Devin Leary playing at a high level for NC State football

ESPN’s David Hale had a noteworthy tweet Monday about the success of NC State football quarterback Devin Leary, a redshirt sophomore.

Thus far in eight games this year, Leary has completed 189 of 286 passes, 66.1 percent, for 2,161 yards and 21 touchdowns with only two interceptions.

Since the start of the College Football Playoffs in 2014, the only other QBs to pull off 2,100 passing yards, 21 passing scores and no more than two interceptions eight games into a year have been Marcus Mariota, JT Barrett, Justin Herbert, Tua Tagovailoa, Zach Wilson and Leary.

Only Barrett was not a first-round draft pick in that group, and he was a three-time first-team All-Big Ten selection for Ohio State.

NC State head coach Dave Doeren noted during his weekly press conference Monday that the team’s confidence in Leary is at a high level.

That’s the case even if the offense may struggle for three quarters like it did before scoring three fourth-quarter touchdowns, all scoring passes by Leary, in a 28-13 win Saturday over Louisville.

“When you have a quarterback playing like we do, the way he is, it’s just a matter of time before he does something that helps us offensively,” Doeren noted. “He’s doing a really good job of managing the game.

“Doesn’t matter how many seconds are on the clock. The guy’s really good in two-minute drill, too.”

Doeren is no stranger to seeing Leary rise up with the game on the line. Leary’s breakout moment came last year when he led a game-winning touchdown drive at Pittsburgh. That was one of three starts before Leary broke his leg and was lost for the remainder of the year.

NC State football’s record in those three games: 3-0, all ACC wins. The Pack is 6-2 in 2021 and 3-1 in the conference, controlling its destiny for a potential first-ever ACC Championship game appearance.

The math says it all.

With Devin Leary as its quarterback over the past two seasons, NC State is 9-2 overall and 6-1 in ACC games.

“Protecting the football is the best way to win, period,” Doeren noted. “All the other stats that are out there, that is the one that gives you the best opportunity to win games. When your quarterback is doing what ours is from that standpoint, he’s giving us the best chance to win. Not just because of his arm or his accuracy, because he doesn’t help the other team. I think at the end of the day, a lot more games are lost than they are won.

“And Devin does a nice job of not putting that out there and giving them a chance to play on the short field and hurting our defense.

“He understands that every play doesn’t have to be a great play. If you get to the next one, that might be the one where we have a guy wide open. He’s learned a lot in his time here. He’s grown up a lot.”

Also helping Leary is a steady demeanor, which helps him rise to the occasion in the fourth quarter.

“He doesn’t get rattled,” Doeren said. “The moments aren’t too big for him. I think there are some people out there that get uptight, and he’s not one of them. And that makes him look really good because there’s people around him that are flinching and pressing or trying to do someone else’s job.

“Devin’s doing the same thing he was doing previous quarter and the previous quarter before that.”

Now the question is do teams start catching on to the fact that Devin Leary is making a name for himself? Or do they keep loading the box to stop the run, the preferred method of defenses that have recently played NC State?

“I’d love to be more balanced offensively than we are right now,” Doeren said. “But at the same time, I’d rather win games.

“If they’re going to make us throw to win, that’s what we’re going to do.”

Other NC State Football Tidbits

• Dave Doeren is not a Halloween grinch. He just doesn’t have time to put much thought into the day given his day job as the NC State football coach.

That did not stop him from admiring some of the costumes in the stands Saturday.

“I turned around and get a drink of water and there’s this guy has a huge mustache Ted Lasso thing going on,” Doeren noted. “Made me laugh.

“We get a lot of three and a half minute breaks. Every now and then you catch something out of the corner of your eye that makes you look at it like, ‘Wow, that’s a pretty good costume right there.’ It was fun.”

• Devin Leary was not the only standout for NC State in its win over Louisville. Sophomore Drake Thomas was named the ACC Linebacker of the Week after having 15 tackles, including 2.5 for loss and two sacks, and also broke up a pass.

Doeren said it was “absolutely” Thomas’ best game at NC State, and added it went beyond the tackles.

“He was just crushing offensive linemen in that game, too,” Doeren said. “Guys are trying to climb up, and he was knocking them over in the backfield. He did some good things in coverage, and had a really nice pass breakup.

“He played a really, really good football game.”

• NC State starting redshirt junior nose tackle Cory Durden will make his return to Tallahassee Saturday. He started his career for the Seminoles before transferring to NC State football this offseason.

“I know it’ll be, for Cory, emotional,” Doeren said. “He’s got friends on that other sideline. I know once the ball is snapped, that’s not going to matter to him. You just have to keep him focused on his job, and those are discussions we’ll have with him — to not let the emotions of the game be what it’s about. It’s about executing and playing at a high level.

“I think Cory really played his best fundamental game of the year against Louisville. He stayed in his gap, played with his hands, pressured the quarterback. We just have to keep him focused on what works for him.”