‘Flush it’: NC State football displeased with outing against Vols but staying hopeful

Twenty N.C. State players hail from the Charlotte metropolitan area, with eight calling the Queen City home. Saturday was supposed to be a joyous homecoming and a chance to positively represent Wolfpack football.

The performance against No. 14 Tennessee didn’t scream ACC champion or College Football Playoff contender. It made the Pack barely look better than Chattanooga, the FCS school the Vols whipped, 69-3, the weekend prior.

No. 24 N.C. State fell to No. 14 Tennessee, 51-10, in the team’s worst outing since Nov. 9, 2019. This was the first time an opponent scored at least 50 points since Trevor Lawrence and the Clemson Tigers rolled past the Pack, 55-10, on that day.

Sitting at the mic in the Carolina Panthers meeting room, NC State head coach Dave Doeren showed visible disappointment in his team but remained steadfast in the belief that no seasons are determined in Week 1 or Week 2, even if people are already giving up on teams.

“I’m the one that sits in there and leads the staff and our game planning and all that, but this is a really good bunch of guys,” Doeren said. “They will go back to work, I know that. They’ll stick together. There’ll be a lot of people telling them that they’re no good, and that’s fine. Inside the building, we’ve got to do a great job leading; our captains, our leadership council, all that. There’s a lot of football in front of us.”

He’s right. The season isn’t over, but with the way it played Saturday — and the way some future opponents did — N.C. State’s path looks tougher than originally expected.

Actually, through two weeks, the Pack looks like it did at this point last season: A tough win in Game 1 and a bad loss in the second.

Doeren said last season doesn’t have anything to do with this one, and the teams are different. N.C. State just wasn’t good enough and failed to capitalize on opportunities.

The offense was playing on a long field for nearly the entire game, while the defense was trying to hold Tennessee on a short one.

“It just snowballed as it went, but it’s not last year,” Doeren said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, obviously, and get back to it.”

Linebacker Sean Brown, however, said it does feel a little bit like déjà vu. The Pack gritted its way to a 24-14 season-opening win at UConn last August then lost 45-24 to Notre Dame a week later.

Brown said the players are trying to keep their heads up. They don’t want this to dictate their season — and they take consolation in the fact that this program came back from tough situations as recently as a year ago. He specifically mentioned the Week 2 loss to the Irish and the fact N.C. State eventually turned things around for a nine-win season.

“We know we’ve got a bunch of games ahead of us,” Brown said. “We all know that we have a chance to come back here for the ACC championship.

“It just really starts with us leading the team, giving everybody that hope.”

Offense looks to bounce back

Doeren called Saturday’s outing a three phase loss. NC State wasn’t good enough on offense, defense or special teams.

The offensive struggles stick out. The Wolfpack finished with 143 total yards to Tennessee’s 460, including 27 yards in the second half for a gain of 1.4 yards per play.

The run game numbers were abysmal with 39 yards gained. N.C. State picked up 13 rushing yards on 14 attempts for a gain of 0.9 yards per play in the third and fourth quarters.

Its first drive was exactly what the team wanted: control time of possession, slowly chip away at yardage to gain positive field position. It looked like it could hang around with the Vols.

Fifty-two yards of penalties, 40 lost yards on Tennessee tackles, an inability to control the line of scrimmage and turnovers all contributed to the loss.

“We didn’t get it done, and it starts with me,” Doeren said. “I’m the one that sits in there and leads the staff and our game planning and all that.”

McCall expressed disappointment in himself, but he’s trying to stay hopeful. Learn from this one and “flush it.” He’ll watch the film Sunday, analyze what went well and what didn’t. Hopefully things are better next week.

Seasons aren’t determined by Week 1 or Week 2, but they are determined by the subsequent weeks and what’s gleaned early on.

“You can’t let one loss turn into two when you have a bad night like this,” McCall said. “You have to learn from your mistakes, and the guys have to be accountable (for) what happened tonight.”