NC State football report card: Boston College

Going into Saturday’s game, NC State had a chance to set a program record for consecutive home wins and send a historic senior class out of Carter-Finley Stadium on a high note. The Wolfpack fell flat against Boston College and suffered its third loss of the season after a touchdown in the final minute that put the Eagles ahead 21-20.

Today’s report card reflects on a dominant defensive performance that was let down by a poor showing by the offense, while special teams continued to excel.

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NC State offense grade

Grade— D–

After consecutive games where it looked like the offense was taking steps in a positive direction, it took a massive leap back against a mediocre-at-best Boston College defense. The only things that keep the unit away from an F grade this week are the first two drives of the matchup— a pair of beautifully-executed sequences that led to two touchdowns in just 4:07 of combined game time.

Other than that, it was a rough night for the Pack. MJ Morris played like a freshman in the second half after a solid first two quarters, turning the ball over a total of 4 times. That does not fall solely on him, as his protection was bad at times, especially when All-ACC center Grant Gibson left the game with an injury.

NC State was also missing starting wide receiver Devin Carter and, for most of the game, running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, but the Wolfpack still should have been able to put together a better offensive performance than what it did against the Eagles. Boston College gave up at least 31 points in its previous 4 ACC matchups. The Pack finished the second half with 3 points and 61 yards of offense.

NC State defense grade

Grade— B+

The Wolfpack defense was excellent for most of the night and, if it was not for a questionable pass interference call on Drake Thomas, the squad would have secured the win on the game’s final drive. NC State finished the night with 5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss, intercepting redshirt-freshman quarterback Emmett Morehead twice.

Linebackers Isaiah Moore, Payton Wilson and Thomas were extremely effective on blitzes and run support, combining for 8 tackles for loss. Thomas also had 5 quarterback hurries and 2 sacks. The Wolfpack completely shut down Boston College’s ground game and held the Eagles to -1 rushing yard. Even if you remove the sack yardage, that number only improves to 31.

With that said, the Eagles picked up big plays when it needed to. Boston College needed a huge game out of wide receiver Zay Flowers, and he delivered, finishing the matchup with 7 receptions for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns. Those numbers were not a result of particularly bad pass defense by NC State, in my opinion. Flowers is just that good. When a team blitzes as much as NC State does, it creates opportunities for one-on-one matchups in coverage, and the Eagles took advantage of that.

NC State special teams grade

Grade— A

Christopher Dunn made history Saturday night, hitting field goals of 45 and 30 yards to become the ACC’s all-time leader in made field goals. He was the Pack’s only source of points in the final three quarters. As has been the case all season, when NC State’s offense goes quiet, Dunn continues to deliver.

Darryl Jones and Keyon Lesane have to be two of the best punt coverage athletes in the nation. Lesane forced a fumble on one punt return that helped swing momentum for the Pack, and the two wide receivers did a terrific job of keeping pace with backup punter Caden Noonkester 6 booming punts for an average of 46.2 yards. They only allowed 1 return for 6 yards. Collin Smith also did a great job on kickoffs and did not allow a return.