A Look At NC State: Q&A With Matt Carter

In previewing NC State, Blue & Gold Illustrated spoke with TheWolfpacker.com editor Matt Carter.

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Blue & Gold Illustrated: What does this game mean to NC State? How big a deal is Notre Dame coming to town?

Carter: It’s a big deal. They haven’t had a whole lot of marquee non-conference games come through here. Ohio State came by in 2004, that’s probably the closest to anything like a Notre Dame brand name in a non-conference game. They’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of Carter-Finley Stadium that day, it’s actually 50 years to the exact day the first game was played. They’re doing some throwbacks for them and they brought out some temporary bleachers this year to meet the ticket demand, which was primarily fueled by this game. It’s a big deal.

BGI: It feels like NC State always seems to rise to the occasion for these marquee games. Is that really the case?

Carter: You can ask Florida State. Gene Williams at the Warchant site, he had a funny nickname for Carter-Finley. It was the ‘Black Hole’ for Florida State. Every year they would be a top-five team, and whenever they came to NC State they’d lose. Last year they jumped out to a lead on Clemson, they were tied at halftime, and they jumped out to a 24-7 lead on Florida State the year after they won the national title (2014). They do get up, particularly at home, than on the road.

BGI: Why does NC State play so well at home in those big games?

Carter: Part of it is traditionally NC State’s always been a solid team. They may lack greatness, but they’ve always been a solid team. There’s some talent there, and then you throw in the atmosphere, and for a stadium that only holds 55-60,000, it’s right on top of you. There’s no sideline, and the opposing players are usually caught off guard by how they’re right on top of you. It is very loud for its size. It creates an electric atmosphere, which kind of gives that adrenaline rush for the team to play perhaps a little bit past their capabilities, which isn’t bad to begin with. It helps that NC State’s had a long history of quarterbacks.

BGI: What is the collective feeling about head coach Dave Doeren?

Carter: The main thing people are looking for is kind of the statement win. The general agreement is that he’s upgraded the talent and their recruiting has gotten better. It’s just kind of looking for that breakthrough win. For the most part, until East Carolina two weeks, they’ve done a good job the last two years of eliminating the bad losses. But they haven’t won the 50-50 game or pulled that upset yet. They’ve come close. They’ve been very competitive with Louisville the last two years, they’ve come close with Clemson and Florida State. They haven’t had that statement-defining, program-defining win, and that’s what fans are eager for at this moment is to get that breakthrough win that shows that we’re moving for a higher level.

BGI: What’s held NC State back in those “statement” games?

Carter: They’ve been against very good teams, so that’s part of it. Last year they had two games that were 50-50 games, Louisville and Virginia Tech. They started 4-0. The Wednesday before the Louisville game, their starting running back got booted from the team. The next week at Virginia Tech, they had a chance to put them away early, they didn’t, they made some penalties on third down and Virginia Tech got some big plays and got in a funk there. It’s a combination of circumstances, and the teams that they have played have been pretty good.

BGI: How would you describe this year’s team?

Carter: I’m still trying to figure that out. The quarterback has passed the test so far, but he hasn’t played a very good defense to this point. The ECU game, you just hope that that doesn’t turn out to be the ultimate ‘what if’ game. I felt like NC State was a better team that game. I agree with the analogy that it was like in a basketball game, a bunch of 70-percent free-throw shooters who couldn’t make a free throw and keeping the other team in the game. They probably left 20 or 21 points on the board and that had nothing to do with ECU. They’re more talented. They have a good defensive line. They’ve gotten a couple guys at wide receiver that have stepped up, which has been helpful. The quarterback has looked good so far. I actually think they have a chance to be better than last year’s team, but you look at that schedule and it’s so hard and they lose the ECU game and it cuts your margin of error pretty tight.

BGI: Is the defensive line still the team’s strongest position?

Carter: Granted it was Old Dominion and Old Dominion was playing a former wide receiver at quarterback, and NC State sacked him five times. Even the ECU game, they had 13 tackles for loss. The big thing is Darian Roseboro, who was a former Rivals100 guy and committed to Michigan, he’s a sophomore now and he’s really upped his play this year. He had three sacks in the last game and he’s had at least one tackle for loss in every game. He’s the one that’s really bumped it up to another level.

BGI: Where is NC State weakest?

Carter: Pass coverage. The corners have gotten beat — William & Mary and Old Dominion had one good receiver a piece. The problem is every other team is going to have three or four of those type of guys from here on out. The Old Dominion guy had over 100 yards receiving. They’ve had some issues in coverage and the ECU quarterback completed his last 17 or 18 passes in a row to end the game. That would be the No. 1 worry at this point.

BGI: Have there been any major surprises?

Carter: The quarterback. He’s second in the country in completions (through three games), and he’s probably the one that jumps out. Then Stephen Louis has kind of been the breakout guy at receiver. He had surgeries on both his shoulders, so he had a medical redshirt last year. He always looked the part, but he’s done a lot better than I would have expected the past couple weeks.

BGI: What were the expectations for quarterback Ryan Finley, a Boise State transfer, entering the year?

Carter: The expectations were that he was going to be the backup. He seems to have a great command of the offense, understandably he played for Eli Drinkwitz when he was at Boise State, so he knew the offense. After he got hurt (in 2015), he sat next to Drinkwitz in the coaches box for the rest of the season. You don’t see a whole lot of quarterbacks that will go to their third read, their fourth read and the progressions. He’s done that. He’s very poised and he doesn’t let pressure get to him. He looks through the pressure rather than at it and goes through his reads. I wouldn’t say he has a cannon arm, but he can throw it deep well enough. More of an accurate, very accurate ball, managing the offense type of guy.

BGI: How do you see the matchup with Notre Dame going?

Carter: I would anticipate points being scored. Notre Dame can clearly throw the ball when Kizer’s on his game, and that’s where NC State has struggled. NC State, they’re a very balanced team, they can run the ball and Matthew Dayes is a real good running back. They can beat you running and throwing offensively. On paper it looks like this would be a fairly high-scoring, lot of points scored type of game.