FSU football: 3 takeaways from ‘Noles loss against NC State
By Kelvin Hunt
Defense Did Their Job For The Most Part
The FSU defense played well enough to win for sure. NC State’s offense isn’t great, but holding them to three points in the first half was excellent.
The Wolfpack only averaged 4.43 yards per play in the first half. However, the Wolfpack received the ball first in the third quarter and marched right down the field to score a touchdown without getting to third down. It was the second consecutive week they have allowed that to happen, and it’s inexcusable.
That drive gave NC State some momentum, and they never relinquished because the FSU offense was inept. FSU lost the field position battle most of the night, and the FSU offense is lucky the defense played as well as they did, or they would have lost even worst.
NC State routinely started drives near their 40-yard line in this game because of so many offensive three-and-outs.
The defense held NC State to a field goal after the Alex Mastromanno blunder. They forced NC State to punt after the first Jordan Travis interception.
Ultimately, they knocked the NC State starting QB out of the game and held them to 2 of 13 on third downs. NC State finished the game averaging 4.44 yards per play. That was playing without Robert Cooper, who got hurt in the first quarter, and Jared Verse playing limited snaps.