Wolfpack Rewind: One Final Implosion

Here's a look back at the good, the bad and the offbeat from Saturday's 44-10 loss to UNC

Rob Kinnan/USAToday sports

THE GOOD

The Wolfpack couldn't afford to allow North Carolina's star quarterback Sam Howell to sit back in the pocket and pick apart its patchwork secondary and in the first half, it didn't. While Howell was able to complete a few deep balls, he wasn't able to get the Tar Heels into the end zone during the first 30 minutes because of a pass rush that got two sacks from sophomore tackle Alim McNeill and one from freshman end Joseph Boletepeli, to go along with a pair of quarterback pressures.

THE BAD

Of all the recurring issues that plagued State throughout the season -- especially over the final six games -- the worst was its penchant for committing turnovers and giving up points in bunches. It proved to be the Wolfpack's downfall again against the Tar Heels as two Devin Leary interceptions and a Zonovan Knight fumble produced 21 quick UNC points over the course of 13 decisive minutes in the third quarter -- turning a 10-6 State halftime lead into an insurmountable deficit. The second half implosion was almost identical to the one the Wolfpack suffered two weeks earlier against Louisville and the rapid-fire scores it allowed were similar to those that took it out of games against Boston College, Wake Forest and Clemson.

THE OFFBEAT

State's only touchdowns Saturday came on a 39-yard pass from Leary to Tabari Hines late in the second quarter. It came only a few plays after Payton Wilson intercepted a pass to give the Wolfpack possession. Wilson, a redshirt freshman linebacker, originally committed to UNC before deciding to sign with State. Hines, meanwhile, played his first three seasons at Wake Forest before leaving as a graduate transfer. Adding to the All-ACC nature of the sequence, the quarterback that three the interception to Wilson, Howell, originally committed to Florida State before flipping to the Tar Heels.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Hines made the most out of his final college game by catching a team-high seven passes for 89 yards and a touchdown. The score came on a 39-yard pass from Leary late in the first half on which he got wide open on the far sideline. Hines finished the season second on the team with 37 catches for 402 yards and two touchdowns.

STAT OF THE WEEK

The Wolfpack committed 16 turnovers during its season-ending six-game losing streak, including four on Saturday. The opposition turned those 16 turnovers into an incredible 81 points. State scored exactly 100 points total in those six games. What makes this stat all the more amazing is that the Wolfpack didn't commit a turnover in its first three teams and did not give up any points off turnovers through the first six games.

UNSUNG HERO

Redshirt freshman defensive end Joseph Boletepeli played extensively early in the season, but had been on the field for only 37 snaps over the previous six games before Saturday. He didn't record a tackle over that stretch. But against UNC, the 6-foot-4, 258-pound defensive end was one of the few bright spots on a dreary evening, recording four tackles and had a sack.

INJURY REPORT

The Wolfpack didn't appear to suffer any major injuries during Saturday's game, but played the game with 12 regulars sidelined. For the season, State had a total of 107 games lost to injury among 29 different players -- including nine that were out for at least six games.

"What can I take from this season? I’ve been through a lot with these guys. Our guys hung in there through 14 weeks of different lineups. A lot of guys played played who we didn’t expect to play. A lot of valuable reps. It was a strange year -- only one home game in 54 days, four Saturdays we didn’t play, all these injuries. It was a lot." Coach Dave Doeren

"I didn't think we played really well the first half, but give State credit for that. Dave (Doeren) had them ready to play and they did a lot of good things. We dropped some balls and we didn't plant our feet very well at running back. Couple of the guys said at halftime, 'Well, it's slick out there,' and I said, 'Well, it's not slick for them.' They're not slipping, so we had to settle down and play; probably tried too hard the first half. I thought the biggest difference in the second half was turnovers that led to points. So, I was really proud that number one, we forced turnovers with our defense, which we haven't done a lot during the season, and then we turned them into points and that got the game out of reach very quickly." UNC coach Mack Brown

"We can't really blame it on the injuries because it's next man up. We recruit for injuries, so if someone goes down it's next man up. We've made a lot of mistakes throughout the whole year. That's stuff we've got to get fixed. We can't blame that on injuries or how young we are. We were recruited to play." Redshirt freshman LB Payton Wilson

NEXT UP

State's season ends at 4-8, 1-7 in the ACC. The Wolfpack will open the 2020 season against an ACC opponent on the first weekend in September.