‘We stuck together.’ Why NC State won’t let a Gator Bowl loss diminish its entire season.
It’s the second day of the new year and many feel the loss to Kentucky is the same old N.C. State stuff.
There’s no doubt the Wolfpack didn’t play its best football in the Gator Bowl on Saturday. Three interceptions, a nonexistent running game (50 yards), two missed field goals and Kentucky’s Big Blue Wall (its offensive line) paved the way for the Wildcats’ 281 yards on the ground and a 23-21 win.
N.C. State (8-4) has now dropped three in a row to SEC opponents, the last two coming in the Gator Bowl. The Wolfpack is now 1-5 in that Jacksonville, Florida bowl game, their only win in 2003 under the leadership of quarterback Philip Rivers.
Saturday’s loss to Kentucky was N.C. State’s first to an unranked opponent this season. And it raised questions about the Wolfpack’s performance and decisions.
Where was the running game? Why weren’t they stacking the box on defense early? Why didn’t offensive coordinator Tim Beck didn’t call for redshirt junior quarterback Bailey Hockman to throw the ball underneath more, especially to 6-7 tight end Cary Angeline?
All legitimate questions that will fuel conversations and adjustments this offseason. But for the time being, head coach Dave Doeren won’t let a bad start to 2021 erase the body of work that was the 2020 football season.
“Proud of our season,” Doeren said. “This doesn’t make me feel like we didn’t have a good season, we did. And it was a great experience, I’m appreciative of the opportunity to be down here, really excited that so many of these players are back, it’s going to be a great offseason with them.”
NC State football amid a pandemic
N.C. State had plenty of chances to beat Kentucky. After the Wildcats (5-6) went up 16-7 with 5:54 remaining, the Wolfpack took advantage of two Kentucky personal fouls on the ensuing kickoff. N.C. State got more free yards when Kentucky was called for a late hit on Hockman, moving the ball inside the 20, giving sophomore running back Zonovan Knight the opportunity for a 13-yard score with 4:46 remaining.
The team overcame Hockman’s final interception and a 26-yard run by Wildcat’s running back Chris Rodriguez with 2:55 remaining, to pull to within two after a short touchdown run from Wolfpack sophomore running back Jordan Houston. If the onside kick had gone the Wolfpack’s way after their last possession, the game could have ended differently.
“At the end of the game, the energy raised,” Knight said. “Sadly we couldn’t get the onside kick and I think after that momentum kind of changed for us.”
Doeren was shooting for his third nine-win seasons at N.C. State. He’s the second-winningest coach in school history and has won three bowl games. The big picture this season, of course, was to defeat an SEC team on national television and ride that momentum into offseason training.
The fact that the Wolfpack played 12 games this season is something that shouldn’t be overlooked. Six months ago, the football season was in doubt due to the coronavirus pandemic. When the season started, N.C. State struggled through its own COVID-19 issues. It paused its program due to contract tracing and had to push its first game back a week. The team then put together 12 straight weeks of games with no issues, discovering a toughness and cohesiveness that got them through a year like none other.
The Gator Bowl loss, its worst loss in months, won’t put a damper on the team heading into the offseason. Immediately after the game, Knight, the N.C. State GatorBowl MVP, could already sense the tide had turned.
“You could tell on the sidelines it was more of a family feeling as opposed to last year it was more individuals,” Knight said about the pulse of the team even in defeat. “People were keeping each other up, just motivating them.”
What’s next for the Wolfpack?
N.C. State will head into spring practice expecting to have Knight, the team’s leading rusher, and Ricky Person back. There will be a quarterback battle between Hockman and Devin Leary, who broke his leg in October, and a pair of freshmen with lots of potential. Hockman’s favorite targets all have the chance to return, along with all but one starter on defense.
After the Kentucky game, Doeren said he can’t wait to work with this group in the upcoming months. The problems that showed up against the Wildcats — turnovers, run defense, play-calling — should work themselves out, but after a long eight months, Doeren chose to focus on the accomplishment of making it through the season.
“The number of things we dealt with that you’d never been through as a coach,” Doeren said. “Trying to make decisions on all the unknowns, and the thing was, none of the leadership had any ideas. Everybody is trying to figure out how to handle this and so you just made the best call you could and you learned on the run.”
Doeren said there were times he had conversations with players about things other than football. Last season, the Wolfpack went through a lot in its 4-8 campaign, but most of the talk was football-related, mostly about injuries. This season the team had to deal with everything from low expectations from outsiders (the Wolfpack was picked to finish 11th in the ACC), social injustices and COVID-19. Knowing that, Doeren beamed when he talked about how the team handled it all, regardless of the final standings and the final score against Kentucky.
“We stuck together,” Doeren said. “We grew a lot together, we learned a lot from each other. A lot of guys stepped up this year. There are guys who stepped up throughout the season. I love this football team and there are a lot of positives that we can take from this season.”
