NC State football: What they're saying about Louisville loss

NC State football fell for the third time in the past five games, losing 25-10 at Louisville on Saturday afternoon. Here is some of what those who covered the game are saying.

Matt Carter, The Wolfpacker — Column: NC State football facing long odds with shorthanded offense

Regardless, this was a Wolfpack offense that had proven through the course of the season to be a below-average unit. Before fifth-year redshirt junior quarterback Devin Leary went down with a season-ending injury, the best output against Power Five competition had been 27 points.

Overall, the 30 points at home vs. Wake Forest with Morris at QB was the lone time the team reached that many in the now eight games against Power Five competition. In one of the three non-conference games against non-Power Five teams, NC State’s offense accounted for just 14 of the game’s 21 points.

Saturday marked the seventh time that NC State scored 21 points or less in a game.

Why that was the case should be the question under veteran NC State football coach Dave Doeren’s heaviest scrutiny when the time for the season’s post-mortem analysis arrives.

For the immediate future, expecting what was already a below-average unit to produce against a good defense like Louisville’s has been the latter half of the year minus the Pack’s two best quarterbacks on the roster, one of the top two receivers, the best tight end and the heart and soul of the offensive line is not realistic.

Ethan McDowell, The Wolfpacker — NC State locker room notes from Louisville loss

Doeren mentioned Monday during his press conference that it felt wrong to focus on football following the tragic shooting on UVA’s campus. Then, Joseph Boletepeli, a former NC State defensive lineman, was arrested for threatening and stalking Doeren. The head coach could not talk about that situation. 

“I can’t comment on it,” Doeren said. “As far as me personally, obviously, it’s something I’ve never had to deal with. It was a difficult week with the UVA situation on top of that. I thought it was just a lot of things away from football. It wasn’t a normal Sunday, Monday or Tuesday for really the country that pays attention to college football, and then I had a few more things going on than others, so just take it one day at a time and go from there.”

On top of everything going on off of the field, NC State’s roster is dealing with a myriad of injuries right now, including freshman quarterback MJ Morris, sixth-year center Grant Gibson and star linebacker Payton Wilson, who all missed the game. 

Doeren discussed how those injuries impact the program as it tries to finish the season strong. 

“It’s very overwhelming, what the season started with,” he said. “It’s turned into a lot of guys being injured, and it’s unfortunate, particularly when we were still sitting there with 7 wins and had a chance to get to 10. 

“Now, that’s out of reach, so we’ve got a chance to play six more days with a bunch of good guys, and the kids that are hurt will try to fight and get back and, if they’re healthy enough, they’ll play. If they’re not, we’ll roll with who we have.”

Chip Alexander, News & Observer — What was learned about NC State quarterback Ben Finley and Pack in loss at Louisville

It hasn’t been the kind of season Finley envisioned or wanted. Until Devin Leary’s season-ending injury in October, he was buried on the Pack depth chart at QB behind Leary, Jack Chambers and MJ Morris and had not taken a snap in a game.

“It’s been different,” Finley said. “I started out on the scout team and the last nine weeks I’ve been helping the defense. I had never run the offense. This was my first week coming back with the O and running the offense.”

On Saturday, the third-year player threw more passes and for more yardage running the offense than his career totals his first two years in the Wolfpack program.

“It felt great, getting called up this week off the scout team,” Finley said. “Just having the trust from my teammates, having their full trust and being able to go out there and play the game I love, it was really helpful that all the guys had my back. It really helped me.”

It also helped having the trust of Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren, who said Finley threw the ball well in practice this week. With MJ Morris injured and unavailable with a lower-body injury — Doeren said the staff knew last Sunday Morris would be out — the Pack went into the game with Chambers and Finley as the top two QBs, and Doeren was willing to use them both.

David Thompson, Fayetteville Observer — Former scout-team QB Ben Finley gives NC State football its best shot against UNC

“Ben looked good throwing the football at practice,” Doeren said postgame. “And as we got out there in warmups, it was the same thing. We felt like he gave us the best chance to win.”

It’s still undecided if Finley, the younger brother of former Wolfpack quarterback Ryan Finley, will be the one to give NC State its best chance to win next Friday in Chapel Hill.

