NC State football: What they're saying about Texas Tech win
NC State football continued to win at home with a 27-14 victory over Texas Tech Saturday afternoon. Here is some of what those who covered the game are saying.
Matt Carter, The Wolfpacker — Column: A non-offensive win for NC State
The victories thus far may not have been as pretty as desired, but the Wolfpack proved trustworthy in winning games they are supposed to capture, especially when luck smiled on them in Greenville in the season opener against East Carolina.
The special teams disparity saved the day at ECU. Defense carried the torch Saturday evening against Texas Tech. At some point this year, the offense will have to produce at a higher rate.
NC State football coach Dave Doeren brought up a good point in his postgame press conference: that Texas Tech’s senior-laden defense deserves some credit. The Red Raiders were a veteran unit that performed well against Houston a week ago.
But Doeren also noted this was “an important” game.
He’s right. If NC State wants to be taken seriously by those making picks on ESPN’s College GameDay, the Pack needs to show something, mainly wins, in games against Power 5 competition. That is especially true in one like this Texas Tech team that was receiving votes in the Top 25 going into the week.
Ethan McDowell, The Wolfpacker — NC State locker room notes from the win over Texas Tech
The night was not perfect for Sumo-Karngbaye, who was inches away from another touchdown before he fumbled out of the end zone. Despite the mistake, there is a mutual trust between the running back and Doeren that helped him bounce back quickly.
“He really just had my back. We let me go out there again and let me prove myself and prove to everybody else that I’m more than capable of making touchdowns and making plays,” Sumo-Karngbaye said.
“I found him on the bench,” Doeren said. “He had his head down, and I told him to look me in the eyes and said ‘You need to make up for that. You’re going to get a chance and, when you get it, you need to help the team because you just let us down right there. You can go out there and be a difference maker.”
Doeren’s willingness to let the running back redeem himself ended with his second touchdown of the game— a 38-yard trick-play pass from NC State wide receiver Thayer Thomas.
The occasional fits and starts of the offense made it a timely moment for the defense to announce its full arrival, but it had to happen anyway. For N.C. State to be the kind of team it thinks it can be, all of that hope and all of that optimism was built on the defense playing like this. And for the moment, inconsistencies on offense aside, everything’s still out there for the Wolfpack.
N.C. State escaped at East Carolina and took care of business against Texas Tech in the kind of game that’s often tripped up the Wolfpack in the past. UConn, which got stomped 59-0 by Michigan on Saturday, shouldn’t pose too much of a threat, which leaves Clemson looming only two weeks away.
The Wolfpack broke the streak against the Tigers last year but has to do it on the road this year, a tougher task to be certain. N.C. State thought it had the defense to do it and after Saturday knows for certain that it does — if the offense can get back to that level. And maybe even if it can’t.
Many expected a shootout Saturday night between N.C. State and Texas Tech, with the Pack’s Devin Leary slinging passes and the Red Raiders’ “Air Raid” attack making things entertaining.
The two defenses didn’t let it happen.
The No. 16 Wolfpack stayed undefeated with a 27-14 win on a night when quarterback Devin Leary was average, when yards were hard to come by and anything gained offensively was hard-earned.
The Red Raiders (2-1) edged Houston, then ranked 25th, a week ago in double overtime and were after a second straight win over a ranked nonconference team. But the Wolfpack, a 10-point favorite, made enough key plays to punch out a victory over the Big 12 Conference team at Carter-Finley Stadium.
“That was a good team win,” N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said. “That’s a good [Texas Tech] offense, and the kids did a good job and different guys stepped up. It’s good to get that win. I know that was a a big game.”
What more could you ask for from NC State’s defense?
Backed by an 84-yard second-quarter interception returned for a touchdown by sophomore Aydan White and a pair of sacks from defensive tackle C.J. Clark, the defense stifled the Red Raiders and quarterback Donovan Smith, while handing Texas Tech (2-1) its first loss of the year.
Smith, in his sixth career start, was picked off three times and twice on fourth down in the loss, including an interception from NC State’s Jakeen Harris with 8:38 remaining that secured the win. White finished with two interceptions on the night.
