limited Texas Tech to a mere six return yards.

And of course Chris Dunn made two important field goals early in the game to give the Wolfpack a lead it never relinquished.

State’s ability to force turnovers played a big part in the win, obviously—Joe Shimko alertly falling on the Raiders’ fumbled punt early in the game, yet another big special teams play; White intercepting a second pass to complement his 84 yard pick six; and Jakeen Harris scoring a passing takeaway to effectively end Tech’s last chance at victory.

NC State’s defensive heroes were many. Wilson (10), Thomas (8), Ingle (7), and Derrek Pitts (7) combined for 32 of the Wolfpack’s 73 tackles. Moore notched a sack along with five tackles. White also picked up a sack, along with five tackles and the two interceptions, earning honors as the ACC Defensive Back of the week.

NC State will cruise past Connecticut this week in what could look something like the Charleston Southern game, given the Huskies’ youth. The following week of course brings a trip to Clemson.

Dabo Swinney’s team has not faced a defense even remotely as good as NC State’s unit. But the converse is also true. And so the Wolfpack’s chance at victory in Death Valley will depend, at least in part, on the ability of its receiving corps to elude Clemson’s superb secondary for the few nanoseconds required to give Devin Leary the opportunity to deliver the football.