What was learned about NC State quarterback Ben Finley and Pack in loss at Louisville
Ben Finley began the week on the N.C. State scout team, where he has been all season.
The quarterback ended it Saturday on the playing field at Louisville’s Cardinal Stadium, flinging passes, trying to dodge a fierce pass rush, trying to lift the Wolfpack to a victory.
It would not be a storybook game or finish. The Pack lost 25-10. Finley was left, like the rest of his teammates, with a glum look on his chilled face after the loss.
It hasn’t been the kind of season Finley envisioned or wanted. Until Devin Leary’s season-ending injury in October, he was buried on the Pack depth chart at QB behind Leary, Jack Chambers and MJ Morris and had not taken a snap in a game.
“It’s been different,” Finley said. “I started out on the scout team and the last nine weeks I’ve been helping the defense. I had never run the offense. This was my first week coming back with the O and running the offense.”
On Saturday, the third-year player threw more passes and for more yardage running the offense than his career totals his first two years in the Wolfpack program.
“It felt great, getting called up this week off the scout team,” Finley said. “Just having the trust from my teammates, having their full trust and being able to go out there and play the game I love, it was really helpful that all the guys had my back. It really helped me.”
It also helped having the trust of Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren, who said Finley threw the ball well in practice this week. With MJ Morris injured and unavailable with a lower-body injury — Doeren said the staff knew last Sunday Morris would be out — the Pack went into the game with Chambers and Finley as the top two QBs, and Doeren was willing to use them both.
Chambers had trouble manufacturing any consistent offense. In came Finley, getting his shot.
Louisville coach Scott Satterfield said the Cards were unsure which quarterback might play – meaning Morris or Chambers. Suddenly, Finley was in the game, No. 10 on the roster.
“Completely different,” Satterfield said of the defensive game plans. “We had to be flexible with our calls.”
Finley had a 34-yard TD throw to running back Michael Allen in the third quarter that pulled the Pack within 13-10. The Pack did not score again, misfiring three times on fourth-down plays in the fourth quarter as the Cardinals pulled away.
Morris could “possibly” return against North Carolina, Doeren said. If not, it could mean more snaps for Finley, possibly a start.
“That’s the most snaps I’ve had in a game and just getting that comfort, and having those reps, will definitely help me going into the UNC game and help me prepare,” Finley said.
What else was learned about the Wolfpack in the game?
Kick coverage was vulnerable
One slip up in the kicking game can be a killer, as all football coaches know so well.
For the Pack, it came in the second quarter after Christopher Dunn’s field goal made it a 3-3 game. On the ensuing kickoff, into a stiff wind, the ball bounced near the sideline and for a few seconds it appeared it might bounce out of bounds short of the goal line.
But the Cardinals’ Jawhar Jordan, the former transfer from Syracuse, didn’t hesitate, grabbing the ball and turning it into a 98-yard kickoff return and momentum-swinging touchdown. The Pack had not allowed a kickoff longer than 27 yards this season.
“Me and the up-back made eye contact,” Jordan said. “I thought he’d get it but it started bouncing. I was thinking, ‘Let’s make a play.’”
The Cardinals also got four field goals from James Turner — from 26, 22, 30 and 28 yards — and a solid day from punter Mark Vassett, who handled the wind well enough.
“If we won on special teams I thought we’d be in it to win it,” Doeren said. “And we didn’t.”
Pack vulnerable to the run
The Cardinals’ Jordan said part of the offensive game plan was to “gash” the Pack with the running game.
Louisville’s Satterfield wasn’t so sure, saying, “Watching film of them, it was like watching the ‘85 Bears. N.C. State has a great run-stopping defense.”
But Jordan did his part with 16 carries for 105 yards. The Cardinals finished with 192 yards rushing as Maurice Turner added 59 yards on 15 carries against a defense that was allowing 92.3 yards a game on the ground.
“It was just a hard-fought game. I knew it would be a blue-collar kind of game,” Satterfield said.
This story was originally published November 20, 2022 at 6:40 AM.
