Almost reaching the over/under in the first half, North Carolina State took advantage of three South Alabama turnovers turning them into ten points. Behind a dominating rushing attack the Wolfpack finished the first half with 190 yards rushing with 88 from Matthew Dayes along with his three touchdowns. The junior finished the night with 150 total yards on 14 touches.
Senior Shadrach Thornton showed his elusiveness and light feet with 111 rushing yards of his own with two scores. The main focus tonight was to zone in on senior quarterback prospect Jacoby Brissett and he shined.
By: Christian Page
Brissett (6’4” 235) didn’t have to do anything spectacular tonight as he was later pulled in the third quarter due to the game being completely out of hand for South Alabama (final score: 63-13). Brissett operated most of the night in a fairly clean pocket giving him plenty of time to deliver pretty passes downfield. He stood tall in the pocket going through progressions and taking what the defense was giving him while showing off his arm with some big plays in the first quarter. Brissett did not have any careless errors as he read the defense well making pinpoint passes in tight windows.
Being a plus-athlete at quarterback, Brissett showed off a little of his athleticism being productive when rolling out of the pocket but still keeping his eyes downfield in order to make the best play possible. Both of his touchdowns came when rolling out of the pocket; one being a shovel pass that went for 33 yards and the other being a two yard red zone score. Brissett remained calm when feeling pressure stepping up in the pocket and delivering the ball to the best option. Overall, Brissett looked the part and played a fine game though not having to do all that much as the Wolfpack’s rushing offense finished the night with 330 yards. Brissett’s final stat line was 18-of-23, 218 yards, and two touchdowns.
Other draft eligible Wolfpack players that stood out consisted of senior defensive end Mike Rose and cornerback Juston Burris. Rose got incredible push on a smaller South Alabama offensive line and finished the game with three tackles and one tackle for loss as consistently won his battle at the point of the attack. Burris was on an island the whole game, receiving only one target as he was matched up against Danny Woodson for the majority of the night.
Not many bright points came from the home team, but right tackle Chris May, wide receiver Marvin Shinn, and all-purpose weapon D.J. Vinson are still worth keeping an eye on as the season progresses. Senior quarterback Cody Clements had many streaks throughout the game of incompletions and could never catch rhythm as his accuracy faltered and so did the whole Jaguar offense.
The best thing to take away from this game is to keep an eye on a couple of talented runners for the Wolfpack with Shadrach Thornton and Matthew Dayes as both were highly effective en route versus South Alabama.
Brissett solidified his ranking as one of the top senior quarterbacks in college football with his very efficient night as he continues to keep knocking at the door in becoming a top tier quarterback in draft talks. Brissett will need to continue to play smart football with Louisville coming to town next weekend.
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