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NC State Football
Alston Starts Slow, Closes Strong In Cornerback Debut
The big question going into the season was NC State’s secondary. Once Mike Stevens got hurt, the question was more specific.
How would Johnathan Alston handle his first college game at cornerback?
The redshirt senior performed well despite NC State’s 35-28 loss to South Carolina. The Gamecocks, while throwing three touchdown passes, were limited to 215 yards in the air.
When the game was on the line, Alston made big plays.
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His interception with 11:22 remaining gave NC State the ball with a chance to tie the game.
His sack with nearly less than seven minutes in regulation forced South Carolina to punt and once again provided the Wolfpack with an opportunity to extend the game.
Alston finished with an interception, a sack and three tackles in his first game on defense. While happy that he had a late impact, the former wide receiver would have preferred a victory.
“We went out there and just beat ourselves on a few plays,” Alston said after the loss. “That was it. We want to start early. It kind of picked up more in the second half. We definitely want it to be earlier next time.
“There wasn’t no pressure. I just went out there and did what I was taught to do in my first game back. It felt good to be back.”
He did admit to feeling good about helping his team late in the contest despite playing a position for the first time in his life.
“It definitely was a good feeling,” Alston said. “I can’t even explain it. I mean, it was a crucial play, a takeaway. I mean, the pressure thing comes in. Everybody asks ‘why are you switching your last year?’ but you have just got to buy in. It is about believing in yourself and having confidence.”
To do it against a SEC school made it a little more impressive.
“We knew South Carolina was going to be good on offense,” NC State head coach Dave Doeren said. “We knew No. 1 [Deebo Samuel] was a very good football player, and we knew [Jake] Bentley was going to be a good football player. I thought we defended the run game pretty well.
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“I thought Johnathan Alston in his first game as a DB played pretty good for us and had a pretty nice interception.”
For Alston, the task now is to build off the performance while forgetting the loss.
“We are going to shake this off, bounce back and prepare for the next game,” Alston said. “We can’t beat ourselves up.”
How would Johnathan Alston handle his first college game at cornerback?
The redshirt senior performed well despite NC State’s 35-28 loss to South Carolina. The Gamecocks, while throwing three touchdown passes, were limited to 215 yards in the air.
When the game was on the line, Alston made big plays.
USA TODAY Sports
His interception with 11:22 remaining gave NC State the ball with a chance to tie the game.
His sack with nearly less than seven minutes in regulation forced South Carolina to punt and once again provided the Wolfpack with an opportunity to extend the game.
Alston finished with an interception, a sack and three tackles in his first game on defense. While happy that he had a late impact, the former wide receiver would have preferred a victory.
“We went out there and just beat ourselves on a few plays,” Alston said after the loss. “That was it. We want to start early. It kind of picked up more in the second half. We definitely want it to be earlier next time.
“There wasn’t no pressure. I just went out there and did what I was taught to do in my first game back. It felt good to be back.”
He did admit to feeling good about helping his team late in the contest despite playing a position for the first time in his life.
“It definitely was a good feeling,” Alston said. “I can’t even explain it. I mean, it was a crucial play, a takeaway. I mean, the pressure thing comes in. Everybody asks ‘why are you switching your last year?’ but you have just got to buy in. It is about believing in yourself and having confidence.”
To do it against a SEC school made it a little more impressive.
“We knew South Carolina was going to be good on offense,” NC State head coach Dave Doeren said. “We knew No. 1 [Deebo Samuel] was a very good football player, and we knew [Jake] Bentley was going to be a good football player. I thought we defended the run game pretty well.
USA TODAY Sports
“I thought Johnathan Alston in his first game as a DB played pretty good for us and had a pretty nice interception.”
For Alston, the task now is to build off the performance while forgetting the loss.
“We are going to shake this off, bounce back and prepare for the next game,” Alston said. “We can’t beat ourselves up.”
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