Previewing the NC State Offense

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons host the NC State Wolfpack on Saturday at 7:30 pm at BB&T Field.

The Wolfpack enter the game with a record of 7-3 and 5-1 in the ACC, coming off of a 17-14 win at Boston College. Their best win is a 39-25 win at home versus then 17th ranked Louisville. State has no bad losses on the season, and played Clemson down to the wire in a battle for the Atlantic division title before losing 38-31.

The Wolfpack are led by junior quarterback Ryan Finley, who is one of the most accurate passers in the ACC. He is 233-367 for 2665 yards and 15 touchdowns. He has a 63.5% completion rate and is averaging 7.26 yards per attempt. Finley has thrown 4 interceptions and has been sacked 10 times on the season.

Junior running back Nyheim Hines is the leading rusher for the Pack, with 145 carries for 798 yards on the season. He averages 5.5 yards per carry and has 7 rushing touchdowns, including a season long 83 yarder.

Junior running back Reggie Gallaspy II has 88 carries for 374 yards and 4 touchdowns. He averages 4.3 yards per carry.

Senior receiver Jaylen Samuels has 58 carries for 284 yards and 9 touchdowns. He averages 4.9 yards per carry.

Finley has 44 carries for 133 yards and a touchdown.

Sophomore receiver Kelvin Harmon is the leading receiver with 56 catches for 867 yards and 4 touchdowns. He averages 15.5 yards per catch.

Jaylen Samuels has 61 receptions for 502 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Junior receiver Stephen Louis has 34 catches for 468 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Sophomore receiver Jakobi Meyers has 39 receptions for 460 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Nyheim Hines also plays a factor in the receiving game out of the backfield.

One area in which NC State continues to struggle, as they have for at least the past 3 years, is the kicking game.

Senior Carson Wise is 35-37 on extra points, but just 6-12 on field goals. He made his season long attempt from 48, but has missed one from 20-29 and five from 30-39.

Junior Kyle Bambard is 3-3 on extra points, but just 2-5 on field goals. His season long make is from 41 yards. He has missed once from 50+ yards and twice from 30-39 yards.

Needless to say if this game comes down to field goals I’ll take the Deacs every single time.

Wake’s defense must watch out for big plays from Jaylen Samuels and Nyheim Hines, and had better get to Ryan Finley early and often. Expect for this game to see a lot of yardage and a lot of points on the board, especially if the Wolfpack want to buck the trend of being 2-8 over the last 10 games in Winston-Salem.