NC State’s defense upholds its standard in the Wolfpack’s win over Miami 

When former NC State coach — and longtime Notre Dame head whistle — Lou Holtz was in Raleigh to commemorate the 1973 ACC championship team, he sat and talked with current Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren. As they talked about what the red and white’s strengths and weaknesses were, takeaways came up. 

NC State’s defense hangs its hat on takeaways, while its offense struggled with turnovers during the first half of the season. As the two coaches talked, Holtz had a simple, yet philosophical approach to taking care of the football. 

“He said, ‘The football is pretty important. They named the entire sport after it,’” Doeren recalled. “I thought that was a great line from coach Holtz. … I think it says it all.”

Holtz’s uncomplicated phrase proved itself useful in NC State’s 20-6 win over Miami on Saturday night at Carter-Finley Stadium. The Wolfpack forced four turnovers, and finished plus-three in the turnover margin against the Hurricanes. 

That category is one Doeren constantly talks about as a major key to victory, and it was no different after the Miami win.

“No matter what, that is the most important statistic in football, in my opinion,” Doeren said. “It just gives you such a huge advantage from a field position, and momentum standpoint. And you’re stealing possessions from the other team.”

While those takeaways resulted in just 6 points, they were still pivotal in the outcome of the contest. One of the most pivotal was junior cornerback Aydan White’s interception came in the end zone as the Hurricanes were at the Wolfpack’s 17-yard line in the second quarter, trailing by a score. 

White’s pick was one of three that Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke threw in the contest, including one on each of the Hurricanes’ final two drives. The Wolfpack’s veteran cornerback thought NC State was able to read Van Dyke rather easily to force the turnovers. 

“We felt like he always predetermined where he was going,” White said. “With the disguise of the defense, I felt like that helped us get all those late interceptions and the interception that I had early in the game.”

While White kickstarted NC State’s secondary with the interception, graduate linebacker Payton Wilson was the Wolfpack’s star on the defense again. He left last week’s win over Clemson with an injury in the fourth quarter, but in his first action since that day, he flourished. 

Wilson posted a season-high 16 total tackles, the second-most of his career — he recorded 19 against Duke in 2020. 

“Fam a monster,” White said of Wilson. “I’ve got nothing else to say. He knows what he’s doing. He’s a hard worker. That boy is a dog for real.”

Wilson was the heart and soul of NC State’s defense yet again, and he did it with a team-most seven solo tackles with a tackle for loss, two pass breakups and two quarterback hurries. 

The Hillsborough, N.C., native led the Wolfpack defense to its first ACC contest without a touchdown allowed since NC State beat North Carolina 13-0 in 2011. 

For Wilson, the red and white’s defensive effort against the Hurricanes was what the program expects from the unit on a given night — unlike its losses to Notre Dame and Duke earlier this season. 

“This is our standard,” Wilson said. “Against Notre Dame when we didn’t play well, against Duke when we didn’t play well, this is what we were supposed to do. When we walk on that field, this is what we want to do to every opponent. … All 11 guys on that defense think they’re the best player on the field, if not the nation, every single snap.”

NC State’s defense has that confidence because of defensive coordinator Tony Gibson, who allows the Wolfpack to play aggressive, fast and free. Wilson said the defense plays with an “unmatched” confidence because of their leader. 

White also mentioned Gibson and his ability to let the defense do what they can to the best of their abilities. 

“Coach Gibson lets us play free and fast, all of us can just do our job,” White said. “It’s so much fun playing with them boys. I love them boys. Coach Gibby just lets us ball out and do our thing so we can play free, play fast. When you keep getting three-and-outs, keep getting stops, they get to the red zone and can’t score, that’s fun. What can they do?”

The Wolfpack held Miami to just one score in its three trips to the red zone, including a fourth-quarter goal-line stand that led to an NC State 97-yard touchdown drive to seal the game. The red zone was crucial in the contest as Miami entered the game with the ACC’s third-best scoring offense with just over 35 points a contest. 

NC State knew it could not end up in a shootout with the Hurricanes, and it leaned on its stout defense to hold the opponents to their lowest scoring output of the season. 

As the Wolfpack did what it needed to do against the Hurricanes, its second straight week where the unit rose to the occasion, White wants to see it continue with three games to play in the 2023 campaign.

And its ability to shut down one of the ACC’s best offensive units might send a message to its next trio of opponents: Wake Forest, Virginia Tech and North Carolina. 

“It’s big for us,” White said. “We definitely just got to keep this momentum going, and opponents need to do their homework on the NC State defense. We turned that up, for real.”