Wolfpack rewind: State 34, Ball State 23
THE GOOD
Special teams played a major role in last week's loss when a missed assignment on punt protection led to a blocked kick that ended any chance of a Wolfpack comeback at West Virginia. Saturday against Ball State, State's special teams redeemed themselves by making not one, but two game-changing plays of their own.
The first was a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown by Thayer Thomas, a score that helped the Wolfpack open up a 27-7 lead early in the third quarter. Then, with Ball State climbing back into contention at 27-16 early in the fourth quarter, reserve wide receiver Max Fisher blocked a punt that led to a clinching touchdown three players later.
It was a good night overall for State's special teams, with Christopher Dunn making a pair of free throws and punter Trenton Gill averaging 51.0 yards on three punts while recording five touchbacks on six kickoffs.
THE BAD
It's not that State was any great shakes in the first half, but the second straight week, State's offense went completely dormant after halftime. It managed just 104 yards, completed only two passes and was limited to five first downs over the third and fourth quarters. If not for the aforementioned special teams plays, the Wolfpack would have been shut out in the final 30 minutes.
"We couldn’t stay on the field in the second half, so that’s definitely an area, especially (after) last week, that we must improve on," quarterback Matthew McKay said afterwards. "Going into this next week, we’re going to focus on coming out in the third quarter strong and putting points on the board."
How big a role McKay ultimately plays in that process isn't exactly set in stone. Doeren gave a hint that he might be ready to try other quarterback options by giving backup Bailey Hockman a "meaningful" series in the first half, then putting him back in late in the game when State was trying to run out the clock.
Hockman completed two of his three passing attempts for 10 yards and an interception that wasn't entirely his fault. With McKay regressing over the past two weeks following a promising start against East Carolina and Western Carolina, the junior college transfer might be in line for a larger role sooner than later.
THE OFFBEAT
The Wolfpack started Saturday's game as the only FBS team nationally without a turnover this season. That designation, along with the team's school-record streak of three straight games to start the year without losing a fumble or an interception, came to an end midway through the second quarter when Hockman's pass was picked off by Ball State's Ray Wilborn.
McKay also threw an interception later in the game, the first of his young career, ending a string of 149 straight passes without a pick.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Last week at West Virginia, Thayer Thomas caught one touchdown pass and threw for another. Saturday, he added a special teams score to his diverse resume by getting to the end zone on a 76-yard punt return early in the third quarter.
The sophomore wide receiver also tied for the team lead with four catches for 51 yards, with a long of 22. Thomas finished the game with with 131 all-purpose yards.
STAT OF THE WEEK
The Wolfpack was a perfect 4 for 4 in the red zone on Saturday with two short runs by McKay and a pair of Dunn field goals. State has now score points on all 19 of its possessions inside the opponents' 20-yard line this season.
UNSUNG HERO
Sophomore nickel Tyler Baker-Williams has seen significant action all season as a backup to senior Stephen Griffin, but his contribution has increased with each passing week. He had his best game Saturday against Ball State, with six tackles, including four solo efforts.
Baker-Williams was also part of an enhanced pass rush that kept pressure on Cardinals quarterback Drew Plitt with a series of creative blitzes. He recorded a half sack and had another quarterback hurry. For the season, he now has 17 tackles, 1.5 TFLs and two pass breakups.
INJURY REPORT
The Wolfpack played without three of its four captains Saturday, with safety Nick McCloud missing his third straight game, defensive end James Smith-Williams missing his second straight and tight end Dylan Autenreith his first.
Of even greater concern is the condition of leading rusher Zonovan Knight. The freshman star was off to a solid start with 36 yards on his first careers. But it appeared that he pulled up at the end of a 16-yard run in the second quarter at the start of State's first touchdown drive and didn't return.
After the game, Doeren broke with his usual policy by saying that Knight had tweaked his hamstring, putting his availability for next week's game at Florida State into doubt.
The good news is that the Wolfpack has plenty of talented depth at the running back position. Freshman Jordan Houston showed that by responding to an expanded role by rushing for 55 yards on six carries. Junior Ricky Person junior led the team with 71 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
THEY SAID IT
"They are fifth in the nation in passing offense. I expected it. I thought we did some good things at times, and we did some bad things. They made some pretty awesome catches, but we’ve got to cover better. We did mix up coverages. We played a lot of coverages tonight. At the end of the day, you’re going to have a one-on-one at some point." Dave Doeren on Ball State throwing 57 passes in the game
"The punter did an unusual kick. He sort of rugby-kicked it. He never did that on film. It was low and didn’t have a lot of hang time, so I knew I had the opportunity to return it. When I went left, I didn’t see anything, so I tried to go back to the field. The funny thing is we only had 10 guys on the field at the time. We didn’t even have 11 guys out there, so it was pretty crazy." Thayer Thomas on his 76-yard touchdown return
"The turnovers there in the second half and the stops on third down ... we had a couple of opportunities that we needed to finish the deal and we didn't get that done." Ball State coach Mike Neu.
UP NEXT
The Wolfpack heads to Tallahassee for its ACC opener in a 7 p.m. game at Florida State on Saturday
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