North Carolina State wrapped up their 2014 regular season campaign in Chapel Hill with an emphatic 35-7 beatdown of the North Carolina Tar Heels. NC State finished as they started the season: strong.
After a 4-0 start in non-conference play, State sputtered to an 0-4 ACC start before getting Dave Doeren his first conference win at Syracuse.
NC State Regular Season Dissection
I got the Wolfpack’s record completely backwards in my preseason predictions. I thought the Pack was good for an improvement on last year up to 5-7, and they proved me wrong and earned bowl eligibility at 7-5. My predictions held sway in all games except Syracuse and UNC. Getting two ACC wins on the road pushed the Wolfpack to 3-5 in conference, and sets them up for a mid-tier bowl if the chips fall their way.
The five losses that NC State suffered this season were to teams that are a combined 47-13. Four of the five teams are currently ranked in the College Football Playoff Poll. The Wolfpack made things interesting in three of those five games. Only Clemson and Georgia Tech took the Pack out of the game from the get-go.
State can’t boast about any wins against ranked teams this season, but if you’re of the “good loss” camp then they’ve got five losses that are easy to swallow and explain away. Plain and simple, NC State was beaten by five better teams. They were outplayed for 60 minutes in four of the five. Only a now cliché second half comeback by Florida State kept NC State from pulling a shocking upset of the then number one team in the land.
MVP: Jacoby Brissett
Quarterback Jacoby Brissett led this team to a bowl with his arm and legs. In the games when NC State needed to take advantage of inferior defenses and capitalize, they did. Brissett racked up 2344 passing yards and tacked on 498 rushing yards. He kept his mistakes to a minimum, surrendering just 5 interceptions while throwing 22 touchdowns.
He struggled against Clemson and Boston College, but in all other games he and the offense put up decent numbers. Despite that, the defense just couldn’t keep the opposition out of the end zone.
Unsung hero: Shadrach Thornton
Thornton rushed for 811 yards and nine touchdowns this season. He and the offensive line picked a good time to make their presence firmly known: in the last two games. Wake Forest and UNC never had a chance with the Pack outscoring the two 77-20. Thornton ran for over 100 yards in both games. The run game kept the clock moving at a nice pace, kept the ball out of the other team’s hands, and laid the groundwork for a nice finish to the regular season.
NC State has a ton of momentum after demolishing two teams to finish, bookending the season with dominant performances on either end of some shaky mid season games.
Second half Defense
In their three 2nd half wins, the Pack’s defense stepped up and kept their opponents in check while the offense went to work. Minus the drubbing against Georgia Tech, the State defense gave up an average of 12 points to Syracuse, Wake, and UNC. The Orange and Deacons are two of the ACC schools who will not be bowling this post-season (plus Virginia), so that’s no real shocker, but keeping the Heels at seven for 98% of the game was quite a feat.
Best performance: at UNC
Said game at Chapel Hill was a fine way to end the regular season. NC State controlled this game from kickoff on, and grounded a high-flying Tar Heel offense that had itself back on track after collapsing mid-season. UNC only scored in the most garbage-y of garbage time (1:48 left in the game) to get on the board and make the final 35-7.
State held the ball for almost 39 minutes and racked up 388 rushing yards in the rivalry game blowout. The defense played their most complete game, holding UNC to its lowest output of the season. They were about two minutes away from posting their first conference shutout of the season.
2nd Best: vs. FSU
The above-mentioned solid outing versus FSU was the first real close call the ‘Noles had against a team they were supposed to manhandle. Two earlier games FSU had to survive against Oklahoma State and Clemson, but those were teams some folks actually gave a chance to beat FSU.
NC State was written off prior to kickoff, but took it to the defending national champs. The Pack got out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter, and had FSU reeling. The Seminoles righted the ship in the second half and cruised past the Pack, but NC State showed the FSU defense was susceptible to big plays. Fast forward to present day, and undefeated FSU has fallen to number four in the CFP Poll and will need to handle Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship Game to remain in contention for the national title.
NC State can point back to their battle with the ‘Noles in Raleigh and know they didn’t lie down to a powerhouse, but in fact were one of the first teams in a long line of would-be spoilers who were peeling back casing on the rotten banana that is FSU’s weaknesses.
What’s Next?
Depending on how the Notre Dame bowl lottery pans out, NC State could move up into the Belk Bowl and play an SEC school in nearby Charlotte. With a potential matchup against Tennessee in this bowl, there would be a healthy red and orange sea in the Carolina Blue seats of Bank of America Stadium.
If the Belk Bowl does draw the right for Notre Dame, this could drop State down a tier into the Military Bowl in DC. Neither is a bad destination for a team who won three games last year, but a bigger crowd and better (perception-wise) opponent awaits in the Queen City vs. our nation’s capital.
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