Blue Devils Punish Pack 49-28

Thaddeus Lewis is good, but anytime a quarterback is able to clean up 462 yards and 5 touchdowns, you have to point blame at the defense. The Wolfpack secondary was no match for the Duke offense on this night as they gave up 49 points, the most a Wolfpack team has surrendered to the Blue Devils since 1952.

The loss was the Pack's first to Duke in 12 meetings, and was the second consecutive ACC loss for O'Briens squad. Again it was the line-backers and the secondary that struggled mightily with the strong arm and soft touch of Thaddeus Lewis. The NC State defensive line, while able to stop the run (30 carries for 50 yards) was not able to get enough pressure on the Duke quarterback to disrupt his rhythm...and Lewis was grooving. His 50 passing attempts was a new school record, and his 5 touchdowns was a new career high (and ties a school record).

The Wolfpack defense needs to sure up their secondary, and needs to do so fast. Wake Forest and now Duke has exploited their achilles heel and there will certainly be more to come. Over their first two ACC games the Pack has allowed 823 yards through the air and 8 touchdowns, two numbers that are going to drive O'Brien and his staff crazy.

The first half was a old west style shootout with both offenses clicking on all cylinders and combining for 42 points. While Lewis had already accumulated 233 yards and a touchdown, Russell Wilson was hot on his tail with 151 and a touchdown. The second half, however, was an entirely different story.

While the NC State defense continued to be picked apart by Lewis, the Duke defense started to roll. They began containing Wilson and shutting down all aspects of the NC State offense. In the second half, Wilson was held to a miniscule 21 yards through the air and NC State was not allowed an offensive touchdown.

The questions about the Pack secondary will continued to be asked, yet there appears to be no apparent answer, something that Coach O'Brien and his staff will need to address this week in practice.

"You've got to give them a lot of credit. They came in here and got it done offensively. We certainly had troubles stopping the passing game that is something that we obviously need to get fixed or every team that's going to play against us, we're going to see 50 passes a game. We have to work hard on that and see where we go from here." O'Brien said.

Where the Wolfpack is going next is on the road to Boston College where they'll face a Eagles team that is 2-2 in conference play. The Wolfpack will need to find some answers in the secondary and sure up a shaky linebacker corps that had trouble stopping dump passes in the flats if they want to turn things around, something O'Brien is definitely counting on.

"We're halfway through the season. We still have a lot to play for and I don't think these kids have a lot of quit in them, so we just have to circle the wagons and see what we can get done this week heading into Boston." he said.

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