FSU Football: Top 3 things NC State brings to the table
By Kelvin Hunt
NC State Offense
NC State ran 82 offensive plays last season against a less talented FSU defense and still only averaged 5.71 ypp. However, they were 50 percent on third down conversions (8 of 16) which helped them quite a bit.
It is their second year with the offensive coordinator, and quarterback Ryan Finley’s second year in the system. They are averaging 6.24 ypp on the season largely against inferior competition.
NC State brings back most of their receiving core along with Jaylen Samuels who they’ll use as a big part of their offense while also using him as a decoy. The Wolfpack running game isn’t impressive, but they’ll dink and dunk short passes in lieu of the running game at times.
Ryan Finley is completing 75 percent of his passes for nearly 1,000 yards through three games, but he’s been sacked seven times. Why is he completing passes at such a high rate? Because they have often been short passes against inferior competition.
FSU needs to simply win on first and second downs to force third and long. If they do that it should be smooth sailing as Finley isn’t a great quarterback and becomes inaccurate when under pressure.