Fast start for NC State offense but not flawless

N.C. State’s offense scored 48 points, picked up 521 total yards and starting quarterback Ryan Finley completed nearly 81 percent of his passes.

These all seem like good numbers, or at least good enough, but offensive coordinator Eli Drinkwitz is a tough grader.

No curves here from Drinkwitz, who found a few flaws in the Wolfpack’s 48-14 Thursday win over William & Mary .

“Yeah, I mean, we had two plays out of the pocket: threw an interception and took a sack,” Drinkwitz said. “That’s not very good. Little mistakes like that cost you ballgames.”

That’s still a relatively short “to-do” list of fixes from a season-opener. Finley, who finished 17 of 21 for 174 yards with two touchdowns, was sacked for a four-yard loss on a touchdown drive in the first quarter.

Jalan McClendon threw an interception in the second quarter with N.C. State up 14-7. The Wolfpack defense got the ball back with an interception of its own and the Wolfpack scored two more times before the end of the half to build a 28-7 advantage.

Overall, Drinkwitz, who was hired from Boise State to punch new life into N.C. State’s attack, was relatively pleased with the offense and his quarterbacks.

“I thought they handled the environment pretty well,” Drinkwitz said. “I thought they played within themselves.”

The environment will change this week with a trip to East Carolina. There is a difference between being comfortable at home and staying calm on the road, Drinkwitz said. But that doesn’t change Drinkwitz’s approach.

“We’re not trying to take baby steps,” Drinkwitz said. “We’re pushing this thing full speed. That’s what we’re doing. We’re not easing our way into the water.”

One of Drinkwitz’s directives from N.C. State coach Dave Doeren was to go faster on offense this season. The Wolfpack ran 87 plays against the Tribe, which was more than all but one game from 2015.

But Drinkwitz said controlling tempo is the goal, not 100 snaps a game.

“When we have the ability to put the foot on the gas and we have an advantage, that’s what we’ll do,” Drinkwitz said. “If we have to back off and get into the right play or make sure the right personnel is on the field, that’s what we’ll do.”

Drinkwitz called the plays from the sideline on Thursday. That was a change for him from a year ago. He called the plays for Boise State from the press box.

He said given the quarterback situation, he thought it was best to be on the field to help with communication.

Finley ended up taking the majority of the snaps 61 to 26 for McClendon. McClendon only directed one series in the first three quarters.

One thing that encouraged Drinkwitz was how Finley and McClendon talked throughout the game. The two quarterbacks have a “great relationship,” Drinkwitz said.

“That was impressive to me, they were communicating on the sideline, telling each other what they were seeing,” Drinkwitz said. “If they’ll do that, this is going to be a great deal.”

This story was originally published September 6, 2016 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Fast start for NC State offense but not flawless."