NC State football: What they're saying about Connecticut win
NC State football rolled in the final non-conference game on the 2022 slate with a 41-10 win over Connecticut Saturday evening. Here is some of what those who covered the game are saying.
Matt Carter, The Wolfpacker — Column: NC State football handles business
Right before the game’s opening kickoff, NC State redshirt freshman receiver Julian Gray was seen jogging from one end of the field to the other. Why? He originally was surrounded by Connecticut special teams players on the wrong end of the stadium. His other teammates were correctly lined up on the other end waiting to receive the opening kick.
Fortunately for Gray, the kickoff went for a touchback and allowed him to catch his breath.
Fortunately for NC State, that would be no indication of a lack of focus from the Wolfpack. On the very first play after the touchback, fifth-year redshirt junior quarterback Devin Leary hit super senior receiver Thayer Thomas for a 75-yard touchdown.
Four NC State possessions after that, the Wolfpack was leading 31-0 late in the second quarter. The final margin of 41-10 was probably not even reflective of the true difference in talent between the teams.
Ethan McDowell, The Wolfpacker — NC State locker room notes from the win over UConn
Now that NC State’s non-conference schedule is complete, a three-game gauntlet of undefeated ACC programs awaits. The Wolfpack start the league schedule in Clemson, and Carter knows it will be a raucous atmosphere.
“We know it’s going to be a hostile environment, but we’re ready,” he said.
“We play faceless opponents every week, so we worry about ourselves, and that’s how we’re going to take on this week as well.”
Doeren had the chance to watch Clemson’s overtime win over Wake Forest earlier today and offered his thoughts on the Tigers’ performance.
“I thought their quarterback really played well today,” Doeren said. “That’s the best I’ve seen him play. He was accurate, his guys made plays for him, his O-line protected him, he wasn’t on the ground a whole lot. I thought [Will] Shipley ran really hard.”
Pack quarterback Devin Leary was making all the throws Saturday, making good reads and good decisions, delivering the ball on time. And the wide receivers were doing their part, latching on to some tough throws for nice catches.
The Pack will be as healthy as Doeren probably could have hoped for after four games, although his heart rate might have spiked in the second half Saturday when center Grant Gibson was on the ground a little too long after a play — Gibson was soon on his feet and OK.
There were facets of the victory Saturday that should make Doeren feel more confident about what could shape up as the Pack’s biggest game of the regular season. Granted, it was against a UConn team that was badly outmanned. But there were good things for the Pack.
“I think we’re hitting on a lot of cylinders we want to,” Doeren said.
The question entering Saturday’s game was whether the offense had big play ability in its arsenal. The Wolfpack went about answering that question on the first play of the game as quarterback Devin Leary with Thayer Thomas for a 75-yard touchdown pass.
They scored 31 points in the first half and Leary completed 25 of 32 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns but did throw his second interception of the season late in the second quarter that led to UConn’s field goal.
The junior quarterback completed 32 of 44 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns before being replaced with 9:55 left in the fourth quarter by backup Jack Chambers. The offense finished with 481 total yards, 28 first downs and was led on the ground by true freshman running back Michael Allen, who finished with 63 yards and nine attempts all in the second half.
After the UConn football team won Saturday’s coin toss, chose to defer and Noe Ruelas sent it down the field for a touchback, NC State lined up for its first offensive play from scrimmage. Quarterback Devin Leary found receiver Thayer Thomas down the right sideline who saw nothing but green in front of him.
Thomas sprinted through the UConn defensive backfield and into the end zone to give the Wolfpack their first score of a 41-10 triumph over the Huskies just 14 seconds into the game at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C.
Soon the Huskies found themselves in a similar position they were in against Michigan last week: down 17-0 after the first quarter.
“We’ve faced some some really good football teams, and the score has been ugly, but we’ve been finding some hidden victories,” Mora said following the game. “When you see a group of guys – a group of kids – who have been through a lot and they haven’t fractured at all. I’ve seen a lot of football teams when they go through a stretch like we’ve gone through … they fracture and stop trusting each other, believing in each other, working for each other – we don’t have guys doing that.”
Will Aldam, Connecticut Post — UConn football overmatched vs. No. 12 NC State: What we learned
UConn’s lone touchdown came in the fourth quarter as true freshman running back and last year’s Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year Victor Rosa ran for his second 11-yard touchdown of the season. He currently leads the team in touchdowns.
Beyond that, the offense was lifeless. But that’s been the case all season, as UConn has lost Carter along with with starting quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson, and receivers Cam Ross and Keelan Marion.
“Well, we were playing one of the best defenses in college football on the road,” Mora said. “Without our starting quarterback, without our top two running backs and without our top two receivers, so I’ll start there. From there we didn’t do a good enough job with scheming to put our players in a position to make plays, and then we made some mistakes on the field.”
Mitchell Northam, Associated Press — No. 12 NC State routs UConn to stay unbeaten
The Wolfpack, tuning up for a showdown with No. 5 Clemson next week, wasted no time in putting points on the board as Leary connected with Thayer Thomas on the very first play from scrimmage. It was the longest play from scrimmage of the season for N.C. State, and it was also the first time the team has scored on its first offensive play of a game since 1991.
“They came out excited to play and with a great start. It’s good to see Devin get in a rhythm,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said. “Almost everything we talked about during the week, we got to see.”
N.C. State scored on its first five possessions and led 31-0 before UConn got on the board. After Camryn Edwards intercepted Leary, Noe Ruelas kicked a 28-yard field goal for the Huskies as time expired in the second quarter.
UConn had just 160 yards of total offense and converted only 2-of-12 third downs.
“You don’t ever feel good after a loss. You just don’t. Nobody feels good, but they don’t feel discouraged, either,” UConn coach Jim Mora said. “There’s progress being made here.”
Whether playing in Raleigh, Connecticut or at a neutral site, it wouldn’t have mattered. Right from the jump, the No. 12 NC State football team dominated UConn.
On the first play from scrimmage, the Pack went for and got the home run ball as redshirt junior quarterback Devin Leary threw deep to graduate receiver Thayer Thomas, who leapt up to make the catch before outrunning the UConn defense on his way to the endzone.
It was all Wolfpack (4-0) from that point on as it easily took care of the Huskies (1-4), running all over them en route to a 41-10 victory at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 24.
“[The guys] came out excited to play, came out with a great start,” said head coach Dave Doeren. “There’s a lot of teams out there that don’t play the way that they’re supposed to in games like that, and we got better.”
NC State scored on all but one of its first half possessions and amassed 357 total yards in the half alone, over 300 yards more than the Huskies. Most of those yards came through the air as Leary threw for 275 in the first 30 minutes, including three touchdowns.
