Special teams save Wolfpack in sloppy win
It was supposed to be a tuneup for NC State's upcoming ACC opener at Florida State
But instead of cleaning up the self-inflicted mistakes that led to its first defeat of the season at West Virginia last week, the Wolfpack repeated many of them as it sputtered through Saturday's final nonconference test against Ball State.
The best thing that can be said about the game, which lacked the electricity usually associated with night games at Carter-Finley Stadium, is that State held on to win 34-23. The real takeaway, however, is that coach Dave Doeren and his young team still have a lot of work to do before their trip to Tallahassee next Saturday;
"It wasn't pretty, but it was a good win,." Doeren said after his team improved to 3-1.
"I'm really, really proud of the way the guys hung in there. Ball State fought back and did some things and we found a way to finish the game and win."
Finish is a relative term.
After building a 20-7 lead on a pair of touchdowns just before halftime, the Wolfpack played the second half as though it was up past its bedtime.
It was outgained 252-104 over the final two periods while quarterback Matthew McKay completed just one of his last eight passes for just a single yard.
State still managed to outscore the Cardinals 14-13 in the second half, but that's only because of a defense that forced Ball State to kick three field goals and a special teams unit that scored one touchdown and set up another.
Wide receiver Emeka Emezie reaches high to catch a pass from quarterback Matthew McKay during Saturday's win
Savion Jackson brings down Ball State runner Walter Fletcher as teammates Alim McNeil (29), Tanner Ingle (10) and Chris Ingram (7) provide assistance
Ricky Person Jr. sidesteps a Ball State tackler during the first half of Saturday's win. Person led the Wolfpack with 71 yards on 17 carries
Tyler Baker-Williams puts pressure on Ball State quarterback Drew Plitt on a nickle blitz
Defensive back Chris Ingram celebrates his game-clinching interception in the end zone late in Saturday's win against Ball State
"I feel like special teams in the second half really won us the game," said sophomore wide receiver Thayer Thomas, whose 76-yard punt return for a touchdown early in the third quarter gave State the cushion it needed to keep Ball State at an arm's distance the rest of the way.
The other decisive special teams moment came midway through the fourth period as the Cardinals were creeping their way back into contention. This time Thomas didn't have a chance to run the punt back.
Reserve wide receiver Max Fisher broke through and blocked Nathan Snyder's kick, allowing teammate Malik Dunlap pick it up and return it to the Ball State 7-yard line. Two plays later McKay ran it in for his second rushing touchdown of the night to turn a shrinking 11-point Wolfpack lead into a 34-16 cushion with 8 1/2 minutes left.
The blocked punt was especially satisfying, considering that it was a similar block by West Virginia that helped send State down to defeat last week in Morgantown.
"They obviously let us down bigtime on that last week and sparked us this week," Doeren said of his punt teams. "It was great redemption for (special teams coach Todd) Goebbel's unit. I'm proud of those guys."
That special teams unit was the only group that showed any visible signs of progress Saturday.
Offensively, the Wolfpack continued to have trouble throwing the ball down the field -- or anywhere on the field in the second half, for that matter, while hurting itself with untimely pre-snap penalties. It failed to convert a short yardage situation on fourth down and got stagnant on both sides of the ball in the second half.
State also had trouble finishing drives, twice settling for Christopher Dunn field goals after stalling inside the Ball State 22. Adding to the concern was a hamstring injury that sidelined leading rusher Zonovan Knight for the second half.
It wasn't until a planned quarterback change early in the second quarter, with State trailing 7-6, that the Wolfpack finally began to show signs of life.
Backup Bailey Hockman didn't actually provide the spark. In fact, he threw an interception that represented the team's first turnover of the year. His one possession on the field, however, did give McKay a chance to take a deep breath and regroup.
The redshirt sophomore returned to the field and completed nine of his next 13 pass attempts while leading State to a pair of touchdown drives.
"Things started clicking when I went back in," said McKay, who finished 17 of 30 for 175 yards and an interception. "Same mindset, nothing really changed.
"We've just got to find a way to get in a rhythm, play with tempo. I feel like if we can do that, we'll be unstoppable."
Ball State's offense was the one with all the rhythm in the second half Saturday, as junior quarterback Drew Plitt began picking the Wolfpack apart with his accurate passing while leading the Cardinals to four scores.
The last of them was a touchdown 4:49 remaining, which combined with the Cardinals' recovery of the ensuing onside kick, led to a few nervous moments until Chris Ingram, with an assist from teammate C.J. Hart, finally clinched the victory with an interception in the end zone just over a minute later.
"I thought we did some good things at times, we did some bad things,' Doeren said. "They made some pretty awesome catches, but we've got to cover better."
Some of State's difficulty defending the pass can be attributed to fatigue on the part of defenders worn out from the repetition of defending 57 attempts. Plitt completed 35 of those throws for 333 yards.
Whatever the reason, Ingram said that he and his teammates still have a lot of rough edges to smooth out before heading to Tallahassee for the start of conference play.
"There's a lot of stuff we need to fix," the junior cornerback said. "Twenty-three points isn't up to our standard. They ran the ball better than they needed to, they threw the ball a lot better than they needed to. Just overall, we've got a lot of kinks to fix."
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