NC State Football Improves to 4-0 on the Season
Raleigh, NC – The NC State Wolfpack defeated the University of Virginia Cavaliers 35-21. The Wolfpack were led by graduate quarterback Ryan Finley who went 22-32 for 257 yards passing and 3 passing touchdowns.
When asked about pressuring Finley, Cavalier head coach, Bronco Mendenhall said,
“We kind of pride ourselves on being able to hit the quarterback, and we didn’t…They threw and caught and protected on third down better than we rushed and covered and executed.”
The Wolfpack offense was hitting on all cylinders as they had five different rushers and eight different receivers handle the ball today.
Finley feels that the Wolfpack offense is as deep as it has ever been.
“I think you saw 7 or 8 offensive linemen play today, good minutes all of them. A lot of running back rotation. Obviously our wide receiver core is what it is. We know how good they are. I think we’re really deep and good teams have good depth,” said Finley.
The Wolfpack defense also made big plays and held the Cavaliers to less than 100 yards rushing, sacked Cavalier quarterback Bryce Perkins 4 times and snagged 2 interceptions on the day. When asked about keeping the momentum going on the defensive side of the ball junior cornerback Nick McCloud said,
“Just keep preparing like I said. Preparation is everything. When you prepare right you going to have that confidence to go out and do what you do on Saturdays.”
True freshman running back, Ricky Person, Jr., had 14 rushes for 108 yards. Person is the first true freshman to rush for over 100 yards in a game since 2012. Person, Jr. was also satisfied by the play of everyone in the running back core.
“We’ve been taking a whole lot of criticism from the internet and everybody else trying to say that we can’t run the ball…We just played with a little chip on our shoulder. We like, let’s just show people we can run the ball.”
The Cavaliers (3-2, 1-1 ACC) look to bounce back in a home matchup against Miami (FL) on October 13th.
The Wolfpack (4-0, ACC 1-0) play Boston College next Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Wolfpack head coach, Dave Doeren, is optimistic for the future of his team.
“That was a fun win against a great team and we’re excited to be where we are right now.”