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Gameday Live Blog/Open Thread: State at UVa

Live updates and analysis from Saturday's ACC football game between NC State and Virginia at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville
Brett Friedlander|
Gameday Live Blog/Open Thread: State at UVa
Gameday Live Blog/Open Thread: State at UVa

The NC State football team has taken to the road for the third straight week, the first time that's happened since 1986.

You'd think that after earlier road trips to Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh, the Wolfpack would feel comfortable on being away from home. But coach Dave Doeren nixed that idea during his most recent meeting with the media on Thursday.

"I don’t really like being gone three straight weeks regardless of what is going on, pandemic or not," Doeren said. "I guess we’ll pay the benefit of this at the end of the year because we’ve got a bunch of home games to finish the season."

Like it or not, State looked at home on the road last week in rallying for a 30-29 win against a nationally ranked Pitt team. That bodes well for today's game against Virginia at Scott Stadium, especially now that Devin Leary has finally entrenched himself as the team's starting quarterback.

Leary won't have to repeat his 336-yard, four-touchdown performance against Pitt for State to win the game. His passing success against last week should help keep UVa's defense from selling out against the run, opening things back up for Zonovan Knight and Ricky Person Jr. on the ground. 

As long as the Wolfpack's veteran offensive line does its job and the secondary holds up physically, Leary can lead the Wolfpack to another victory simply by getting the ball into the hands of his playmakers and avoiding mistakes.

While you're waiting for kickoff, here's a look at our coverage from earlier in the week:

Wolfpack Kickoff: Game 4 at UVa

Wolfpack DBs Face Tall Task Against Tall UVa Receivers

Kenton's Keys: UVa 

Dave Doeren's UVA Scouting Report

Wolfpack TD Celebration: Hug a Big Guy

PREGAME

State's list of inactives today includes several key players. The Wolfpack will be without starting nickel Tyler Baker-Williams and offensive tackle Justin Witt for the second straight week. Among the surprises among this week's inactives are starting defensive end Daniel Joseph and blocking tight end Dylan Parham, along with backup offensive lineman Timothy McKay. On the plus side, senior defensive end Val Martin is dressed and available for the first time this season. ...

UVa has announced that seven of its players will be unavailable because of contact tracing quarantines. Among the missing players is starting safety Joey Blount ...

Senior offensive guard Joe Sculthope is today's game captain for the Wolfpack. Permanent co-captain Dylan Autenreith, has he has for the first three games, is State's representative for the pregame coin toss ...

UVa wins the toss and defers, so Leary and the offense will get first crack at the ball ...

FIRST QUARTER 

Quick three-and-out for the Wolfpack offense. Not the way you want to start ...

State's defense needs to create some takeaways against a Cavaliers offense that has had a problem with turnovers. The Wolfpack has forced only one turnover so far this season, a fumble in the opener against Wake Forest ...

Malik Dunlap with a nice job of defending UVA's 6-foot-7 tight end Tony Poljan and the Wolfpack defense gets a quick three-and-out to start the game. Dunlap is coming off what Doeren described as the best game of his career last week at Pitt. Dunlap and the rest of the secondary will have its hands full against a tall Cavaliers receiving corps.

Nice grab in traffic by Thayer Thomas to move the sticks ...

Wow! What a catch by true freshman Porter Rooks! We've heard about how good the kid is since he arrived in January, but he just showed us what the hype is about. Great diving, juggling catch for a Wolfpack TD ... 

It's being reviewed, which is always iffy. But it was ruled a TD on the field, so it will be hard to overturn ...

But it was overturned and State will attempt a long field goal ... Dunn's attempt hits the crossbar and his streak of 14 straight makes comes to an end ... Very disheartening turn of events ...

Even though the touchdown was taken off the board, it should be noted that Leary did a great job standing tall in the pocket and giving his man downfield a chance to make the play despite taking a big hit ...

And the Wolfpack takes advantage of UVA quarterback Brennan Armstrong's penchant for interceptions. Shyheim Battle gets his first career pick and the Wolfpack gets the momentum right back ...

Another diving catch by Rooks on the sideline ... this time it will stand. Add another 15 for roughing the passer and the Wolfpack is inside the 10 ...

