Behind the numbers: QB Grayson McCall’s NC State debut

By Noah Fleischman

It had been 313 days since No. 24 NC State quarterback Grayson McCall last took the field for a competitive college football game: Coastal Carolina at Arkansas State on Oct. 21, 2023. He left that game on a stretcher with a concussion, which later called his playing career into question . 

McCall, however, elected to return to the gridiron. He isn’t afraid of what could happen, and he doesn’t play timidly. But in his first game since, McCall took some time to settle in and appeared to play through a little bit of rust when he dropped back in NC State’s pocket.

The Indian Trail, N.C., native, who entered the game as one of the most accurate passers in college football, was just 26-of-40 passing against Western Carolina, though he finished with 318 yards and 3 touchdowns — all to sophomore standout Kevin “KC” Concepcion. 

McCall noted that he was a little bit nervous in his NC State debut but was appreciative to be able to play in front of a sold-out crowd of 56,919 fans at Carter-Finley Stadium. 

“I don’t think I played my best ball. … It was good to just get out there again,” McCall said. “I don’t think we played our best, but I’m happy we came away with the win.”

Let’s take a look at McCall’s NC State debut with some analytics help from Pro Football Focus. 

Took some time to settle in

The early going was a slight struggle for McCall, a three-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year. He was just 2-for-5 on his first batch of throws, which included an interception that was thrown right at Western Carolina’s Ken Moore Jr.’s chest, an uncharacteristic pass from the quarterback who is known for taking care of the football. Although his first quarter was a 5-for-9 showing for 81 yards, McCall did find Ohio State transfer Noah Rogers on two of those passes for 34 yards. 

It was not until the second quarter that McCall seemed to find a rhythm — with the help of his wideouts. Yes, he was 9-of-11 passing for 89 yards and a touchdown in the second quarter, but many of those completions were a tad late, forcing the wide receivers to stop their routes or reach behind themselves for the pass. 

The third quarter showed a regression in McCall’s accuracy with a 7-of-14 showing in the period, but he was able to clean it up in the final quarter. The signal-caller went 5-of-6 passing for 87 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter, helping lead NC State to a 21-0 scoring margin in the final period to seal the contest. 

Pass protection held up

While McCall was looking to settle into the 2024 football season, he did have time to throw for the most part. Western Carolina blitzed McCall on 61.4 percent of his dropbacks, but the NC State offensive line only allowed two quarterback pressures — both resulting in hurries and not sacks. 

The Pack front five earned a 94.7 pass-blocking mark, an elite grade according to PFF, which helped McCall stay on his feet and extend plays with his legs when he needed to. When the Catamounts brought pressure and the front stayed intact, it seemed McCall was at his best. 

McCall was 17-of-23 for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns when Western Carolina brought extra heat, which signaled that McCall was making the right reads to find the open wideout — usually Concepcion — downfield. 

Thrived in short throws, inconsistent on medium and deep balls

McCall went 14-of-17 on short throws. But on his medium and long passes, McCall saw his accuracy fall off. 

He missed several passes at both depths, some of which could have gone for explosive plays to help NC State blow out Western Carolina. McCall was 7-of-13 passing for 138 yards and a touchdown on passes that were 10-19 yards through the air, while he was just 2-for-6 on deep balls with 40 yards and a touchdown. 

NC State coach Dave Doeren, who touted McCall’s accuracy over the offseason, believed that his signal-caller’s placement will improve week over week.

“Accuracy is one of his strengths and that’s something he’ll continue to improve,” Doeren said.

Even on McCall’s first touchdown pass, a 17-yard completion to Concepcion in the end zone, his accuracy was a tad shaky. He threw it toward the wideout’s feet, but Concepcion was able to make a play on the ball and open the scoring for the Wolfpack. There were also some passes that ended up behind Concepcion and the other wideouts, falling incomplete when it seemed an explosive play was brewing.

Doeren acknowledged those after the game, but thought McCall played well in all.

“There were some balls that if they were a little bit to the right or a little bit to the left, they would have been completions, some of them for potentially big gains” Doeren said. “But he played a good football game. He kept drives alive, used his feet and protected the football. He had the one pick early and after that, I thought he settled in and played a good football game.”

TheWolfpacker.com’s take

This week of practice will be key for McCall’s timing with his wide receivers, as well as refining his footwork ahead of the Wolfpack’s matchup with No. 15 Tennessee at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium on Friday, Sept. 6 at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.

McCall’s first impression in front of the Pack fan base was not the best. He is his own toughest critic, so Thursday night’s outing will not sit well with McCall for long. A nationally televised game against the Volunteers next week will provide McCall an opportunity to work past his up-and-down debut.

If I know anything about McCall — having covered him for a year and a half before arriving in Raleigh — he will be able to correct his mistakes going into the rest of the season. Look for an ever-evolving improvement from McCall the rest of the way.