RALEIGH — N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien gave out some dismal offensive statistics Tuesday after the Wolfpack's third preseason football scrimmage.

The offense had four passes intercepted and allowed seven sacks. There were 15 tackles for loss by the defense, which limited the offense to 98 rushing yards on 38 carries.

But O'Brien had no sooner read off the stats than he all but dismissed them. He said it was a situational scrimmage and there was a lot of work on end-of-game drives.

"You're playing end of the game and you're always in two-minute situations, where you've got to throw the ball regardless," he said. "I think most of them were long throws at the end of time, fourth down or whatever heaves."

"That's not good for the offense, because in those situations you've got to go up and get the football. But it's positive for the defense. They got the ball and turned it over."

There, again, were no individual stats released, but O'Brien generally praised the play of starting quarterback Mike Glennon while noting "he's no finished product, by any stretch of the imagination."

"I think he did well," O'Brien said. "I don't know what his breakdown is, but (the offense) made some plays tonight they haven't the first two scrimmages. That's positive for the offense."

"I think the offense caught up a little bit in these situations. It's a little confidence builder for the offense and knocks the defense (down) a peg or two, which is pretty good, too."

Other scrimmage highlights: Freshman punter Wil Baumann averaged 43.4 yards on five kicks and freshman kicker Niklas Sade booted field goals of 38 and 53 yards.

"Those freshmen have been impressive thus far," O'Brien said. "We keep putting them under pressure. The 53-yarder ... he actually had to run on the field and kick it as time expired."

The offense finished 22 of 41 passing for 261 yards, with one touchdown. There were four offensive penalties and three defensive infractions. O'Brien said there appeared to be no major injuries.

Transfer questions: O'Brien said sophomore wide receiver Everett Proctor had left the program and would transfer. He would not comment on reports offensive lineman Cameron Fordham transferred to N.C. State this week from Louisiana State. Fordham is from Duluth, Ga.

chip.alexander@nando.com