NC State football: What they're saying about Charleston Southern win
NC State football rolled in the 2022 home opener with a 55-3 win over Charleston Southern Saturday afternoon. Here is some of what those who covered the game are saying.
Matt Carter, The Wolfpacker — Column: NC State football gets back to business
Games between Power Five teams and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) members rarely are exciting. Usually a contest like that would require an upper-echelon FCS opponent to even make things remotely interesting.
In the 2018 season opener, NC State brought in James Madison, who had lost a 17-13 game to North Dakota State in the prior year’s FCS title game, to Raleigh. That had some anticipation. The Pack prevailed 24-13 after receiving a nice scare from the Dukes, who cut NC State’s lead to 17-13 with 6:59 to go. A late touchdown run from Reggie Gallaspy Jr. capped a long, time-consuming drive to ice the win for the Wolfpack.
Charleston Southern in 2022 is nowhere near close to what James Madison, soon to make the jump to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), was in those days. JMU was routinely making the FCS playoffs and was a threat to win them. Charleston Southern is a middle-of-the road team in the Big South Conference.
This game was supposed to be no contest, and that is exactly what unfolded. Thus, in a sense, the Wolfpack performed like a good team should, authoritatively and in almost workmanlike fashion issuing a thumping. For the most part, the NC State starters did what they wanted when they wanted.
“It’s nice to have a low-stress day,” NC State football coach Dave Doeren noted.
That business handled, now the Wolfpack must turn their attention to the next order of business: a legitimate opponent. NC State is hosting fellow Power Five member Texas Tech from the Big 12 Conference next Saturday at 7 p.m. in a primetime showing on ESPN2.
After a rocky start to the year, Leary took a couple of drives to settle into a rhythm against Charleston Southern but, once he did, the quarterback showed why he is the ACC Preseason Player of the Year. From the middle of the first quarter to the start of the third, NC State scored six-consecutive touchdowns, and Leary was involved in all of them— tying a Wolfpack record.
“I kind of found out after the game,” Leary said. “I wasn’t really aware, but I think it’s an awesome honor.
“Being able to play here at NC State, being able to represent this university and playing to my best ability, I mean, that’s all that I could really do.”
He started his scoring with a pair of rushing touchdowns, including a physical 12-yard scramble that left multiple Charleston Southern defenders on the turf. He had two career rushing touchdowns coming into Saturday, but the Wolfpack signal-caller is more than happy to pick up yards with his legs when he needs to.
“If I’ve got to get a little gritty, I’m willing to do it,” Leary said. “Whatever [offensive coordinator Tim Beck] needs out of me, whatever he needs for me to do for this team, I’m going to do it 100 percent.”
N.C. State’s Devin Leary turned 23 on Saturday, and on the field looked the part of an older, mature, polished quarterback.
Some birthday. The junior passed for four touchdowns and ran for another two as the No. 18 Wolfpack smashed Charleston Southern 55-3 in the Pack’s home opener at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Leary, cool in the pocket and a man in control, tied the school record for touchdown responsibility in a game with six. Philip Rivers (2002) and Mike Glennon (2011) also had six-TD games in their Wolfpack careers.
You can’t really ask much more from a defense — regardless of the opponent.
Charleston Southern was held to 86 yards in the first half, with zero yards on the ground. NC State’s defense gave up only six first downs and allowed one third-down conversion. CSU averaged 2.8 yards a play in a losing effort.
Tyler Baker-Williams got the team’s first sack of the season in the third quarter, resulting in a fumble recovery by Travali Price. The defense finished with three turnovers in the win.
David Shelton, Charleston Post and Courier: NC State overwhelmes Charleston Southern
As expected, the Charleston Southern football team had a difficult day in their second game of the 2022 season against the North Carolina State Wolfpack on Saturday.
CSU came into the game as a 42-point underdog and N.C. State made that spread stand with ease, posting a 55-3 victory at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C.
The 19th-ranked Wolfpack (2-0) scored 38 points in the first half, including a 28-point second quarter to put the game away before halftime.
The Buccaneers fall to 0-2 on the season and face another tough road task next week at Eastern Kentucky. CSU is now 0-16 against Power 5 programs and 0-26 against FBS teams overall.
“We can do nothing about today. Days like today suck so you don’t sugarcoat it,” CSU head coach Autry Denson said. “It is not a good feeling, but it sucks worse if you don’t grow from it. We have a lot of work to do. The encouraging thing is we came out healthy and we have played a lot of guys in the last two weeks.”
Associated Press — Leary, No. 18 NC State beat Charleston Southern 55-3
Leary tied a program record by accounting for six touchdowns, with four coming through the air. One that stood out was a perfect 24-yard wheel route to Jordan Houston down the left side. The other was a 40-yard strike over the middle to Anthony Smith after he shrugged blitzer Nick Perry off his back.
Leary’s two rushing scores included a 12-yard keeper in the first quarter, when the preseason Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year bounced off three hard hits before reaching across the goal line for the game’s first TD.
Celebrating his 23rd birthday, Leary wrapped up his day by hitting Chris Toudle for a 27-yard TD and a 45-0 lead with 12:48 left in the third.
”That’s kind of what he did all through fall camp,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said. ”We were really happy with how he was sliding around the pocket and extending plays. I think he kept his eyes downfield and made some things happen.”
Joe Giglio, WRAL — No. 18 NC State routs Charleston Southern 55-3 to improve to 2-0
Devin Leary celebrated his birthday in style.
The NC State quarterback threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more to lead the 18th-ranked Wolfpack [to] a 55-3 win over Charleston Southern.
Leary turned 23 on Saturday but spent most of the game handing out gifts. He had touchdown passes for 24, 40 and 20 yards in the first half and one for 27 yards in the third quarter before he was given the rest of the day off.
He also ran for scores of 12 and 2 yards.
“What topped it all off, our band played ‘Happy Birthday,'” Leary said. “That really made my day.”
NC State (2-0) extended its home winning streak to 11 games. The intermittent rain was more of a problem than the lower-level Buccaneers. The Bucs finished with 145 yards of total offense [and] didn’t have any rushing yards in the first half.
Bryan Pyrtle and Colby Trotter, Technician — No. 18 NC State football wipes deck with Charleston Southern in home opener
In the receiving game, it seems Leary has not found a favorite target yet. Fourteen different players caught a pass in the game, and the leading pass-catcher, sophomore wide receiver Anthony Smith, caught only two passes for 58 yards and a touchdown. The Wolfpack offense emphasized even distribution of touches in the absence of a dominant target.
Even though it was Leary’s birthday, he was the one handing out gifts as he spread out the touches across the offense.
“That really started in the offseason,” Leary said. “We understand how many people can make plays for us. We understand how many receivers that we have, even running backs too. We have so many different playmakers. As the quarterback, it’s my job to distribute the ball to them.”
If this was an A+ game for the NC State offense, then the defense deserves the same grade with the dominant performance it put forth. The Buccaneers only mustered 150 total yards and narrowly managed to avoid the shutout with a 48-yard field goal in garbage time.
