9/23/2018 football Edit

Notebook: NC State defense shuts down Tyre Brady

Matt Carter • TheWolfpackCentral

Editor

Sophomore receiver Emeka Emezie took several hard hits from Marshall's defense (Associated Press)

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A year ago, Marshall receiver Tyre Brady announced his presence by putting his name into the NC State record books. The Miami (Fla) caught 11 passes for 248 yards and a touchdown. It was the most yards ever caught by an opposing receiver at Carter-Finley Stadium.

“We heard about him,” redshirt junior safety Jarius Morehead acknowledged. “We know what he did to us last year. Took it in a personal way.”

The results showed. This year for Brady: three catches for 25 yards. Last year during the second drive of the game alone Brady had four receptions for 75 yards.

Containing Brady was not a concern for NC State just because of the fact that Brady torched the Wolfpack secondary in 2017. Brady has also emerged as one of the top wideouts in Conference USA. Head coach Dave Doeren noted that Brady had been targeted on about 50 percent of Marshall’s passes in the first two games — wins over Miami of Ohio and Eastern Kentucky — in which Brady combined to catch 15 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns.

NC State junior corner Nick McCloud led the coverage of Brady in this game. McCloud had one of NCSU’s four pass breakups.

“I thought our kids, Nick McCloud in particular, really battled him,” Doeren stated.

One of the captains of the defense, fifth-year senior linebacker Germaine Pratt, who led NC State with a game-high 11 tackles, including one for a loss, and added two quarterback hurries, tipped his cap to the defensive backs.

“The secondary played great,” Pratt said.

Has Pack Found A New Comfort-Level In Kicking Game?

NC State made 10 of 20 attempted field goals last year, including 8 of 16 from inside 40 yards. In 2016, it made 9 of 17 kicks, missing five of 13 tries inside the 40. In 2015, NCSU was 7 of 14 on its tries, although a much more respectable 7 of 10 inside the 40.

The great hope to fix NC State’s kicking woes is freshman Christopher Dunn. He made 3 of 4 tries in the first two games, with all three successful makes inside the 30 and his lone miss beyond 40. Then against Marshall, Dunn made his first three field goals from distances of 30, 32 and 26 yards.

Thus you can excuse Doeren if, for a brief moment, he allowed himself to think, “Boy, it’s nice having this.”

Doeren knew he might have jinxed himself, and indeed in the fourth quarter Dunn had a 31-yarder bounce off the upright. Still, through three games he is 6 of 8 on the season, a nice improvement of the accuracy rate from the three seasons prior.

“He’s pretty good,” Doeren noted. “For a freshman, he’s a pretty good kicker.”

Dunn enrolled early at NC State after graduating from North Davidson High in Lexington, N.C. He tried to soak in the leadership provided from the seniors — kicker Kyle Bambard, punter A.J. Cole and long snapper Tyler Griffiths. He also used one other trick to help him be ready for this season.

“Staying off social media as much as I can is the big thing,” Dunn stated.

Dunn will not admit it, but he is probably well aware of the collective Wolfpack fan base holding its breath every time the field goal kicker trots onto the field.

“I’m really not concerned about that,” Dunn said. “I’m not thinking about anything else that is going on in the stadium, just trying to do my job.”

Receivers Knocked Around By Marshall Defense

The wide receiving corps may reserve NC State’s training room at the Murphy Center when the team returns to Raleigh after taking a variety of vicious hits throughout the game.

Two Pack wideouts were knocked out of the contest — redshirt freshman Thayer Thomas and redshirt sophomore C.J. Riley. Thomas was upended in the first quarter and landed hard on the turf while making a 26-yard catch. He was later spotted on the sideline with his arm in a sling.

Thomas’ father, Trevor, was a former offensive lineman at Marshall. Many Thomas family members live in West Virginia and had hoped to come to the Pack’s home game against West Virginia University last Saturday before it was cancelled. Thus Thomas’ early exit meant the family missed seeing him play against the two prominent football programs in the state.

Riley was crushed by Marshall linebacker Jaquan Yulee, a former Rivals.com four-star prospect, on a kickoff return, causing Riley to lose the ball. Marshall picked up the fumble and returned it for a touchdown.

Sophomore receiver Emeka Emezie was also leveled twice over the middle and had assistance from the training staff after each one. Both times Emezie managed to return. Emezie finished with six catches for 69 yards and a score.

“We felt like some of those hits should have been [pass interference],” junior receiver Kelvin Harmon, who caught six passes for 150 yards, said. “Like the one on Emeka should have definitely been PI, but it’s just a part of the game.”

Doeren had not talked to the training and medical staffs before addressing reporters following the game but suspected both Thomas and Riley may have sustained concussions. Fifth-year senior Stephen Louis was returning to action after being knocked out with a concussion against Georgia State. Louis caught three passes for 58 yards.

Also returning after missing the GSU contest with an ankle injury was redshirt junior Jakobi Meyers, who nabbed two receptions for 29 yards.