NC State football report card: Duke

By Ethan McDowell

NC State dropped to 5-5 on the season after Duke snapped the program’s first winning streak of the season. The Blue Devils, who improved to 7-3 under first-year Manny Diaz, contained the Wolfpack offense and beat its in-state rival 29-19.

Duke now holds a two-game winning streak over NC State. The Wolfpack has only defeated its neighbor school from Durham 1 time in their previous 5 meetings over the past 15 years. This time, NC State failed to turn red zone opportunities into touchdowns.

The Pack lost on senior day for the second time in three years, an emotional day that head coach Dave Doeren takes personally. Inefficiency, a couple of turnovers and a handful of explosive passing plays doomed NC State in its final home game of 2024.

NC State football offense grade

Grade— D

NC State put up 59 points against Stanford last week in a performance that now feels like a distant memory after Saturday’s offensive slog. The program’s first quarter struggles returned as the program racked up 41 total yards and 1 first down over the first 15 minutes. Going into halftime, the Wolfpack just barely cracked 100 total yards with 102 and recorded 2 plays of 15 yards or more.

CJ Bailey finished the game 16 for 39 with 184 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. He led the team in rushing with 36 yards on 10 carries. NC State averaged 2.9 yards per carry as a team and averaged 7.1 yards to go on third down opportunities, failing to stay ahead of the chains against a talented defense. The Pack converted 3 of its 15 third downs against the Blue Devils , including a 1 of 4 mark with 4 yards or fewer to gain.

While the passing game did generate 7 throws that gained at least 15 yards, it did so without any consistency. This was statistically Bailey’s least accurate start by a mile, and his receivers did not help him. NC State was dropping passes with no one around— plays left on the table that could have changed this game. Junior tight end Justin Joly paced the program with 4 catches for 52 yards on 5 targets, but the only ball he did not haul in was a deflected pass that turned into an interception that snowballed into the Duke score that put the Blue Devils up by 14.

Between the 20s, the Pack moved fairly well and averaged 11.5 yards per completion as it put together 5 drives of at least 8 plays. When it reached the red zone, NC State simply could not execute, settling for 4 field goal attempts of fewer than 40 yards. The Wolfpack scored on 5 of 6 possessions inside the Duke 20, but 4 of those drives ended in kicks. That proved to be the true difference in a game that was sloppy at times for both teams.

Defense grade

Grade— B+

NC State defended the run better than it has all year. The Blue Devils averaged 1.1 yards per carry on 27 attempts. Redshirt junior defensive lineman Travali Price and redshirt freshman linebacker Kamal Bonner each recorded 2 tackles for loss to lead a team that finished with 9 total. NC State held Duke to 1 run of 10 yards or more in a defensive performance reminiscent of past iterations of this defense. The Pack forced 6 three and outs.

In the passing game, NC State left its defensive backs on an island. That led to mixed results. The Pack shut down the run, but Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy was able to connect on a few critical explosive plays, including 5 passes that picked up at least 20 yards. He ended up completing 22 of his 31 throws for 245 yards and 2 touchdowns while also taking care of the ball.

Duke turned the ball over just once when redshirt freshman nickel Tamarcus Cooley ripped the ball away from a receiver on a potential game-changing play in the final seconds of the first half. With 70 return yards on his fumble recovery, Cooley led the Pack in all-purpose yards. Safety DK Kaufman finished second with 63 kick return yards.

The Wolfpack recorded 2 pass breakups and 2 quarterback hurries to go along with 1 sack as it struggled to consistently disrupt Murphy. Redshirt junior linebacker Sean Brown paced the team with 10 total tackles.

Special teams grade

Grade— B

Redshirt sophomore kicker Kanoah Vinesett was busy Saturday after Collin Smith handled place-kicking against Stanford. He set a new career-high with 4 made field goals from 30, 38, 37 and 25 yards out. Vinesett also missed a 36-yard kick in the third quarter as NC State relied heavily on his leg.

Caden Noonkester punted 4 times. The redshirt junior averaged 44 yards per attempt with a long of 50. Kaufman returned 2 kickoffs for an average of 32 yards, with sophomore wide receiver KC Concepcion running back 3 punts for 22 yards. NC State also committed 2 penalties on returns.