The NC State Wolfpack (3-2, 0-1 ACC) fended off the Northern Illinois University Huskies Saturday afternoon in a 24-17 win at Carter-Finley Stadium.
The Pack scored first and managed to keep the Huskies at arm’s length the rest of the way, even managing to bring a lead to the locker room at the half for the first time this season.
“It helps a lot [to score first],” said NC State coach Dave Doeren. “Having a lead just allows you to call the game differently. Obviously it builds confidence on the sideline as well.”
Overall though, it was a tough day for the offense, but luckily for the Pack, the defense rebounded for a statement performance today.
After Doeren challenged them following the embarrassing performance in Clemson, the Wolfpack defense stepped up and showed its teeth.
“I challenged them to step up and play with our DNA and to put it on film,” Doeren said. “It’s one thing to say ‘Hard, tough, together,’ but when you don’t play that way, it doesn’t mean anything. But we did it today.”
“Last week was embarrassing. There’s really no other way to put it,” said senior defensive back DK Kaufman. “But last week definitely proved pivotal for us. We knew what we had to do. We’ve talked about it all year. Today, we did it and we’re going to have to just keep building off of that.”
At the final whistle, the defense had amassed 12 tackles-for-loss, four sacks, three forced fumbles – one recovered for a touchdown by Kaufman and another recovered at the one-yard line – and two interceptions.
“Our film is our resume. Period,” Doeren said. “It’s a historical record of effort and that’s really what football is. We haven’t done that well enough this year and it’s not what I stand for. I challenged them to live up to what it means to wear that jersey. It’s a privilege and an honor to wear the red and white. To walk around with ‘Wolfpack’ on your chest and your family’s name on your back. There was a lot of challenging going on in that team room this week and the guys responded. That’s all I can ask for.”
It was also a strong game for NC State redshirt-junior punter Caden Noonkester who averaged 49.8 yards per kick on eight punts.
While the offense continuously stalled out, Noonkester was able to tilt the field and put the Wolfpack’s defense in favorable starting positions.
“Just super proud of our football team,” Doeren said. “That was a great team win. Four turnovers forced by our defense, incredible kicks by our punter, Caden Noonkester, and coverage by the punt team. I’m proud of how Caden responded because, for him, his last two games weren’t up to par. He responded.”
That’s where it comes back to the offensive struggles though, as reality caught up a bit to the true freshman after two solid starts.
Bailey finished the game with just 108-yards through the air on 13-for-20 passing. While he did have a touchdown both through the air and on the ground, he also had a few missed balls and at least two throws that should have been picked.
“I have a lot of stuff to work on and a lot of stuff to improve on,” Bailey said. “I’ll say I did a decent job, but I wish we could have finished way more drives and kept it going. At the end of the game, our defense needed us and we weren’t putting up any points, we weren’t even getting in the red-zone. I need to do better. As Carter-Finley is pumping us up, I need to try my hardest to pump the offense up because I have the energy, but I don’t feel like it’s translating to everybody on our offense. If I could get everybody going, we’d probably get way more points than we had today.”
Even beyond Bailey though, the offense just really wasn’t there.
The Pack had only 171-yards of total offense and were 1-for-11 on third-down conversions.
The run game continues to be an issue for the Wolfpack as NC State had just 63-yards in 27 attempts on the ground.
“There’s a lot of things there,” Doeren said. “We’re playing a freshman quarterback and we’re putting a lot on that kid’s shoulders. A lot. I’m proud of CJ for taking care of the football today. We have a lot of growth there, but at the end of the day, I’m proud of our offense for not turning the football over. I know people are upset that we didn’t have enough yards and this, that and the other, but don’t be mad about winning.”
The win was also Doeren’s first against his old team.
Doeren was the coach at NIU for two seasons, leading them to back-to-back MAC Conference Championships as well as the 2013 Orange Bowl before taking the job at NC State.
“That was a very personal win for me,” Doeren said. “It’s a program that gave me my first opportunity to be a head coach and losing to the place that you used to coach at isn’t something you want to carry around. All wins are precious, but that one meant a lot to me as an individual.”
NC State will continue its homestand against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons next Saturday.
