N.C. State refocuses, pieces together 49-22 victory over Old Dominion

Lexi Baird, Triangle Sports Network

RALEIGH, N.C. – Following a tough loss to East Carolina last week in Greenville, N.C. State Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren wanted to focus on offensive execution against the Old Dominion Monarchs on Saturday.

The quarterback tandem of Ryan Finley (24-28, 281 yards, 3 TD) and Jalan McClendon (3-4, 31 yards, 1 TD/2 carries, 4 yards, 2 TD) provided that as they combined for four touchdowns in the air, while McClendon rushed twice for scores to lead N.C. State to a 49-22 win at Carter Finley Stadium.

It wasn’t a rout, but it was an effort that showed flashes of effective and productive play on both sides of the ball.

To bolster the offensive finish, Jaylen Samuels made three catches, two for touchdowns, while running back Matt Dayes led the Wolfpack ground game, gaining 71 yards on 14 carries, and Stephen Louis posted 80 yards on five catches.

Place kicker Kyle Bambard finished with a clean 7-for-7 finish in point-after attempts.

Coming into the game, the Wolfpack ranked 14th in the FBS in tackles for loss with 19.

Damian Roseboro (6 tackles, 3 sacks), Kentavious Street (4 tackles, 1 sack), and Justin Jones (5 tackles, 1 sack) added to that total, and Old Dominion quarterback David Washington (16-26, 200 yards, 2 TD) didn’t have much time or room to work with as a result.

“I think they’re gaining confidence and was glad they finished some sacks today,” Doeren said of his defensive ends.

“We’ve had a lot of big hits this year where the ball got out and weren’t able to get the sack; but today were able to do that.”

While the Wolfpack contained Washington and the Monarch offense and led 21-3 at halftime, some creative play-calling eventually allowed receiver Zach Pascal (8 catches, 108 yards, 2 TD) and running back Jeremy Cox (9 carries, 91 yards, 1 TD) to finish the game strong for ODU during the final two quarters.

Highlights: ACC Digital Network (TheACC.com)

Street was a major factor in forcing ODU to punt the ball following its opening possession.

While Bra’Lon Cherry returned the punt for a touchdown, offsetting penalties negated the score and required a repeat of fourth down.

On the subsequent punt from ODU’s Bailey Cate (7 punts, 45.4 avg.), Cherry misjudged it and let the ball land which resulted in a bounce and roll back to the N.C. State five-yard line.

Finley eventually connected with Dayes on a 38-yard gain that put the Wolfpack on the ODU 33-yard line.

Almost sacked on fourth-and-two, Finley pushed a seven-yard pass to Louis and kept the drive alive.

McClendon then came in on third-and-goal and scored the one-yard touchdown and put the Wolfpack ahead 7-0 with 7:24 to play in the quarter.

“They called me in and I just did what I was supposed to do,” McClendon said afterwards.

Another punt from Cate put the Wolfpack back on its own 15.

It was a position that Finley couldn’t advance the offense from and as a result of their tenacious defense, got the Monarchs the ball back on the N.C. State 44-yard line.

However, ODU couldn’t do anything with it and both teams continued to trade possessions without scores.

Dayes fumbled the ball following a C.J. Bradshaw tackle and put the Monarchs in a position to get on the board with 1:33 to go in the quarter.

N.C. State’s defensive line held strong during the drive, led by linebacker Airius Moore (6 tackles) and corner Dravious Wright (2 tackles).

The Wolfpack maintained its seven-point advantage to start the second quarter.

While ODU eventually converted a 21-yard field goal attempt from Cate to cut the score to 7-3, the Wolfpack extended it back up with McClendon’s second rushing score with 9:32 to play in the half.

Street continued to wreak havoc on Washington, as he tackled the Monarch quarterback for a six-yard loss on the ensuing possession.

“Our team chemistry has been rising,” Street said.

“As a defensive line, our focus this week was to take bad plays off the table, and I feel like we did that.”

Six minutes later, a nine-play, 77-yard drive eventually led to Samuels scoring on a 19-yard pass play to extend N.C. State’s lead further, to 21-3.

The Wolfpack carried its 19-point advantage into the halftime break.

To start the third period, ODU reached into the back pages of its playbook, and put together an offensive series that caught the N.C. State defense napping.

Cate took a snap to punt the ball away on fourth down, but instead ran it for nine yards to earn the first down.

From there, Washington eventually wired a pass to Pascal who grazed the goal line pylon to complete a 21-yard play that ended in the Monarchs’ first touchdown of the game.

While Doeren disputed the score, following a video review, the ruling on the field stood.

A two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful and the Wolfpack got the ball back leading 21-9 at the 9:25 mark.

As part of a 72-yard drive, Finley lofted a pass to Louis, a 40-yard play that set the ball up for McClendon to step in and become part of another scoring sequence.

After taking the snap, he rolled left and found Thaddeus Moss open for an easy three-yard toss that extended the N.C. State lead to 28-9.

The Wolfpack added another touchdown, a four-yard toss by Finley to Samuels, and extended the differential to 26 points to start the fourth quarter.

“He’s just consistent,” Doeren said of Finley.

“He understands where to go with the football and leads the ACC in completion rate. He manages the game well and understands what Coach Drinkwitz wants and distributes the ball to our playmakers.”

Once more, ODU’s offensive play calling caught the N.C. State defense empty in the secondary.

Washington avoided a blitz rush and found Pascal open 29 yards away in the end zone to post another six points.

Corner Niles Clark blocked Cate’s PAT and N.C. State maintained a healthy advantage at 35-15.

The Wolfpack soon responded as Finley found tight end Cole Cook open as he scored his first career touchdown and pushed the N.C. State lead to 42-15 with 10:33 to play.

“That was real cool,” Finley said.

“When that play was called and I saw Cole, I was definitely gettin’ it to him.”

While it looked like the Monarchs would pack it in, they did the opposite as Cox put together a career-long run of 65 yards to cut the score by six points again.

The Wolfpack answered back once more with running back Dakwa Nichols scoring on a nine-yard rush with 5:56 to play.

From that point on, it was just a matter of counting down time to seal the win for the home side.

It wasn’t flashy, but it was effective and provided N.C. State with the confidence it needed to begin conference play.

“Defensively they played well in the first half,” Doeren said of his team.

“Up until the run at the end of the game I thought they played the run game well. It’s one to build on and we have a bye week coming up where we can look at ourselves and continue to work on what we need to do better as we approach our ACC schedule.”