Film Room: Missed Gaps and Mistakes Sink Wolfpack at Duke

Third-and-1. All the NC State defense had to do was make a stand on the Duke 34-yard line to give its offense a shot to take the lead, being down 38-33. Seconds later, Duke running back Anderson Castle gets the hand-off, he assesses the blocking in front, and cuts.

Seconds later. Castle is running to the end zone, sealing the game for the Blue Devils and sealing the fate of the Wolfpack.

The fate the Wolfpack earned was their first loss of the 2025 season. It’s been a couple of days since the game, and for the NC State faithful, it’s time to rip off the band-aid. Here’s a look at the All-22 film from the game against Duke, highlighting the areas where the defense of the Wolfpack succeeded and failed in week four.

Film Examples

Even with blitzes, pressure was hard to come by

13:45 remaining in the third quarter, first-and-10

NC State is in a nickel defense with a 4-2 front. The Wolfpack opt to send pressure here with linebacker Sean Brown blitzing toward the field side A gap, with linebacker Caden Fordham coming on a delayed blitz right behind him.

On the back-end, NC State is running a simple cover-three, hoping the pressure will get there before anything springs open.

The Duke offensive line picks up the NC State blitz perfectly, with the running back stonewalling Fordham on his blitz. Duke is running a double post/wheel concept here out of the trips look, which attacks NC State’s cover-three perfectly here.

Cornerback Devon Marshall carries the post route from the No. 1 receiver, as he should, but safety JJ Johnson (who is responsible for the flat here) doesn't fully carry the wheel because he suspects Marshall will be there to pick it up.

It’s a concept that needs time to fully develop, and with no pressure on Mensah, it has the necessary time, which equals a touchdown for Duke.

0:45 remaining in the second quarter, first-and-10

NC State is bringing a five-man pressure here with Fordham playing a spy on Mensah. The interesting part about this one is that defensive back Jamel Johnson is coming on the blitz from the slot. You can safely Brody Barnhardt “capping” off the slot receiver towards the field side, indicating a blitz coming from that side.

Since the Wolfpack is bringing the heat and using a spy, it’s man coverage across the board. The blitz has to get home, or Mensah will have a favorable matchup with one of his routes.

At the bottom of the screen, Duke runs a spot and goes with a corner route to the endzone. With safety Ronnie Royal III in coverage, he actually does a nice job staying with his receiver at the top of his route. He initially stays over the top of it and carries it well. He just gets too handsy, which causes the ref to throw the flag on this play.

The dagger in the heart

2:33 remaining in the fourth quarter, third-and-1

Duke comes out in a heavy run set with 12 personnel. It’s a simple inside zone to the right, nothing exotic here. Just your guy against ours, and let’s see who wins. Well, Duke won.

The defensive tackles of NC State did a nice job here, clogging up lanes and holes, making it hard for Castle to initially pick a lane. His decision is made clear with the choices that linebacker Kenny Soares Jr. and Sean Brown make.

Let’s start with Brown. He comes screaming down into the backside C gap, instead of the backside B gap, where there isn’t any traffic. If Castle bounces it back to the backside C gap, where Brown is at in this play, he should get cleaned up by the remaining NC State defenders. When the play develops, you can see the hole Brown could’ve filled to tackle Castle.

Now Soares. With the motion from No. 85, it’s just Soares and Thomas as the only “linebackers” towards the boundary side on this play. Soares doesn’t fill a gap on this play; he hesitates reading Castele and gets stuck in the inevitable traffic of this play.

Watch his feet; he never takes a step forward to get ready to fill a gap, and because of it, whichever decision he makes, Castle can just cut up to either hole Spears doesn't fill.

It all comes back to Brown, though. If he fills the backside B gap, Soares can fill the gap through which Castle runs for the touchdown. Neither do, and it’s six for Duke and the game.

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