Pack Priorities: 3 keys to NC State’s final five games
NC State does not have a game today as it completes its bye week after playing the first seven consecutive weeks of the season. The Wolfpack (4-3, 1-2 ACC) have a tough five-game schedule to close out the fall, and it had a lot to clean up in its open week.
Here are three keys to a successful second half of the season for the Wolfpack.
No. 2 wide receiver needs to step up
NC State’s pass game has leaned on freshman wide receiver Kevin Concepcion this season. He leads the team with 64 targets, which have resulted in a team-high 37 receptions for 410 yards and four touchdowns.
While he’s very capable of continuing that momentum, opposing defenses know that Concepcion is the go-to player on offense. With Clemson, who boasts the fourth-best total defense in the ACC, visiting Carter-Finley after the Wolfpack’s bye week, it will be crucial that more playmakers step up. (The third-best defense, Miami, visits Raleigh the following week).
NC State tried to get wide receiver Anthony Smith involved at Duke, but he did not record a catch on two targets.
Sophomore wide receiver Terrell Timmons Jr. is second on the team with 172 receiving yards, but he’s done it on just nine receptions. He’s capable of becoming NC State’s go-to No. 2 wide receiver, but he has not received the number of targets (20) up to this point.
NC State has given the second-most targets to senior wideout Keyon Lesane, who has been thrown at 29 times, but is seventh on the team with 108 receiving yards on 15 receptions.
An under the radar selection could be freshman tight end/wide receiver hybrid Juice Vereen, who had a breakout four reception, 65 yard day against Notre Dame, but he has not recorded a catch since that game. In fact, he has played in just 26 snaps since that day.
Keep a clean pocket
NC State sophomore quarterback MJ Morris has played substantially better with a clean pocket than when he has been pressured through his two games this season.
The Carrollton, Ga., native is 37-of-57 passing for 360 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions when he has a clean pocket, according to Pro Football Focus. Those numbers have earned him a 68.3 offensive grade.
But when he’s pressured, Morris’ numbers fall significantly. He is just 5-for-16 with 102 passing yards and a touchdown when teams get pressure on him. That results in a 46.5 overall offensive grade from PFF.
NC State’s offensive line has conceded 77 quarterback pressures this season, which have resulted in 55 hurries, 14 sacks and eight quarterback hits.
Play well away from Carter-Finley Stadium
The Wolfpack has two games away from Raleigh left on the schedule — at Wake Forest and at Virginia Tech — and those are both crucial, winnable games for NC State.
NC State needs two wins across its final five to achieve bowl eligibility, and those two games are the only ones that will feature teams with lower ESPN FPI rankings — which measure a team’s strength based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season — than the Wolfpack. NC State is 57th in the rankings, while Virginia Tech is 66th and Wake Forest is 71st.
The red and white will host Clemson, Miami and North Carolina to round out the season, and those squads sit at No. 18, No. 21 and No. 14 in ESPN’s FPI rankings, respectively.
ESPN’s FPI rankings give NC State a 54.4% chance of winning six games this fall. The Pack has a 0.4% chance to win out in its final five games.
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