Monday morning quarterbacking: NC State 19, Florida State 17

NC State football had to overcome a 2-touchdown deficit and adversity on top of that Saturday. However, the Wolfpack rose to the occasion against Florida State, winning 19-17 and maintaining a place in the top 15 of the respective polls.

The Wolfpacker takes a final look at the contest with some Monday morning quarterbacking:

Key Moment Of The Game

There were many important plays in this strange game, which is to be expected in a contest decided by less than a field goal.

Ultimately this was the moment that sealed the win for NC State.

Three Things That Worked For NC State Football

1. Second half defense: After halftime, Florida State had just 93 yards total offense and averaged 4.0 yards per play. Quarterback Jordan Travis was 5-of-13 passing for 64 yards and 2 interceptions, and FSU had just 5 first downs.

Going into the final drive of the game, FSU had four possessions and in those drives went three-and-out on all but one of them, during which the Noles had just 1 first down.

2. Wearing FSU’s defense down in the second half: NC State was the beneficiary of great field position throughout the second half, but the Wolfpack also, despite being one-dimensional when senior Jack Chambers took over at quarterback for the injured fifth-year redshirt junior Devin Leary, was able to grind out time-consuming drives.

FSU had a time of possession (TOP) advantage of 17:30-12:30 at halftime. By the end of the game, NC State had the possession for 33:24 and had a better than 2-to-1 advantage TOP over FSU.

That likely played a role when NC State ran seven straight times from their own 42 to the Florida State 11 before settling for what proved to be a game-winning 27-yard field goal from super senior kicker Christopher Dunn.

3. Not quitting: ACC Network commentator Tim Hasselbeck said that NC State delivered one of the grittier performances he had seen in the league. Rallying from down 17-3 at halftime despite playing most of the second half without the starting quarterback, leading rusher (sophomore Demie Sumo-Karngbaye) and a top receiver (fifth-year redshirt junior Devin Carter) speaks to the character of head coach Dave Doeren’s team.

Three Areas Where NC State Football Struggled

1. First half offense: The numbers were simply ugly. In the first quarter, NC State had a mere 36 yards of offense and only 2 first downs.

The Wolfpack went scoreless in the second quarter and headed to the locker room with 133 yards of offense and averaging 4.4 yards per play. Leary completed just 1 of 6 passes to start the game before finishing the half 5-of-14 for 75 yards. He also threw an interception by throwing too high to an open fifth-year redshirt junior receiver Jasiah Provillon on fourth and 1 at the Florida State 39.

The Pack entered Saturday yet to reach 300 yards of total offense in its two prior games against Power Five defenses. (The Pack would finish with 307 vs. Florida State.)

2. Stopping big plays: NC State had been good at preventing long gains prior to Saturday. Florida State changed that. Travis had a 71-yard run to set up the Noles’ first touchdown. That was one of seven FSU plays that went for at least 22 yards and added up to 255 of the Seminoles’ 387 total yards. The other 51 snaps resulted in 132 yards.

There was also a 51-yard punt return by Florida State receiver Ontaria Wilson that set up the visitor’s field goal to end the first half.

3. Getting red zone touchdowns: NC State reached the Florida State 20-yard line four times in the game. Only once did the Wolfpack come away with a touchdown. One prominent example of the struggles came when an improbable penalty was called on Florida State punter Alex Mastromanno for kicking beyond the line of scrimmage.

That gave NC State the football at the FSU 13, but a trick play throw from super senior receiver Thayer Thomas to Chambers lost 5 yards on first down. Then Chambers was tackled for a 5-yard loss. Back-to-back holding penalties backed up NC State another 20 yards, forcing a third and 40 from the Florida State 43.

Chambers was able to get 7 yards on a scramble and set up a 53-yard field goal from Dunn to cut Florida State’s lead to 17-16 with 11:11 left in the contest.

Position-By-Position Battles

NC State football’s offensive line vs. Florida State’s defensive front

Florida State finished with 7 tackles for loss, including a sack, and added 4 quarterback hurries. However, in the second half, everyone knew NC State was likely running the football, and the Pack still was productive. The Pack finished averaging 4.3 yards per rush when removing sacks and kneel downs.

Considering the circumstances, this was a win for NC State.

NC State football’s defensive front vs. Florida State’s offensive line

It’s a tale of two halves here. FSU’s front won the first and NC State the second. The Wolfpack finished with 6 tackles for loss, including a sack, but was more consistent in harassing the quarterback with 8 hurries.

NC State football’s wide receivers vs. Florida State’s secondary

The inability to create separation continued for NC State and led to a comfortable Florida State win here. Wolfpack wideouts accounted for a mere 4 catches Saturday.

NC State football’s secondary vs. Florida State’s wide receivers

This was arguably the best receiving corps that NC State has faced thus far this year, and the Pack fared well. NC State held Travis to a 50-percent completion percentage, picked him off twice and held the average for yards-per-completion to over 2 yards below FSU’s league-leading average entering the game.

Quarterbacks

Florida State gets the edge due to Travis rushing for 108 yards on 7 carries,. However, the quarterbacking was generally subpar, especially from a throwing standpoint.

Running backs

One of the unsung heroes of Saturday’s win was NC State fourth-year junior Jordan Houston, who had the best performance among the running backs in the game. He ran 24 times for 90 yards, including carrying 3 times for 15 yards to get the final first down that sealed the win. Houston also added 2 catches for 41 yards.

Tight ends/fullbacks

A very quiet game for both teams, with NC State redshirt freshman Cedric Seabrough accounting for the game’s lone tight end reception at 4 yards.

Special teams

Despite allowing the 51-yard punt return, NC State gets the win thanks to Dunn making all four field goal tries and the monster mistake by the Noles’ Mastromanno.

Saturday was a tough evening all around for Mastromanno, who averaged just 32.3 yards per punt on his 7 attempts. Three times NC State had starting field position at beyond the 40-yard line after ineffective punts.