A STUDENT'S PERSPECTIVE: Don't Push The Panic Button Just Yet

NC State’s season opening loss to South Carolina brought about familiar feelings of heartbreak and disappointment for NC State fans: missed opportunities, turnovers, special teams woes, and questionable calls plagued the Wolfpack, especially late in the game.  

Given the Pack’s shortcomings over the past few years, it’s tempting to take a negative attitude when projecting the rest of State’s season. State plays in one of the toughest divisions in the country, and they haven’t shown the ability during Dave Doeren’s tenure to win close games.  However, State’s opening loss doesn’t doom the rest of their season, and nobody should write off the Pack’s 2017 campaign as a lost cause just yet.

One of the main reasons that this loss was particularly frustrating for Pack fans was the fact that NC State beat South Carolina in nearly every statistical category:

29	First Downs	12
9-20	Third Down Conversions	5-12
2-4	Fourth Down Conversions	0-0
99	Total Offensive Plays	50
89	Rushing Yards	31
415	Passing Yards	215
36:54	Time of Possession	23:06
2	Turnovers	1
8-65	Penalties	6-45

Obviously, statistics don’t win games.   They don’t particularly do a good job of providing comfort after a disheartening loss either, but it’s obvious when examining the statline that State largely outplayed South Carolina. 

The offense was more than effective, as the Pack was able to generate over 500 total yards.   Nyheim Hines averaged over five yards a carry (81 yards on 15 carries) and Ryan Finley set an NC State record for the most completions in a single game. A more balanced offensive attack will probably be needed going forward, but it was encouraging to see Finley pick apart South Carolina’s defense with relative ease while the Pack’s young corp of wide receivers flashed their incredible potential. Sophomore Kelvin Harmon had ten catches for 114 yards, continuing his stellar play from the 2016 campaign. 

The offense accomplished all this while missing two experienced veterans up front, for the most part, in Terrone Prescod and Will Richardson.  Prescod was in and out of the lineup with a shoulder injury and Richardson was suspended for two games due to a violation of team rules.  Freshmen Joe Sculthorpe and Justin Witt were thrust into the rotation and had their struggles. 

Returning Prescod and Richardson to the starting lineup will only improve an offense that had an incredible start to the season.
   
The defense struggled at times to provide adequate pressure up front, but they were a few missed tackles away from recording three or four more sacks and eliminating several big plays. 

They held South Carolina to only 31 yards on the ground, forcing the Gamecocks to rely for the most part on Jake Bentley’s arm.  Bentley, a young quarterback with star potential, could only amass 215 yards through the air, and State did so without the services of senior corner Mike Stevens, who is slated to return in the next few weeks.  

Starting in his place, cornerback Jonathan Alston matched up against one of the best wide receivers State will play all season in Deebo Samuel and battled all game.  He had an interception and a pick and will continue to see snaps even when Stevens returns.

As well as they played offensively and defensively, State clearly lost the special teams battle.  The Pack gave up the opening kickoff for a touchdown that provided South Carolina with a huge boost in momentum while spotting USC seven points.  Kicker Carson Wise missed a chip shot late in the second quarter, and it could remain to be seen whether or not State’s place kicking woes from last year have followed them into the beginning of the 2017 season. 

Despite all of this, State was just ten yards away from scoring a last second touchdown and forcing overtime. 

I am not imploring anybody to ignore this loss or the pain that comes with it, but the bottom line is this: the Wolfpack still have a wealth of talent on both sides of the ball at each position.

NC State did not play Saturday at full strength, and they have yet to play a conference game.  If the Pack can make the necessary adjustments and return their full complement of starting players, they still have the potential to make some noise in the ACC this year.

There’s no need to press the panic button just yet.