What is the story about?
Saturday
in Durham went poorly for NC State, with the Wolfpack doing just about everything in their power to make sure the loss column no longer remained a goose egg. Let’s hit some reactions to that 45-33 loss.
- When State was up 7-0 and Duke was in 4th & 9 set up to punt, did anyone else have the feeling that this was going to be an easy win for State?
- Then the same feeling after Will Wilson’s rushing score to go up 20-7. The missed extra point after that score really felt like the turning point in the game.
- I’m not going to talk about the no-call on the C.J. Bailey interception with under a minute to go in the first half, but if you’re going to go for it, then go for it. You could see the receivers didn’t know the play before the snap, so what is Bailey supposed to do there? That should have been a timeout to regroup before things went awry, but that’s exactly where they went. Use your TOs, Doeren. That’s what they’re there for.
- And, yeah, that was the turning point in the game. From potentially going up 23-14 to being down 20-21 at the half.
- Bailey definitely lost his mojo there in the 3rd quarter after Duke went up 2 scores. 4-for-8 passing for 14 yards and 2 carries for 0 yards and a fumble.
- His confidence looked shook, which is always evident in his footwork. His feet get quicker and out of rhythm with his upper body, which results in inaccurate passes.
- Bailey settled down thereafter on that 95-yard TD drive to cut it to a 38-33 game, thankfully, so kudos to the coaching staff (and himself, of course) for getting back on track – at least until that poor decision to throw into double coverage over the middle on his final pass of the game.
- Stop letting Bailey take so many hits. You’re burning the redshirt on Wilson already, so use him. Make it obvious, who cares? Until someone stops it, just roll with it. The more you use Wilson, the more you’re going to set up the pass play out of the formation. Put Wilson and Bailey in the play together. Just stop letting Bailey take so many hits.
- Even as the focal point of Duke’s defensive game plan, Hollywood Smothers still ran for 123 yards on 17 carries and added another 41 yards on 5 receptions. This dude is a beast and so much fun to watch.
- Side note: Smothers currently leads the ACC in rushing yards with 503. Mark Fletcher of Miami is second with 388 yards.
- Defensive depth is a major issue. Get well, Cian Slone and Caden Fordham.
- Special Teams is a major issue. NC State currently ranks 102nd in SP+ Special Teams. With all the issues the Wolfpack have had, that seems like a generous ranking. Bill Connelly might want to check his calculations.
- State had their lowest post-game win expectancy of the season in this one at 25.9%, which was the first time dropping below 85.0% on the season. Kinda wild that with all the issue the Pack had in this one – turnovers, penalties, special teams – they still had a 1-in-4 chance based on the numbers of being the team to take home the W.
- If you’re looking for silver linings, that’s it. Maybe I’m going to jinx it, but the Pack played about as poorly as they could in so many facets, yet still had a chance to pull this one out until late.
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