Top three areas for improvement

With no game scheduled this week, it's a good time to take a look back at the first five games of the Wolfpack's season (and look ahead to the next seven)

Rob Kinnan/USAToday sports

With NC State taking the week off for the first of its two open dates, now is the perfect time to look back and assess first five weeks of the 2019 football season.

Over the next few days, we'll review the top three surprises, disappointments and areas for improvement, along with the three most important players to the team's success looking ahead to the second half of the schedule.

Today, we check out the Wolfpack's three most pressing areas in need of improvement

SHORT YARDAGE CONVERSIONS

Coach Dave Doeren and offensive coordinator Des Kitchings are quick to point out that their team is averaging an efficient five yards per carrry (4.8 to be exact), which is good. The problem is that the Wolfpack isn't nearly as effective when all it needs is a yard or two to extend a possession or give itself a chance to score a touchdown rather than kick field goal.

State has failed to convert a third-and-one or fourth-and-one or two in four of its five games thus far, with the shutout of Western Carolina in Week 2 being the only exception. What makes the problem all the more perplexing is that Kitchings and co-offensive coordinator George McDonald are trying different things in those situations. Few of them have worked to this point.

Quarterback Matthew McKay was stopped for a 1-yard gain on fourth-and-two against East Carolina. McKay was sacked on that ill-fated RPO call on third-and-1 at West Virginia while Ricky Person Jr. was denied on both third- and fourth-and-one on the same third quarter series against Ball State. Then last week at Florida State, Ryan Houston and Zonovan Knight were each denied on third-and-one plays in the loss.

"I think whether it's penalties or drops, it's just about execution more than anything, you know? The margin for error is -- you've got to make plays," Doeren said after the FSU game. "That's what the game's all about. Whether it's a throw not being on target or a guy dropping a pass or a five-yard penalty setting you back, it is what it is. So we've got to operate cleaner."

Whether it's the playcalling, the lack of a true power back like Reggie Gallaspy or issues with the offensive line, something has got to change now that the ACC schedule has begun if the Wolfpack expects to make any kind of noise in the Atlantic Division.

BIG PLAY PREVENTION

State's defense has played well for the most part this season. It ranks second in the ACC against the run with an average of 71.8 yards per game and 2.6 yards per carry allowed. It is tied for third in scoring defense at 20.8 points per game and fifth in total defenes at 321.2 yards per game.

But if there's one area in which it has lagged, it's been the defense's penchant for giving up big plays -- usually at the worst possible times. The Wolfpack has allowed 23 gains of 20 yards or more in its first five games. Thirteen of those "explosive plays" have come in the team's two losses, which also happen to be the only two games it has played against Power 5 opponents. Five of those big plays went for touchdowns.

:"Too many completions on us over 15 yards," Doeren said even before the FSU game. "None of them were touchdowns, but you know, chunk plays that affect your field position and plays ... we've got to be better at moving forward."

THROWING DOWNFIELD

Explosive plays in the passing game, or a lack of them, have been just as big a problem for State's offense as they've been for the defense.

While State has allowed 13 completions of 20 yards or more, including a pair of 40-plus yarders for touchdowns against the Seminoles Saturday, its offense has produced only eight. And even that's a deceiving stat. The two longest completions came in the season's first game against East Carolina. Of the six since then, two were on short throws turned into big gains by the receiver.

"Our pass efficiency as we look at it, particularly passes over 20 yards, we're not being efficent in that area," Kitchings said earlier this week on Doeren's radio show. "So that's a point of emphasis."

Doeren and Kitchings have already begun taking steps to improve their team's vertical passing game. The first and most important move came at quarterback, where sophomore Bailey Hockman -- and then Devin Leary -- replaced struggling starter Matthew McKay. Hockman completed a 33-yard pass to Devin Carter on Saturday and attempted several other downfield throws. Leary also had a 23-yard completion.

In order to add a home run threat that has been missing since C.J. Riley was injured on opening day, the staff moved speedy freshman defensive back Cecil Powell to wide receiver, where he caught three passes for 22 yards in Tallahassee.

"We saw some of the dynamics with him just catching a hedge, but he's an explosive guy," Kitchings said of Powell. "We tried to throw him a ball down the field, We didn't complete it, but you know what? Now people see it on film that we're at least attempting to try to throw the ball vertically downfield."