Tech finished with 353 total yards but was held to 54 rushing yards.
As quickly as he learned how to win a game on his own in a double-overtime win against nationally ranked Houston last week, Donovan Smith found out he could lose one just as fast.
Facing fourth-and-one, deep in NC State territory, the Texas Tech sophomore quarterback stepped up before flinging a pass to the right side of the field that was picked off by NC State’s Aydan White.
The sophomore defensive back intercepted the ball and returned it 84 yards for a touchdown to put the No. 16 Wolfpack up 20-0 with 4:40 before halftime.
That turn of momentum, along with a sputtering offense, proved to be too much for the Red Raiders to overcome as they dropped a 27-14 road decision to nationally-ranked NC State at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina.
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Brett Friedlander, SaturdayRoad.com — NC State offense still waiting for the light to come on
NC State’s defense is as good as advertised.
Devin Leary and his offense?
They were supposed to be as flashy as the light show that entertained the Carter-Finley Stadium crowd between the third and fourth quarters of Saturday’s 27-14 win against Texas Tech. To this point, they’ve performed more like a 60-watt bulb trying to illuminate an entire room.
Leary, Preseason ACC Player of the Year, and his teammates have been good enough to get the 13th-ranked Wolfpack through the first 3 games of the season unscathed.
But in their two wins against FBS competition – a 1-point escape against East Carolina and Saturday’s pedestrian win against a middle-of-the pack Big 12 team – neither the star quarterback nor the attack he leads has come close to meeting their lofty preseason expectations.
It’s not as if Leary has been terrible. He was 15-of-23 for 121 yards and no interceptions against the Red Raiders.
He just hasn’t been in sync.
Aaron Beard, Associated Press — White, defense lead No. 16 NC State past Texas Tech 27-14
Aydan White wrapped his hands around an errant fourth-down throw and broke free toward the left side. There was nothing in his way, only a few black jerseys of North Carolina State teammates eager to escort him in an end-zone convoy.
“That’s a DB’s dream,” White said, “just seeing nothing but green.”
That 84-yard interception return for a touchdown was the marquee play in a defensive-minded performance that helped the 16th-ranked Wolfpack beat Texas Tech 27-14 on Saturday night. NC State finished with four sacks and four takeaways against the Bowl Subdivision’s top passing offense.
“I expect our defense to be a strength,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said. “When you have that many starters back, they should be.”
That unit harassed quarterback Donovan Smith and shut down any ground game the Red Raiders tried to muster. White’s fourth-down pick of Smith’s overthrown second-quarter ball stood out, with White taking the interception down the left side with those three teammates sprinting with him to the end zone.
White also had a second late pick with a minute left as well as a sack on a cornerback blitz for the Wolfpack (3-0). Jakeen Harris came up with his own fourth-down interception near midfield with 8:38 left as Texas Tech (2-1) tried to make a late push after falling behind 20-0.
The Wolfpack (3-0) rode a stout defensive performance to victory over the Red Raiders (2-1). The Pack stifled Texas Tech for just 54 rushing yards and 299 passing yards. The latter total is relatively low for a Red Raiders squad averaging 411.5 passing yards per game heading into the contest.
“Once we got the two-score lead in the second half, and the way their offense plays fast, we were trying to keep it away and use clock,” said head coach Dave Doeren.
NC State’s front seven spearheaded the defensive effort. Redshirt junior linebacker Payton Wilson led the Pack in tackles with 10, while junior linebacker Drake Thomas racked up eight tackles of his own along with two QB hurries. Redshirt sophomore defensive tackle C.J. Clark further shook up the opposing backfield with two sacks.
Wilson’s performance, in particular, spurred him and his teammates to victory. This was Wilson’s first game of significant playing time in a while after suffering an injury early in the season-opener against ECU and missing most of the 2021 season.
“I love all them boys on defense,” Wilson said. “It means the world to me to be able to get back out there and compete with them and play with them. We’ve built such a great bond here. It’s awesome, it’s truly awesome.”
