NC State football opponent scouting report: Charleston Southern

The No. 13/18-ranked NC State football team has its home opener for the 2022 season Saturday afternoon. Charleston Southern arrives for a 12:30 kickoff on RSN. The Buccaneers, a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) member, are 0-1 after losing a 52-38 shootout at home to Western Carolina.

Here is a full scouting report on Charleston Southern:

Five Charleston Southern Players To Watch

Redshirt junior receiver Cayden Jordan (No. 1)

Jordan was a second-team All-Big South Conference selection a season ago after catching 53 passes for 752 yards and a touchdown. He twice eclipsed 100 yards receiving in a game in 2001 and was less than 10 yards away in two more contests.

The 6-foot-2, 209-pounder was also voted preseason all-conference this fall and caught a pair of passes for 69 yards in the opener.

Senior safety Hombre Kennedy (No. 2)

Kennedy has been a top performer on the Charleston Southern defense since the shortened spring season in 2021. He averaged 6.5 tackles a game in that pandemic-influenced schedule. Then this past fall, the 5-foot-11, 195-pounder had 43 tackles, 3 interceptions and 8 pass breakups. He also forced a pair of fumbles.

Kennedy was selected preseason all-conference, and he had 7 tackles and a forced fumble in the Buccaneers’ season-opening loss to Western Carolina.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Ross Malmgrem (No. 5)

Malmgrem nearly attempted as many passes (45) in the season opener for Charleston Southern as he did in his entire career (68) beforehand. Malmgrem, who previously backed up current NC State quarterback Jack Chambers, completed 30 of those attempts for 392 yards and 5 touchdowns with just 1 interception.

Senior linebacker Garrett Sayegh (No. 40)

The undersized Sayegh (5-foot-9, 210 pounds) broke out last season with 96 tackles, including 9 for loss and 2 sacks. He added 3 forced fumbles, 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery and was voted first-team all-conference.

Sayegh was a preseason all-conference choice this summer.

Fifth-year senior defensive lineman Anton Williams (No. 1)

Entering this season, Williams had 16.5 sacks and 28 tackles for loss in his career. He needs 8.5 hits on the quarterback to set a new school record at Charleston Southern for most all time. Seven more tackles for loss would vault him into the top 5 in school history for TFLs.

Williams did not get a tackle in the backfield in the opener against Western Carolina, but he will be a focal point for the NC State offense line.

What To Watch For From Charleston Southern Against NC State Football

1. A lot of passing: Charleston Southern runs a version of the Air Raid spread offense, and the numbers back up that they will throw the ball frequently against NC State. Last week in their opener vs. Western Carolina, the Buccaneers had 46 pass attempts and 27 rushes, but 6 of those runs were actually sacks that count statistically as a carry.

Thus, there were more than twice as many pass plays called (52) than runs (21).

2. An opportunistic defense: There was not a lot to like defensively if you are a Charleston Southern coach from last Saturday. The two teams combined for the most points ever scored in a season opener for the Bucs and the most overall in a game involving CSU since 2016.

Western Carolina had a whopping 616 total yards and 8.3 yards per play. However, Charleston Southern was able to force 4 turnovers, intercepting a pair of passes and recovering 2 of the 4 fumbles that were forced.

3. An overmatched team: The reality is that Charleston Southern will not prove to be a match for NC State football. Such is the nature of these games. The Pack is a top 25-ranked Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) team and Charleston Southern was picked to finish third in the 6-team FCS-affiliated Big South Conference.

Three Keys To The Game For NC State Football

1. Improve on tackling: A theme from NC State head coach Dave Doeren and defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Tony Gibson this week is to cut down on the unusually high number of missed tackles against East Carolina.

Doeren cited the lack of contact in preseason camp in favor of arriving into the season healthy as a likely culprit for the issues in Greenville. Saturday represents a chance to get back to the basics.

2. Find the rhythm in the passing game: NC State fifth-year redshirt junior quarterback Devin Leary completed just 17 of 33 passes at East Carolina, or 51.5 percent, well below the 65.7 percent he had last year that was third best in NC State football history.

Western Carolina was 28-of-36 passing (77.8 percent) for 433 yards last Saturday vs. Charleston Southern.

3. Don’t mess around and stay healthy: NC State should roll to a quick and easy win vs. Charleston Southern. The main focus is to jump out strong and get the reserves, like Chambers at quarterback, a lot of action while staying healthy for an important Week 3 showdown at home with Texas Tech.

Three Numbers Of Note For NC State Football Vs. Charleston Southern

35 Years since the last time NC State football lost to a FCS team (1987 vs. East Tennessee State)

44.5 The spread on the betting line in NC State’s favor

4-6 Charleston Southern’s win-loss record last season. Half of those losses were by at least 20 points.