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| Plays |
Total Yds |
Yds/Play |
Yds/Carry* |
Yds/PassAtt |
|
| NCSU |
76 | 444 |
5.8 | 4.8 |
7.3 |
| Richmond |
71 |
316 |
4.5 |
1.7 |
6.7 |
(Yds/carry stats are calculated after removing sacks from the equation.)
Those stats don't imply that NC State needed a last-minute field goal to win, but that's why football is often torture delightful.
As Omega already pointed out, NC State's defensive adjustments were a significant part of this terrifying victory, which honestly still feels a little bit like it shouldn't have happened. If my maths are correct, State limited Richmond to about 2.4 yards per snap in the second half, thanks in large part to finally getting some pressure on the quarterback. The Pack's defense hadn't looked very disruptive until the final 30 minutes, but eventually those guys started to force Richmond into some mistakes.
| Drive Started | Drive Ended | Consumed | |||||||||
| Team | Qtr | Spot | Time | Obtained | Spot | Time | How Lost | Pl-Yds | TOP | RZ | |
| RICHMOND | 1st | R25 | 15:00 | Kickoff | R42 | 12:51 | Punt | 4-17 | 2:09 | ||
| RICHMOND | 1st | R19 | 11:38 | Fumble | R28 | 09:42 | Punt | 6-9 | 1:56 | ||
| RICHMOND | 1st | R25 | 06:21 | Kickoff | S00 | 01:20 | * | TOUCHDOWN | 11-75 | 5:01 | # |
| RICHMOND | 2nd | R25 | 10:26 | Kickoff | S00 | 07:35 | * | TOUCHDOWN | 8-75 | 2:51 | # |
| RICHMOND | 2nd | R38 | 05:38 | Punt | S00 | 01:33 | * | TOUCHDOWN | 7-62 | 4:05 | # |
| RICHMOND | 2nd | R25 | 00:10 | Kickoff | R24 | 00:00 | End of half | 1--1 | 0:10 | ||
| RICHMOND | 3rd | R44 | 12:52 | Interception | R40 | 11:08 | Punt | 3--4 | 1:44 | ||
| RICHMOND | 3rd | R16 | 07:29 | Punt | R08 | 07:24 | Fumble | 1--8 | 0:05 | ||
| RICHMOND | 3rd | R25 | 07:09 | Kickoff | R18 | 06:16 | Fumble | 3--7 | 0:53 | ||
| RICHMOND | 3rd | R04 | 04:00 | Fumble | R47 | 13:29 | Punt | 11-43 | 5:31 | ||
| RICHMOND | 4th | R21 | 09:57 | Punt | R25 | 05:09 | Punt | 7-4 | 4:48 | ||
| RICHMOND | 4th | R12 | 03:04 | Interception | R29 | 01:59 | Punt | 4-17 | 1:05 | ||
| RICHMOND | 4th | R25 | 00:33 | Kickoff | S37 | 00:00 | End of half | 5-38 | 0:33 | ||
There are bad starts to a quarter and then there's what happened to Richmond, which turned the ball over twice in its first three possessions and lost yardage in all three cases. While State came out sharp, another drive-killing turnover took the air out of the building and you could kinda sense a collective "oh crap this is really happening" sentiment pervading the stadium. Fortunately, it was not long before Richmond decided to fumble the ball away inside its own 10. That was the first critical error for the Spiders, and State turned it into six points a couple plays later.
We're gonna need this second-half defensive effort for a full game if we want a shot at upsetting Clemson next week. I would dismiss the possibility of that, but I witnessed the Florida State game last year and the blowout of Clemson the year prior, so hey, who knows.