The Wolfpacker Show: NC State's defense carries Pack to NIU win
NC State relied on an incredibly strong defensive effort to defeat Northern Illinois Saturday. The Wolfpack could not find much success through the air or on the ground offensively, but that did not matter against the Huskies.
These two programs combined for 55 total yards in the third quarter. NC State only accounted for 8 of them. The Pack defense stepped up and recorded 4 sacks and 4 turnovers, including a pair of critical interceptions in the fourth quarter and 2 forced fumbles that directly led to touchdowns.
Linebackers Caden Fordham and Sean Brown both recorded career-high tackle numbers after struggling at times this year, and a few lineup changes led to success for a defense that needed a shot of life after giving up more than 50 points apiece to Clemson and Tennessee.
The Wolfpack now improves to 3-2 after winning its last nonconference game of the regular season game. Before turning our attention to next week’s showdown with Wake Forest, The Wolfpacker Show hosts Ethan McDowell and Noah Fleischman recorded another episode to break down their thoughts on NC State’s victory at Carter-Finley Stadium.
In this episode of The Wolfpacker Show…
*** The hosts shared their initial thoughts on the Wolfpack’s win. It was not a pretty effort offensively, but it was a needed victory for an NC State squad that seemed to progress quite a bit defensively. The initial focus of the show was all about the defense, breaking down the outstanding tackle for loss and forced turnover numbers from the Pack. NC State scored 14 points on a pair of fumble recoveries that led directly to touchdowns.
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*** Then, Ethan and Noah also ecamined the program’s personnel changes on defense, complimenting graduate safety KJ Martin, redshirt freshman defensive end Isaiah Shirley and redshirt freshman nickel backTamarcus Cooley. Both hosts agree that they should hold down starting roles for the rest of this season.
*** Noah and Ethan also talked about the offense’s struggles. NC State seemed happy to take a conservative approach to this game, only attempting 5 second-half passes. They discussed where this side of the ball stumbled, and they also talked about the long-term outlook for the unit.
*** They also spent time addressing NC State’s special teams after the program dominated the field position battle. Redshirt junior punter Caden Noonkester was one of the MVPs of this game.
*** To wrap up the show, the hosts handed out game balls to recognize some individual standouts from this contest.
The Wolfpacker Show is available in audio and video on TheWolfpacker.com’s YouTube channel.
