Morehead Ready For The Tigers
NC State redshirt junior Jarius Morehead is currently second on the team in tackles (28) and also has an interception returned for a touchdown. He plays a major role defensively for the Wolfpack, but that didn't prevent him from looking to make improvements during the bye week.
"Practice-wise I wanted to get out of my breaks faster," Morehead said. "I wanted to read concepts better. When I’m in the field I want to come down and shoot the gap full speed, not breaking down.
"I missed a jet against Virginia and that can’t happen. I have to make tackles in the open field."
That is certainly a major point of emphasis this week against No. 4 Clemson. The Tigers are loaded with skill position talent and stress out defenses by getting the ball out on the perimeter as much as possible.
"They can make plays, I can say that," Morehead said of Clemson's wideouts. "Slot receiver No. 13, he’s a great receiver. He can get in the open space and make plays and if the ball is in his area he’s going to get it and we just have to play it."
Leading the way for Clemson is true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The 6-foot-6 signal-caller has thrown 11 touchdowns and just two interceptions and leads the ACC in quarterback rating.
"You know he doesn’t have experience, but the coaches trust him so it’s like he’s already established," Morehead said of Lawrence. "He has an arm. After the Syracuse game, I thought he looked timid in the pocket, but he can make plays and get the ball to his receivers if he doesn’t get in trouble. He has an arm on him."
The QB-run game has hurt State in this matchup the previous two years, but so far Lawrence hasn't proven to be a dangerous runner, as he only has 19 carries for 20 yards on the season.
NC State may not expect to see a lot of QB-run game, but the assignments defensively will remain the same.
"They lost Deshaun Watson and Kelly (Bryant) so we know they have to take plays out to protect their quarterback," said Morehead. "They had a bye week so there will be new things we haven’t seen, but we just play the same way. Whoever has the quarterback has the quarterback, whoever has the running back has the running back. Then we just play ball from there."
What are the biggest keys to the game for the Wolfpack?
"We have to eliminate explosive plays and stopping the run like we are made to do," Morehead replied. "If we stop the explosive plays we’ll be fine, and we want to go play-by-play and worry about winning each play."