NC State lifeless in 24-3 defeat at Duke

Well, last week was nice, wasn’t it? Maybe we should all just go watch that over again, forget anything happened tonight. Pretty much nothing happened tonight anyway.

If you were just looking at the box score without seeing the scoreboard, you might wonder who won the game, or if Duke even got to double digits what with completing only four passes all night. Boy would you be surprised! How ‘bout these sports, huh. Got to love ‘em.

Duke didn’t need a consistent night offensively, as it got two big plays for touchdowns and converted another from inside the NC State 10 after an MJ Morris interception. That was all of the offense that the Blue Devils needed—and also about half of their total yards on the game.

See, that’s handy. NC State should try doing that. Three or four big plays, get a few TDs, get home and to bed. You have to admire Duke’s economy in this matter.

The Wolfpack, on the other hand, well, I guess the good news is that they never bothered to raise our hopes up. ESPN’s win probability graph tells the story.

By the time Dave was doing his standard pray-for-halftime move on the last offensive possession of the half, State was utterly toast. I’d be upset about surrendering on another late-half possession but what’s the point when it wasn’t ever going to matter? This game essentially ended on MJ’s interception, which set up Duke with a 17-3 lead early in the second quarter. That is also where my emotional investment ended.

Duke’s pass defense showed exactly why it has been so good this season, and State did itself zero favors with penalties and otherwise shitty execution throughout the first half.

Here’s an exclusive clip from State’s sideline in the second quarter:

At least the game made me think of that. I’m taking whatever I can get.

The second half tonight was completely unnecessary. I mean, like really, totally not needed at all. The game was decided by then. Everyone could have gone home. State managed to get the ball into Duke territory multiple times over the last two quarters and had those drives end on downs each time—but at least State was actually going for those conversions, rather than punting and conceding entirely. On the first first two, that is; the third one was irrelevant.

Good time for a bye week, if you ask me.