Wolfpack rewind: State 41, WCU 0
THE GOOD
The Wolfpack came into the season needing its veteran defense to carry the load early while its retooled offense figures things out and finds a rhythm. Through the first two games, it has done exactly that. State has yet to allow a touchdown in eight quarters in 2019. Saturday's shutout of Western Carolina was the Wolfpack's first since a 35-0 shellacking of Eastern Kentucky in the second game of the 2015 season.
Granted, the Catamounts were shorthanded after starting quarterback and preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year Tyrie Adams was suspended for an unspecified violation of team rules. But regardless of who was playing, what the State's defense did in the game was impressive. The Wolfpack yielded only eight net yards on the ground and 106 yards overall while forcing WCU to punt 10 times.
And perhaps the most impressive aspect of the performance is that it wasn't just the veterans that did the heavy lifting. Among those that stood out was sophomore corner Teshaun Smith,who made his first career start in place of injured senior Nick McCloud and made three tackles. The team's three sacks were shared by sophomores Alim McNeill, Xavier Lyas and Ibrahim Kante and freshman Joseph Boletepeli while backup nickel Tyler Baker-Williams broke up a pair of passes.
THE BAD
Even though State's offense piled up 540 yards and 41 points, coach Dave Doeren expressed his concern after the game about his team's lack of a downfield passing game. The longest gain through the air against WCU was 28 yards, but tight end Cary Angeline did most of that on his own after the catch. The same is true for the second-longest completion of the game, a 20-yarder to fellow tight end Dylan Autenreith.
While quarterback Matthew McKay has a strong arm and receivers such as Emeka Emezie, Tabari Hines and Keyon Lesane have the speed to become vertical threats, they as a group have yet to produce any explosive plays on deep balls. While that hasn't mattered against the likes of Western and East Carolina, Doeren knows that won't always be the case once the schedule begins beefing up next week at West Virginia.
"You're not going to run the ball for 300 yards against these ACC teams if you can't throw it downfield," Doeren said. "It's not going to happen, so we've got to get better, for sure."
THE OFFBEAT
Fans like to complain about early starting times and for good reason, especially this time of year when the temperatures are still in the high 80s and low 90s. But for whatever the reason, the Wolfpack seems to play its best during the heat of the day.
Saturday's win marked State's 16th straight win in a game that started a 1 p.m. or earlier. I's a streak that dates back to 2016, including nine straight at Carter-Finley Stadium. The good news for the Wolfpack is that next week's game at West Virginia is scheduled for a noon kickoff.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The firsts keep piling up for freshman running back Zonovan "Bam" Knight. Last week against ECU, he scored his first career touchdown on his first career carry. This week he added his first 100-yard rushing game to his resume.
The 6-foot, 188-pound graduate of Southern Nash High finished with 116 yards on 18 carries for a 6.6 yard per carry average. He scored touchdowns on a pair of 2-yard runs, although one of them came at the end of a drive that saw him carry the ball on five straight plays. Knight is the 57th player in school history with a 100-yard rushing game and is he fastest to do it since Tremayne Stephens accomplished the feat in his first career game in 1994.
Bam Knight has made his presence known quickly in his freshman season.
— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) September 7, 2019
18 carries for 119 yards and 2 TDs for Knight today!#1Pack1Goal | @PackFootball @knight_zonovan pic.twitter.com/oWefMCIafv
STAT OF THE WEEK
In addition to Knight's big game, the Wolfpack also got 73 rushing yards from Jordan Houston, 51 from Ricky Person and 44 from walkon Will Dabbs on the way to 309 net yards on the ground. WCU, meanwhile, ran for just eight yards on 19 attempts. The differential was State's largest since outrushing Unc 388-30 in 2014.
UNSUNG HERO
At 5-foot-9, 176 pounds, Kishawn Miller is the smallest cornerback on he State roster, but he came up big on Saturday. Playing behind Stephen Griffin a right corner, he second on the team with four tackles. The former junior college transfer was on the field for only 78 snaps in his first season with the Wolfpack last season. But he has progressed into a key reserve through the first two games of 2019.
INJURY REPORT
As mentioned earlier, McCloud didn't play Saturday because of an injury suffered in last week's opener against ECU. Reserve running back Trent Pinnix was helped off the field late in the game after appearing to hit his head on the ground at the end of a run.
THEY SAID IT
"We had three penalties on the day, that improved from six. That was something we talked about today. Defensively we were outstanding on third down and I thought the red zone offense was much better. You’ll never be completely happen at the end of the game. Overall it was a pretty good game for the guys." ... Coach Dave Doeren
"I feel like this defense gels together better than last year. We were together last year, but this year it's just like a different camaraderie right now. I don't know what it is and I can't really explain it, it's just we're more together. We talk to each other a lot, hang out a lot and we're just around each other a lot, so there's a huge difference." ... DT Alim McNeill
“We had a lot of distractions this week with some stuff happening within the program to where we left some guys back at home,” said Western Carolina coach Mark Speir. “I thought we came out and played extremely hard in the first half. Our guys fought and battled. We just ran out of gas in the second half.” ... WCU Coach Mark Speir
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