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NC State Football

MCLAMB: NC State Getting Defensive

October 1, 2018
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Through four games the dropoff has not occurred.

NC State picked up its fourth win in four games Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium by bouncing Virginia, 35-21, in its ACC opener.

The defense once again got the job done for the Wolfpack and the totals after one-third of the season look solid for NC State’s defense, which entered the campaign with question marks after the mass exodus of starters from the 2017 squad due to graduation.

The numbers back it up.

After a quartet of contests, NC State’s defense has allowed eight touchdowns, nine field goals, 1,038 yards passing, and 369 yards rushing. The Wolfpack also has 10 sacks, three interceptions, and four fumble recoveries.

Check that. Those are actually the defensive totals from the 2017 team’s first four games.

This season’s team defensive numbers from the first four matchups are as follows: six touchdowns and four field goals allowed on 772 yards passing and 357 yards rushing. The 2018 defense has 10 sacks, four interceptions, and three fumble recoveries.

The huge turnover after the graduation of almost the entire defensive starting unit from 2017 posed questions. The current group, so far, has had the answers.

Larrell Murchison, a redshirt-junior from Elizabethtown, North Carolina, was among those who had to wait his turn last season. He finished with four tackles for loss, including three sacks, in NC State’s victory over the Cavaliers this past Saturday.

“I feel like we played great,” Murchison said. “As a defense that they are not looking for much from, especially in the ACC, they think we would have to have an awful lot of things fall into place, but I think we are stepping up big and we have just got to continue to improve every week. That is something that we have been good at.”

Four defensive linemen as seniors last season (and all them now in the NFL) meant that position group would have the largest turnover. Murchison and James Smith-Williams both played well Saturday and Darian Roseboro has been consistent, along with being a leader.

Nick McCloud, who also has played solid of late and had an interception Saturday, gives the front four full credit for NC State’s play.

“They did a really outstanding job today of getting pressure on [Perkins], having him on his toes,” McCloud said after Saturday’s win. “I feel like the D-line should get the game ball for their outstanding job.”

It remains uncertain as to whether or not the defensive line has received a game ball yet this season, but it is starting to earn the respect of NC State fans and ACC pundits alike.

Through four games, the Wolfpack defense has not dropped off a bit from last season -- except in years of college playing experience. This is a unit that has room and time to grow and get better.

Things are looking up for the NC State football program.

Tags: Football
 
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