‘Gotta dig deeper’: NC State football’s offense unable to finish drives in Duke loss

With 19 seconds left in the game, officials called captain and fifth-year senior Davin Vann for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Emotions ran high as the defensive end’s career in Raleigh came to an end.

All the Wolfpack wanted was to win and give its 20 seniors, like Vann, a chance to walk back up the tunnel one last time with smiles on their faces. The defense and special teams did what they needed to get the job done, but the offense couldn’t complete the mission — the disappointment obvious by the body language as players walked off Wayne Day Family field one last time.

“That game was really important for those guys going out, and all week that’s all we had in mind,” freshman quarterback CJ Bailey said. “That really hurts, man. Like coach (Dave) Doeren said, we’ve gotta dig a little deeper in our soul. That really meant something to those guys. This was their last game here at Carter-Finley, and they gotta end it off with a loss. It’s not good.”

The most painful part was that N.C. State had opportunities in the 29-19 loss. It wasn’t like Duke (7-3, 3-3 ACC) completely overpowered the Wolfpack (5-5, 2-4 ACC).

It was the third-fewest points scored all season, topped only by 10 points against Tennessee and 17 against Syracuse. The Pack finished with 268 total yards and 84 rushing, while converting on 3 of 15 third-down opportunities.

“I feel like we could’ve changed the game in so many ways and helped those guys out to get a win,” Bailey said.

The key issue, Bailey and Doeren said, was finishing plays and finishing drives. And that was an issue from the beginning.

The Blue Devils recorded two tackles for loss on the Wolfpack’s first two plays, including a sack on Bailey in the end zone for a Duke safety.

On the next drive, Bailey fumbled the football at the Wolfpack 32-yard line. He should be grateful for the team’s defensive stand, which held the Blue Devils to a 50-yard field goal and no yardage gain.

The Wolfpack finished 5 of 6 in the red zone, but four of those came on field goals. Kicker Kanoah Vinesett started 4 of 4 and scored the team’s first 12 points. It shouldn’t have come down to him, though.

“We didn’t finish drives in that area of the field, we were able to get down (inside the 20) quite a bit, but you gotta finish,” Doeren said. “It’s not about being 100% scoring if they’re all field goals. You gotta get some touchdowns.”

“I know some of our guys (are) tired, and I try my best to tell them, ‘Let’s keep fighting. We got down here for a reason, we’re not gonna waste our drive,’” Bailey added. “But things happen. Games like this happen.”

Doeren acknowledged it could’ve been worse — there were times this season when it committed turnovers in the red zone — but he thought his squad had cleaned up those issues.

The team didn’t find the end zone until 9:01 in the fourth quarter, when Wesley Grimes barely hauled in a 16-yard pass from Bailey.

Doeren said there wasn’t a singular issue on offense. Instead, it was a little bit of everything.

Bailey completed 16 of 39 passes for 184 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He lacked accuracy and precision. He completed just two of his final eight passing plays and was off target — or the receiver dropped the pass — on the last four consecutive throws.

The rookie finished the game with four stretches where he threw three or more consecutive incompletions. No receiver finished with more than 60 yards; tight end Justin Joly led the team with 52 yards.

Doeren said the team has talked extensively about being efficient. That means picking up yardage on first and second down, so it has a manageable distance on third- and fourth-down opportunities.

“When you hit a guy wide open on a slant or a square-in on first down, and it’s going to be second-and-3, and it’s dropped, it’s now second-and-10,” Doeren said. “Those kinds of plays are impactful. They are no different than when you have a 30-yard run and there’s a holding penalty.”

Doeren said he thought the team had gotten past issues like that. The receivers, tight ends and running backs had been limiting drops when targeted, so it’s “frustrating” to see the group take a step back in a significant game.

Other issues included a busted block from running back Jordan Waters that led to a sack, Joly’s would-be catch that turned into an interception and a lack of toughness against the Duke defense.

Right guard Jacarrius Peak committed a false start and holding penalty, adding to the negative plays.

“Defensively, we played good enough in that game for us to win,” Doeren said. “We just didn’t connect offensively. (Bailey) threw some good balls that were dropped. He threw behind a couple guys, he threw high to a couple guys, and we gotta make some play calls in certain situations to help. Collectively, it’s not good enough.”

The Wolfpack, however, remains hopeful. It still has two games left in the regular season: Georgia Tech and North Carolina. The offense might’ve let the seniors down Saturday, but it can finish the season strong.

“We know that we’ve got more to do. We’ve got more to accomplish,” Bailey said. “We can send those guys off with a better message. We’ve got two, three more games left. We can get a good finish for those guys.”