Wolfpack Makes a Statement Against Murray State 65-7

The Wolfpack hosted the Racers of Murray State on Saturday night with a lot of questions to answer, motivated to prove a point. An offseason of optimism and media hype spawned by a late season run last year hung over their head after a less than stellar offensive performance against the South Carolina Gamecocks last week. This week the Wolfpack answered the call and let the nation know that all the offseason talk was warranted as they obliterated Murray State 65-7. Now, many will say that this means nothing, that Murray State is a tiny school that simply did not have the athletes to compete with an ACC football team. Those same people were also the ones that said NC State was in for a long season after their loss to the Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks last Thursday. The truth, most likely, lies somewhere in between. Yes, the Wolfpack did insurmountable damage against a far inferior opponent, however, 65 points against anybody is impressive, and allowing a measly 36 yards, even it is against Murray State, is certainly something to hang your hat on. Since the game was not televised and in some areas not even on the radio, we figured we'd give you a in-depth rundown of how the game went down.

1st Quarter
Another Packed house for the start of this one, and they were in for a treat as indication by the beginning of the first quarter. The Wolfpack jumped onto the Racers immediately. Murray State fullback, DeAngelo Nelson, coughed up the football on the very first play from scrimmage (recovered by Leroy Burgess) and gave the Wolfpack the ball on the Murray State 32 yard line. Three plays later Russell Wilson found a streaking Jarvis Wilson for a 27 yards touchdown that put the Pack up 7-0. After the ensuing kickoff, and a Murray State end-around to Marcus Harris that was one missed tackle away from being a sure house call was all they could get before Racer quarterback Jeff Ehrhardt lost the football as he was hit blindside, again the ball went to the Pack's Leroy Burgess, who picked up his second fumble recovery of the game. 

  Again, Wilson and the Pack struck quickly and precisely. Owen Spencer torched the secondary for his first touchdown of the season, a 19 yard strike. Murray State then decided to go with Nico Yantko, a senior quarterback from Ohio. Yanko was quickly introduced to Willie Young as he recorded his first sack of the day. After a botched snap, Murray State was forced to punt.

 With the Pack on their own 37, it became the Russell Wilson and James Washington show. Wilson, who has already looked decisive and aggressive with this decisions, scramble twice for over 15 yards. When Wilson wasn't running, he was hitting James Washington with checkdowns, totaling 28 yards, with one going for a score on a short slant across the middle. After another defensive stand the Pack took the ball over on the 45 and after a 14 yard pass to Jarvis Williams, a 15 yard run by Toney Baker and a 12 yard Russell Wilson scramble, the quarter came to a close. Final First Quarter Score: NC State: 21 - Murray State-0

**After the first quarter, here a few not so key stats:
- Russel Wilson (99 yards, 3 TDs) was on pace for 396 yards and 12 TDs.
- Leroy Burgess (2 fumble recoveries) was on pace for 8 fumble recoveries this game.


2nd Quarter
The Wolfpack offense picked up right were they left off as Wilson handed the ball to Baker for the 1 yard TD run, right up the gut. Murray State, again, came away with nothing more than a few yards, thanks to the Wolfpack's front line that was relentless and stingy all half long. With the defense already having their way with Murray State and the offense clicking on all cylinders, it was time for the Wolfpack special teams to get involved. A line-drive punt, fielded on their own 43 by return specialist TJ Graham was taken right, set up by 2 neck snapping blocks, down to the Murray State 1. Mike Glennon entered the game and after a false start sent NC State back to the 6, Mike threw his first career completion to fullback Taylor Gentry for a 5 yard gain. The Pack put in their 5th straight touchdown on the board as James Washington plows forward for his first rushing touchdown of his young career.

 Murray State again, played the three and out card, with a little help from Pack DT Leroy Burgess who added a sack to his two recoveries. The Pack took over with Glennon at the helm, and he teamed up with the much anticipated Brandon Barnes for a 9 play, 42 yard drive that ended with at Czajkowski 36 yard field goal. This was the 6th drive of the game for the Wolfpack and the first one that did not end in a touchdown. Murray State, again, barely gained a yard and was forced to punt. The Pack took over with only about 4 minutes to go in the first half, and Wilson once again took the reigns. With 2:08 on the clock, his completion to Steven Howard put him 2nd All-Time for consecutive passes thrown without an interception. He is now only 35 attempts from passing Kentucky's Andre Woodson for the NCAA record. The drive was capped off by a check down, dump off to Toney Baker, which Baker took 39 yards down the right sideline for the score, courtesy of some crucial blocking by Jarvis Williams. The score at the end of the half... NC State 45 - Murray State 0.

**Key Halftime Stats
-The NC State Defense held Murray State to, get this, 16 (net) yards in the first half. Yep, that it. Most of those yards came on an end around to Harris. A play which resulted in the Racers only first down.
-Russell Wilson threw for 162 yards and 4 touchdowns.
-Toney Baker carried the ball 9 times for 61 yards for one touchdown. The touchdown was his first in 1,022 days.
-Jarvis Williams, James Washington and Owen Spencer combined for 94 yards and 3 touchdowns.

3rd Quarter
Starting off the third quarter, the Pack didn't miss a beat as TJ Graham immediately got the offense into prime field position with a slick 37 yard return. With Wilson still behind center, he continued to shred the Murray State offense with passes to Darrell Davis and Owen Spencer, each scooping up 22 yards and setting up, yet another Toney Baker, up the gut touchdown (3 yards). Nico Yantko and Murray State once again took the ball hoping put a point on the board, threw off target and was picked off by Koyal George, giving the Pack the ball in great position once again. Two plays later James Washington went right up the gut for a 5 yard TD run. After yet another three and out, Glennon took over and went 51 yards down feild before Brandon Barnes recorded his first touchdown on a two yard counter to the left. The drive was highlighted by a scamble in which Glennon was flushed right, turned around, juked a defender as he made his way back to the left sideline, and before crossing the line of scrimmage threw a bullet to Darrell Davis for a 17 yard game, showing a versatility that surprised many in attendance. After the kickoff, Murray State finally was able to sustain a drive as Nico Yantco started hitting his spots. This drive was the first time the Racers were able to advance the ball past the 50 yard line all night. Final 3rd Quarter Score: NC State-65 - Murray State- 0

**Key Notes from 3rd Quarter:
- Brandon Barnes got his first real action of the season and made some nice moves, but only was able to muster 2.9 yards per carry. (10 for 35yds)
-The final drive by the Racers, their first sustained drive, was kept alive by two Wolfpack penalties. Once of which was a personal foul facemask on a third down sack.
-NC State has 23 first downs, while Murray State only has 5.
-Time of possession is about the same, which seems strange. NC State has had the ball a tad over 25 minutes while the Racers have had it almost 21 minutes.

4th Quarter
The beginning of the fourth quarter saw Murray State finish off their first big drive with a 2 yard touchdown pass to Daniel Ard, giving Murray State their first points of the ballgame. With that, the Wolfpack started milking the clock with run after run to secure the win, a win NC State desperately needed. The questions were asked all week long about whether the hype around this Wolfpack team was for real, whether their offense was able to put up points, and whether Russell Wilson still had "it". Tonight Tom O'Brien and company made a statement and provided a resounding yes to all of the above.

Final Score: 
WOLFPACK 65
RACERS 7

**Post Game Article, Press Conference Video, Player Interviews and more to follow