Doeren said Morris’ injury was a “day-to-day” thing. But if Finley does get his first career start, it’ll be against the only team – up until Saturday – that he’s played meaningful minutes against.

Finley came off the bench against UNC in 2020 and completed 9-of-12 passes for 128 yards with a touchdown and an interception. His second half was less impressive, completing 4-of-8 passes for 15 yards. Regardless, his performance brought about a cult following. Any time an NC State quarterback struggles, his name comes up.

That game against UNC still lingers in Finley’s memory. He remembers the touchdown pass to Emeka Emezie. He remembers the stadium where it happened; the same stadium his brother famously called Carter-Finley north after beating the Tar Heels in 2018.

“Kenan (Memorial) Stadium,” Finley said. “Yeah, it’s going to be a huge game for us. And you always want to win that. We’re going to prepare, recover and just play with who we got.”

Alexis Cubit, Louisville Courier-Journal — Louisville football is rolling after Jawhar Jordan shreds NC State

Jawhar Jordan didn’t give away his shot Saturday evening.

Getting his start at running back in place of Tiyon Evans, Jordan did a little bit of everything for Louisville. He scored on offense and special teams to lift U of L to a 25-10 win over No. 24 NC State in the season home finale at Cardinal Stadium. 

Jordan ended the night with 105 yards on 16 carries for an average of 6.6 yards per carry. But it was his 98-yard kick return, after initially bobbling the ball, late in the first half that ignited the Cardinals, made it a 9-3 game and put them ahead for good.

“He doesn’t say anything,” U of L head coach Scott Satterfield said. “He just comes to work every single day, works his tail off and when he gets an opportunity and chance, he tries to make the most of it. For a smaller back, he runs as hard as anybody I’ve really been around for his size. He’s not the 210, 215-pound back. I mean, he still sticks it up in there and tries to maneuver and get yards.”

Associated Press — Jordan’s 98-yard KO return sparks Louisville past N.C. State

Jordan, a sophomore finished with 105 yards in 16 carries His second touchdown, a 2-yard run, gave Louisville a 22-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Turner had field goals of 26, 22, 30 and 28 yards. Jordan’s kickoff return with 4:31 in the second quarter gave the Cardinals a 10-3 advantage. Another Turner field goal pushed the Cardinals (7-4, 4-4 ACC) lead to 13-3 at halftime.

Backup quarterback Brock Domann, playing in place of the injured Malik Cunningham, finished 12 of 24 for 153 yards. Cunningham hurt his shoulder last week against Clemson.

“A lot of times, people write you off,” Domann said. “We trust our preparation. Everybody around me was good (today).”

Ethan Bakogiannis, Technician — Injury-stricken NC State football falls 25-10 at Louisville

Throughout the game, the Pack struggled on offense, while Louisville used some big, momentum-shifting plays to gain the edge and ride a lead until it was too late for the red-and-white to pull off a comeback.

In addition to the Cardinals (7-4, 4-4 ACC), the Wolfpack (7-4, 3-4 ACC) had to battle through the absence of several starters due to injury. Key defenders such as redshirt junior linebacker Payton Wilson and senior cornerback Tyler Baker-Williams were ruled out before the game started. In addition, offensive playmakers such as sophomore running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, redshirt junior receiver Devin Carter, graduate center Grant Gibson and redshirt junior tight end Trent Pennix were also absent.

“[The injuries] are very overwhelming compared to what we started with,” said head coach Dave Doeren. “[The season’s] turned into a lot of guys being injured. It’s unfortunate, particularly when we’re still sitting there with seven wins and we had a chance to get to 10.”

The biggest missing piece for the Wolfpack was perhaps freshman quarterback MJ Morris due to an undisclosed injury. In his absence, graduate quarterback Jack Chambers was granted the start under center. Not too far into the game, however, redshirt freshman quarterback Ben Finley found himself taking his first snaps of the season — leading NC State for a majority of the game with the full support of his teammates.

“It felt great getting called up this week off the scout team,” Finley said. “Just having the trust from my teammates, having their full trust and being able to go out there and play the game I love.”