Leary hits Trent Pennix out of the backfield for the touchdown and NC State is still perfect in its red zone offense ... 14 for 14 with 13 TDs. Dunn adds the extra point ...

Wolfpack 7, Cavaliers 0, 6:01 left in the quarter 

UVA roughs Dunn on the PAT. With the 15 yards assessed on the kickoff, why not try an onside kick here? 

Not this time ...

Dunlap with another nice play, this time on the run in corralling Armstrong as he tried to make something happen on third down ... 

Virginia just burned its second timeout of the first half ... both times on punt situations in which it got caught with just 10 men on the field ...

Leary and Emezie team up to convert a third-and-long. Wolfpack offense looking strong in th early going  ...

How big a difference has Tim Beck made for the Wolfpack this season? How about a flea flicker in which three players touched the ball before Leary hit Cary Angeline down the near sideline for a 32-yard touchdown ...

State 14, UVa 0, 1:32 left in the quarter

Fifteen minutes in the books. UVa has now been outscored 35-0 in its three first quarters this season ...

End of 1: Wolfpack 14, Cavaliers 0

SECOND QUARTER

The Freak, Alim McNeill, picks up his first sack of the season ...

Payton Wilson gets too aggressive on a fourth-and-two play from the 25. Offside penalty gives the Cavaliers a free first down ...

And now McNeill gets called for offside ...

UVa taking a page out of NC State's book from last week ...

Cavaliers running back is ruled to have gotten into the end zone, but this one might be overturned. It looked like Taulapapa was down before he got to the goal like. If the runner is ruled down, how did the umpire miss that? He was standing right there, with an unimpeded view and didn't call it ...

And it is overturned. Third and goal from the 1 ...

This is a very similar call to the one against Pittsburgh that was ruled a touchdown ... this time State gets the call and it's another goal line stand for the Wolfpack. Score stays 14-0 Wolfpack ...

Third and eight in the shadow of your end zone, what do you do? Leary, who isn't considered a runner, keeps it for 20 yards to not only get it out of trouble, but give State a first down ...

Not sure why Trenton Gill went with the rugby style kick there. He's one of the best traditional punters in the country. That kick wasn't a good one. ...

Terrible decision making by UVa quarterback Armstrong there. Battle takes advantage for a 10-yard sack to go along with his interception ...

And speaking of interceptions, freshman nickel Joshua Pierre-Louis gets the first of his career, to go with a nice return, after C.J. Clark deflected Armstrong's pass. For Pierre-Louis, it's a great way to bounce back after his roughing the passer penalty nullified a pick six last week ...

Dunn starts a new field goal streak by hitting from 36 yards ...

State 17, UVa 0, 5:49 left in the half

Virginia called for holding, but it looks like they're going to review a targeting call on State as Armstrong looks wobbly heading off the field ...

And they've called targeting on Tanner Ingle ... it's a good call, but it's a tremendous loss for the Wolfpack. Ingle was having a strong game (leading the team with six tackles) and he's a leader by example. The secondary is already thin. This makes the situation worse. Second straight game a State DB has been ejected for targeting ...

UVA backup QB Lindell Stone is into the game. He's wearing No. 36. A strange look, indeed ...

Redshirt freshman Dylan McMahon called for holding. This is his first action from scrimmage this season, the product of Witt and McKay both being out. Ickey Ikwonu is back at tackle  ...

And there's yet another difficult catch in traffic by Rooks ... the true freshman is having a breakout game today ...

Bam goes Boom ... 35 yard touchdown off left tackle and the Wolfpack lead increases ...

State 24, UVa 0, 2:03 left in the half

Wolfpack defenders have done an excellent job of defending UVa's big receivers today. Cecil Powell just knocked a ball away from Poljan. ... Between them Poljan and Davis have five catches, but are averaging less than 10 yards per reception ...

And of course, right on cue, Stone hits Davis for 32 yards to the 2-yard line with 20 seconds left in the half ...

UVA finally gets into the end zone with 15 seconds left in the half. A disappointing end to a great first half for the Wolfpack. The opening series of the third quarter is going to be very pivotal with the Cavaliers getting the ball first ...

