Wolfpack falls to Florida State on a 'shaky' night in Tallahassee
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- As NC State football coach Dave Doeren stepped onto a flimsy riser in the interview room beneath Doak Campbell Stadium last Saturday night, he reached to a chair for support and summed his team's night up in one succinct, unintential sentence.
"It would be par for the course if this thing fell," he said, not trying to be funny.
It was that kind of game for the Wolfpack.
There were some positives, to be sure. But the improved pass rush that produced eight sacks and 14 tackles for losses, the emergence of Bailey Hockman and the first look at the strong arm of Devin Leary were far outweighed by all the negatives that helped contribute to a 31-13 setback to Florida State.
"Weird feeling after this game," Doeren said after State's second loss in as many road games. "I'm really proud of the way our defensive kids battled. We struggled offensively in a lot of ways."
It was a night in which the Wolfpack did many of the things it set out to do, specifically not let a traditionally fast starting Seminoles team jump ahead early. But there were also a myriad of mistakes -- many of them self-inflicted and of even greater concern, many of which have become recurring problems.
The list starts with State's inability to finish drives with touchdowns, settling instead for a pair of Christopher Dunn field goals during a first half in which it outgained FSU 208-169, but trailed on the scoreboard 17-6.
"Every missed touchdown, every drive we don’t score feels like a missed opportunity. You’ve just got to go out there and keep playing," Hockman said. "We’ve just got to execute. Coach talked about penalties, they kind of hurt us there towards the end. We’re going to get it done, we’ve just got to keep working and keep getting better."
The Wolfpack (3-2, 0-1 ACC) also has to get better in short yardage situations after leaving more points on the field instead of the scoreboar by failing to convert a fourth-and-one for the second straight week.
There were key penalties, most of which came in the second half, including a roughing the passer call on sophomore defensive end Xavier Lyas on a third-and-16 play that helped the Seminoles extend a drive that ultimately ended in a 39-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Alex Hornibrook to Onatria Wilson.
Usually reliable kicker Christopher Dunn even missed a field goal, shtoinking a 42-yarder off the left upright on the final play of the first half that would have sent State into the locker room with a least a little momentum.
Adding to State's woes was what appeared to be a serious injury to sophomore running back Ricky Person Jr.
Playing a team against which he scored three touchdowns a year ago, Person had his right foot put into an air cast and was taken from the field on a cart after gaining four yuards on the opening series of the second half. Person finished with 26 yards on seven carries before leaving.
Back to the subject of quarterbacks, Doeren finally ran out of patience with starter Matthew McKay after 3 of 7 start. He replaced him with backup Hockman, a redshirt sophomore who started his career at FSU.
Melina Myers/USAToday sports
Melina Myers/USAToday sports
Melina Myers/USAToday sports
Melina Myers/USAToday
Melina Myers/USAToday sports
"I think I played well. I did the best I can," Hockman said. "The offensive line played great, they played their butts off. I love those guys. The wide receivers played well also. I’ve just got to get it done. We’ve just got to execute."
Hockman completed 21 of 40 passes for 208 yards and a fourth quarter touchdown to Emeka Emezie. But he also got hit a number of times and ended up limping off the field his team's final possession.
That opened the door for third stringer and one-time prized recruit Devin Leary, who saw his first career action and completed 4 of 5 passes for 54 yards. He nearly had his first touchdown pass as well, but receiver Max Fisher fumbled the ball into the end zone at the end of a 23-yard play and FSU recovered to end the threat.
Like Doeren's assent onto that shaky riser, the play was par for the course for the Wolfpack on Saturday.
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