Well, it’s been a few days since the NC State game versus Wake Forest, and I will say this, the disappointment still lingers. That game was nothing short of a disaster, for NC State. They had everything on the line and came up short in every possible way. The 27-23 score was possibly the most disappointing result of the Dave Doeren era. With everything that was on the line coming into this game, the performance was awful.
The game plan was a mishmash of running plays that weren’t working and a pass offense that make a bunch of mistakes. NC State had dropped balls, bad reads, and questionable decisions. I am not sure what NC State was trying to do on offense. The playcalling seemed unimaginative and simple. NC State couldn’t convert Touchdowns in the Red Zone and came away with only Field Goals.
If you can’t convert Touchdowns inside the 10 yard line you will give the other team life. The offense should have been to do whatever they wanted against Wake Forest. Don’t believe me? Look at the Demon Deacons defensive rankings 121 in total defense, 103rd against the rush, and 121st against the pass. Being this bad against the run, NC State rushed for a TOTAL of 47 yards.
NC State kept running the stretch play and could not break this defense. NC State has 2, possibly 3 offensive linemen that will be drafted next season. Pro Football Focus has Tyrod Prescod is the best Guard in the country. Garrett Bradbury is the 3rd rated Center by Draftscout. Tyler Jones should be drafted by an NFL team. With all this talent upfront the offense could only get 47 years rushing.
Now, Ryan Finley did put up 374 yards in the game. However, there were plays that were left out on the field. Emeka Emezie dropped a 3rd down pass that would have kept a drive going in the first half. CJ Riley dropped a touchdown pass from Finley. There was a Cary Angeline pass that was dropped in the end zone as well. Unlike the CJ Riley drop, which would have been a difficult catch, Angeline had a wide open opportunity that hit him in the chest and dropped it. NC State built a 10 point lead early in the 4th quarter and watched it disappear.
Wake Forest came out and stopped the run. They made the plays that were out there to be made. Wake Forest had a backup quarterback who guided a 8 play 80 yard touchdown drive in 1:09. Make no mistake, Wake Forest out played NC State, and that is the problem.
It’s not like NC State has been dominating Wake lately. NC State lost to Wake last year in Winston-Salem on a debatable call on the goal line. Wake has always played NC State tough throughout the series. So, NC State had no business overlooking Wake. However, NC State’s play showed that they did overlook Wake.
There was an outside chance, before this game, that NC State could have made a New Year’s 6 Bowl game. It was a very very outside chance, to be honest, and with other teams with larger fan bases, NC State would’ve needed a lot of help to make that happen.
The first step would have been to win the rest of those very winnable games and they failed to do that against Wake. NC State can still make the Camping World Bowl or Tax Slayer Bowl. But with the showing NC State had against Wake, NC State has shown that they can lose to anyone, so my confidence is more then a little shaken. With the final 3 games against Louisville, UNC, and ECU they shouldn’t lose. But then again, I thought they shouldn’t have lost against Wake Forest…..
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