NCSU-ODU by the Numbers

In his weekly Monday press conference, Dave Doeren specifically called out the poor tackling of his veterans during the game but actually on a per play basis the Pack wasn’t nearly as bad as it was against Georgia Southern. Old Dominion simply converted a ton of 3rd downs and especially 4th downs which meant it kept marching even when the Pack had three consecutive downs of solid defense. They also scored five touchdowns in six trips to the red zone.

Look on the offensive side of the ball; I’m having trouble remembering a time where NC State ran that effectively against anyone. Both feature backs (sorry, Tony Creecy) averaged over six yards a carry and the Pack actually went run-heavy despite being either behind or less than one score in front for basically the whole game. In the passing game, Jacoby Brissett hit 72 percent of his throws (which included at least two drops) and hit nine different receivers. No one caught more than four passes. If there’s any gripe it’s that Bryan Underwood once again only got one touch and had no catches.

Here are State’s national rankings, which are completely useless right now, but if the Pack holds anywhere close to its current rushing average it would the best rushing offense they've had since the Chuck Amato era at least. We shall not speak of the defensive numbers.

Offense

Yards Per Play: 6.71 (29th)
Yards Per Carry: 5.61 (31st)
Yards Per Pass Attempt: 7.9 (52nd)

Defense

Yards Per Play: 6.24 (106th)
Yards Per Carry: 5.26 (107th)
Yards Per Pass Attempt: 7.5 (91st)

Looking forward, apparently South Florida lost to Maryland despite creating six turnovers – which seems really difficult to do - and is in the top 10 nationally with a plus-five turnover margin. It will likely be the worst offensive team the Pack has faced so far this year – against Maryland their starting quarterback completed fewer than 50 percent of his throws and they ran for 2.2 yards per carry.