NC State did what was necessary in Chestnut Hill on Saturday afternoon, and while it wasn't always pretty, the Wolfpack hit on enough big plays to secure a 24-8 victory. The Eagles' defense came into the game allowing only 64.2 rushing yards per game, but State ran for 136. That, and Jacoby Brissett's pinpoint down-field passing, were the difference-makers.
The Wolfpack's opening drive went deep into Boston College territory but resulted in no points, as the coaching staff opted to go for it on a fourth down in field goal range rather than let Kyle Bambard kick. That conversion failed, and while that was bothersome for a time, it turned out that the drive was more of an omen than that result.
NC State put to rest the concerns about the game with a long touchdown pass from Jacoby Brissett to Maurice Trowell; State extended the lead with a Jaylen Samuels score on another sweep play, and that was pretty much all she wrote.
Brissett was outstanding, and executed NC State's game plan to near-perfection. The Wolfpack obviously wanted to avoid too many challenges at the point of attack against BC's front seven while leveraging the advantage it had along the edges. Brissett threw some fantastic deep balls, some of which were caught, some of which were dropped.
Because of the drops, the box score won't reflect just how good and precise Brissett was in this game, and if you still have doubts about his ability to throw a decent deep ball, you can watch this game over again and judge for yourself. But in the moment, when it mattered, Brissett was on point. Shoot, even the interception he threw was a good interception.
The Pack ended the day with more than 300 yards of offense--216 of it in the first half--against a defense that came in allowing only about 224 yards per game. It was an excellent first-half effort to put 21 on the board, which was all State needed. Sure, we'd have enjoyed watching more points happen, but 21 was very, very enough.
It was plenty enough because the defense had an outstanding day, even if BC did manage the occasional chunk play. You want to make a walk-on freshman quarterback look like a walk-on freshman quarterback, and State's defense did that. The Pack forced multiple turnovers and existed in John Fadule's kitchen for most of the afternoon. BC had no answers; there are no answers on that roster. Disruption was havoc and death for the Eagles.
NC State is now bowl eligible at 6-3 (2-3).
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