Who won?
NC State defeated an overmatched Georgia State squad, 41-7 on Saturday afternoon at Carter-Finley Stadium. The Panthers marched down the field for a TD on their first drive of the game, but the Pack scored 41 unanswered points over the final 57 minutes of game action.
Why?
After Georgia State’s opening TD drive, the NC State defense did a nice job of bending but never breaking. Georgia State punted four times, missed a field goal, had a field goal blocked, and turned the ball over once.
Meanwhile, on offense, NC State’s Ryan Finley continued to look sharp. He completed 31-38 pass attempts for 370 yards and two touchdowns. Finley kept his team moving down the field with relative ease throughout the game.
A Thayer for the Dramatic
Redshirt Freshman Wide Receiver, Thayer Thomas, is quickly making a name for himself in Raleigh. Just like in last week’s game against James Madison, Thomas scored NC State’s first TD of the game today when he ran a slant route and used one hand to catch a 5-yard pass from Ryan Finley over the middle. The TD catch came only a few plays after he made a nice, leaping grab in the middle of the Georgia State secondary.
GO UP AND GET IT.@PackFootball receiver Thayer Thomas with the 🔥 grab. pic.twitter.com/hR0e84eweN
— FOX Sports South (@FOXSportsSouth) September 8, 2018
After the game, Ryan Finley was asked about the important contributions Thomas has already made two games into the season:
Ryan Finley on Thayer Thomas’ one-handed TD catch: I’ve been really impressed with him in these first two weeks. One word I think of when I think of Thayer is ‘trustworthy.’ pic.twitter.com/aAifnDKhEw
— SportsChannel8: The Tweets (@SportsChannel8) September 8, 2018
Stat of the Game
Thayer Thomas’ contributions as a receiver were impressive, but he also completed a 56-yard pass to fellow Freshman, Trent Pennix, in the first quarter of today’s game. Sure, it’s a small sample size, but Thomas’ QB Rating now sits at 570.3. Not too shabby. Is it time for us to consider Thayer as the Wolfpack’s starting QB?
(L.V. Miles voice) AND HE CAN PASS@PackFootball opens up its bag of tricks and @thayerthomas1 connects on a 56-yard pass. pic.twitter.com/iPNA22rV4O
— FOX Sports South (@FOXSportsSouth) September 8, 2018
What people will be talking about…
NC State fans will most likely feel much more comfortable after today’s game than they did after last week’s 11-point win against James Madison. Plenty of eyebrows were raised after Georgia State scored quickly on their first drive of the game, but it was all Wolfpack after that. This game felt like it was well in hand early in the 2nd quarter.
What people should be talking about…
I don’t know that it needs to be a major point of concern quite yet, but the NC State running game has not been good. When you take away Brady Bodine’s 39-yard TD run late in the 4th quarter, the Wolfpack averaged only 2.5 yards per carry. Ryan Finley is great, but if the Pack hopes to reach some of their top hopes and dreams this season, they’re going to have to establish some sort of running game behind their offensive line.
Coach Dave Doeren assured us not to panic just yet, saying that this is the time of year where it’s important to get this young group reps and let them get their blocking schemes figured out.
Doeren on his running game: It’s still not where we want it. It’s good to get so many young guys these reps early in the season. We’ve obviously got work to do and we’ll work to get better at it.
— SportsChannel8: The Tweets (@SportsChannel8) September 8, 2018
What’s next?
The Wolfpack will see a significant upgrade in its level of competition next week, as they’ll host #14 West Virginia at 3:30 p.m. next Saturday.
Be sure to find SportsChannel8 at next Saturday’s tailgate! We’ll be in Carter-Finley’s Stadium East lot with pizza and beer. More details still to come. Be sure to keep an eye on our twitter feed and Instagram over the next week.
8 is Wild
At one point in the first half, a referee accidentally said that a penalty was “reclined” (instead of declined). My imagination went wild with the idea and I ignored the game for a few minutes to open up the Photoshop machine. I’m very proud of this:
I stopped watching for a little bit to make this dumb "penalty is reclined" photoshop, but Reggie Gallaspy scored recently and Christopher Dunn did something weird before making the PAT. Wolfpack leads 17-7 with 10:41 remaining in 2Q pic.twitter.com/OueOp5Exzo
— SportsChannel8: The Tweets (@SportsChannel8) September 8, 2018
