NC State’s defense wants to be ‘stingy’

By halftime of NC State’s game against Louisville on Friday night, the Wolfpack defense had a shutout going. They limited the Cardinals’ potent running offense to 29 yards in the opening 30 minutes, but needed the Pack’s offense to get rolling.

Unfortunately for NC State, that never happened. But as senior defensive end Savion Jackson looked back on it Tuesday, being in that situation is what the defense feasts on. 

Those on the outside would look at that as pressure for the Wolfpack’s defense to keep the Cardinals off the scoreboard every drive — or create points themselves. Jackson and the rest of NC State’s defense embrace that setting instead. 

“We love it that way,” Jackson said. “We don’t want it any way else. … We’d rather it be where all the heat is on us and we have to keep it at zero — keep it at one touchdown, one field goal. We like that energy.”

The Pack’s defense didn’t fall apart in the second half — it allowed 13 points and 172 yards — but its offense could not add to its 10-point lead. 

While NC State didn’t keep the shutout in the second half as it lost 13-10 to Louisville for its first ACC defeat this season, Jackson said the final 30 minutes against the Cardinals can serve as a learning lesson. 

“I feel like it teaches us to continue to play hard the whole entire game,” Jackson said. “With the situations we had with our offense, we never knew when they were going to score or Louisville was going to score, so it was just keeping those points low. Being stingy with everything gave a chance for the offense to score the entire game.”

This week, Jackson said, the message is about moving forward from the loss to the Cardinals, while also cleaning up the little things that went awry. With an undefeated Marshall team visiting Carter-Finley Stadium this weekend, that will be crucial. 

Like Louisville, which boasted the top running back in the ACC with Jawhar Jordan, Marshall’s offense is led by running back Rasheen Ali. The Thundering Herd’s tailback has scored two rushing touchdowns in each of the team’s first four games. Ali has 475 rushing yards and nine touchdowns this fall.

The Wolfpack front seven limited Jordan to a season-low 32 rushing yards on 16 attempts last week, and Jackson said it’ll be key to stopping Ali this weekend. 

“He’s an explosive player,” Jackson said. “We have to stop the run — stop him — and everything else will handle itself.”

The Wolfpack have the 18th-best run defense in the FBS this fall, allowing 95.6 yards per contest. Jackson, a veteran on NC State’s defensive line, said that part of the team’s defense has been pivotal in its success this fall. 

“I feel like its very essential,” Jackson said of NC State’s run defense. “It makes them very flat, very one-dimensional when you stop something. When you stop the run completely and their passing is not strong that game, then no running, no passing. It’s kind of how we had Louisville pinned against the wall.”

The Wolfpack want to have Marshall pinned against the wall, too. And it doesn’t matter how many times the defense has to go back onto the field, either. 

NC State’s offense had six three-and-outs against the Cardinals, which did not allow the Wolfpack defense much time to rest between drives. That didn’t matter though. Jackson and the rest of the unit embraced their role. 

“It’s tough, but if we didn’t have that, then we wouldn’t have a chance at all,” Jackson said. “We want to give our offense as many chances as we can so they can get clicking. And once they do get clicking … then sky’s the limit.”

The Wolfpack’s offense has the opportunity to click with its spark in a new quarterback as sophomore MJ Morris will start this weekend. No matter how he and the rest of the NC State offense fare, the defense will be there to give them a chance.

“It’s a team,” Jackson said. “It’s all one. When we step into that team meeting room, we’re all one — not offense, defense. It really doesn’t matter, if we were the No. 1 defense in the country and we still lost, we still lose. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how well we’re playing. We just have to continue to play well to give us a chance.”