State 24, UVa 7, 15 seconds left in the half

Halftime: Wolfpack 24, Cavaliers 7

SECOND HALF

Remember that momentum UVa went into halftime with? It didn't last long. A quick three-and-out, followed by a blocked punt by Vi Jones that was recovered by Taiyon Palmer puts the Wolfpack in business at the plus-20 ...

Ricky Person Jr. is down after a short second down run. You hate to see that considering all he's been through and how well he's been running so far this season ...

Good news, he's up and jogging off the field. Looks like he's going to be okay ...

Leary is picked off in the end zone trying to hit Emezie. That's the first time in 15 red zone possession this season that the Wolfpack has come away with no points  ...

Good job by the Wolfpack defense for putting together a three-and-out to keep the Cavaliers from getting the momentum back. ...

Offense is off to a slow start in the second half, wasting a scoring chance and then going three-and-out .... it's way too soon to start stitting on this lead. Wolfpack needs to step it up and not rely on the defense ... 

Payton Wilson loses his helmet and will have to come out for a play ... third and long

Looks like the Wolfpack has forced another turnover ... fumble caused by Jakeen Harris and recovered by Isaiah Moore. ...

That's three turnovers and a blocked punt. State offense needs to covert this into points and put the Cavaliers away. ...

Nothing will kick start an offense better than a great play by a wide receiver. This time it's Emezie with a diving 33-yard grab on third-and-long to extend the drive ... But again, no points.

Gill punt is downed inside the five ...5 1/2 minutes left in the third ...

Pierre-Louis is called for interference, but honestly, it's hard to tell where the interference occured ... UVA out of the hole ...

But the defense gets another stop ...

The rain might be starting to become a factor. UVA receiver fell down on that third down pass ...

And now the Wolfpack gets suckered by a fake punt, gaining a first down on an ugly (but effective) jump pass by the punter ...

State is still up by 17, but you get the feeling that the Wolfpack is going to end up havin to hang on for dear life before this one is over ...

UVA touchdown ... this one's not over yet folks.

Wolfpack 24, Cavaliers 14, 2:08 left in the period

State needs to put some points on the board now

Another empty possession ... Leary has not been sharp in the second half. Huge possession for the State defense upcoming ...

End of 3: State 24, UVa 14

The defense does its job again ... And again, the offense doesn't distinguish itself. A holding penalty on Grant Gibson nullified one first down and an absolutely dreadful throw to a wide open Pennix by Leary prevents another.

And now Dunn misses a chip shot and the door is still wide open for the Cavaliers with plenty of time remaining ...

If the offense isn't going to get it done, leave it to a fat guy. Okay, so Alim McNeill isn't fat. He's a freak. And he just showed it with that bat down, interception and touchdown to put the Wolfpack back in charge ...

State 31, UVa 14 with 11:10 remaining

The Wolfpack's secondary is depleted, but it's making this backup quarterback wearing a linebacker's number look like the second coming of Tom Brady right now. ...

Laval Davis Jr. is 6-7, which gives him a huge advantage, but he's unstoppable when he uses his hnads to push off the defender the way he just did to Cecil Powerll. Offensive pass interference not called, UVA touchdown ...

Wolfpack 31, Cavaliers 21 with 6:08 remaining

Third and five with five minutes to go and State goes Wildcat. Person stopped for no gain. That didn't go very well  Again, folks, this one is still far from over ...

But the defense comes through, highlighted by a fourth down pass breakup by freshman Devan Boykin, and with 4:02 left, it's starting to look a little better. 

Determined run by Knight moves the chains and moves the Wolfpack a few steps closer to finishing this one off. A touchdown here would be a nice cherry on the top of a great road trip ...

Knight earned that touchdown. He's over 100 yards for the day  and with 1:49 left, that will just about do it ...

State 38, UVA 21 with 1:49 left

Cecil Powell is down for the Wolfpack. That's the last thing that secondary needs, especially now that the game is all but over.

And that will do it ...

Wolfpack improves to 3-1 for the season with two of the wins coming on the road ...

Final: State 38, UVA 21

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