Behind the arm of MJ Morris and a stout fourth quarter defense, NC State rallied from a 21-3 deficit to beat Virginia Tech, 22-21. Inside Pack Sports takes a look back at the game.
First Half Disaster
I’m not going to spend much energy on the first half. I doubt many folks want to relive it anyway. I will say this, I thought it was one of the ugliest halves of football (by both teams) that I’ve seen. Maybe ever. Terrible.
Defense Came Out Flat In The Second Half
For me it really boiled down to this -- the Pack gave up a long, sustained drive to open up the second half. Beyond that, VT hit two long passes on Shy Battle that resulted in scores. State was dominant in the first half, but one drive and two big plays can be crushing for a team that struggles to score points. Ironically, Virginia Tech was the first time all season that the Wolfpack’s defense didn’t hold the opposition under their season average for points scored. Virginia Tech averaged 19 and State gave up 21. Prior to Virginia Tech, State had averaged keeping their opponents better than 11 points under their season scoring average.
Thinking Out Loud
For 41 minutes NC State ran a conservative offense that consisted of runs, swings, and short passes that had the Pack mired in the mud. During that span State managed 145 yards, eight first downs, and almost no points.
Obviously the game situation forced Tim Beck to throw the conservative approach out the window which made me think, maybe a 21-3 deficit was a blessing in disguise.
I think most people would agree that conventional wisdom suggests that playing it close to the vest is a reasonable way to go when you’re playing a true freshman with 18 fall practices under his belt. For me, the problem is the fact that a conservative approach has seemingly been the gameplan all year, and it just hasn’t worked -- whether with Leary, Chambers, or Morris.
I’m certainly not jumping on board with State all of a sudden becoming an air raid offense after one quarter of football. I think the Pack needs to run the football to be successful. But State has to be able to go down the field at times and at the very least make teams respect that. I hope that we saw enough Thursday night that the Pack will use it more going forward and hopefully serve notice to the teams that remain on the schedule.
MJ Morris, Wow
No one outside the locker room at NC State could have seen that coming. The last thing you want to do is to put the weight of coming from 18 down late in the second half on the shoulders of a true freshman that’s never started a game and was stepping on a college field for just the third time.
I have to be honest, going into the season I thought Morris was a two-years-down-the-road guy. Maybe that’s accurate in a perfect world. But two things I took away from his performance - he WON the Virginia Tech game. Not all by himself, but without his play, you lose that game. It also gives you hope for the future. He made plays that we hadn’t seen all year, even going back to Leary. I think it’s important to remember that MJ Morris didn’t arrive by beating Virginia Tech. There’s a ton for him to learn and it’s going to be a process with both ups and downs. Pack fans will have to be patient, but maybe, just maybe we saw a glimpse of what he can be moving forward.
It’s interesting to me, because if Morris continues to grow and improve it’s really going to alter the way State will approach the QB position headed into the off season.
Six Minutes Of Magic
Continuing with MJ Morris. When you break down the numbers around those final three drives, it’s easily one of the most impressive series of plays by an NC State quarterback in years.
Drive One, down 21-3
Morris -- 4 of 5 passing for 72 yards and a 35 yard touchdown throw, 2:20 drive
Drive Two, down 21-10
Morris -- 3 of 3 passing for 52 yards and a seven yard touchdown throw, 1:12 drive
Drive Three, down 21-16
Morris -- 5 of 7 passing for 60 yards and an 18 yard touchdown throw, 3:01 drive
Total -- 12 of 15, 184 yards, and three touchdowns in just over six and a half minutes.
Players Making Plays
So many guys stepped up Thursday night. During the off season we talked about Terrell Timmons and that he was someone that had a bright future. At the time, the expectation was that it would likely come down the road. Desperate for a playmaker at receiver, the timeline was drastically sped up. Although he had just two catches, the 43 yarder was huge and he nearly made another highlight-reel catch.
The play of the Thomas brothers was huge. Those two have meant so much to the Wolfpack program. Drake led the team with eight tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a sack. That sack was huge and he looked like he was shot out of a cannon on the play.
I thought the deep touchdown catch by Thayer was really the turning point in the game. You could just sense that a switch flipped on for NC State from that point on. They just needed something positive to happen, and that play was the catalyst. In all, 10 catches, 118 yards, and two touchdowns. I’ve said it repeatedly, when Thayer is involved, the Pack is typically very hard to defend.
The return of Trent Pennix was clutch, and give credit to Beck for calling the pop pass to him for the touchdown. I’d still like to see Pennix become a bigger part of the offense, but three catches for 25 yards and a score was a great starting point.
Lastly, welcome back Devin Carter. Five catches for 62 yards, but more importantly, a couple of them were crucial in extending drives.
I wanted to add in, for the first time this year it felt like the receivers had space and there were windows to throw the ball. Some of this may have been the way VT defended State in the second half but it was nice to see some openings for the wide receivers and not a contested catch on every throw.
Jordan Houston
Man, what a performance on the final drive. He seemingly willed himself up the field to close out the game, and many of those yards he created by himself. You need that desperately in that particular game situation, and Houston got it done. Four carries, 23 yards, and two first downs that sealed the game. I can’t say enough about his effort level on that final drive to keep the ball away from Virginia Tech.
Defensive Turnaround
Wanted to circle back to the defense. None of us are on the sideline, but mentally, it has to be tough to go out there over and over again and basically have to pitch a shutout because of how your offense is struggling.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the defensive effort ramped up a hundred notches after the first Thayer Thomas touchdown. From that point on Virginia Tech ran 12 plays -- there were three incompletions, two runs of zero yards, and two sacks. The only first down came on a Payton Wilson penalty. I felt like it was clearly a situation where the defense fed off of the spark provided by the offense.
Going Forward
Look, let’s be honest. The theme of the season thus far has been the struggles of the offense. The biggest takeaway I had from the game was that MJ Morris gave us hope moving forward that NC State can develop into a team that has a somewhat competent offense. I don’t think the Pack has to be all-world on offense. Just be competent. Hell, just be average. I think average can win games with State’s defense and special teams.
I’m taking it one game at a time. Wake Forest is up next and I really don’t like them. At halftime I’m thinking the Deacs might beat us by 40. By the end of the game I’m thinking, okay, we’ve got something to work with. I know this is a game that the Wolfpack players circled early on. However, talking about it and doing something about it are two different things.
It’s going to take MJ Morris playing well for sure. But it’s also going to take Jordan Houston, Trent Pennix, Devin Carter, and everyone else on offense. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say State will need to play their best defensive game of the year. But I saw enough heart (and players making plays) to think State has a shot to pull it off.
