4. That was a war of attrition for the NC State lines.
The defensive front was banged up and thin, the offensive front was even thinner – and then lost starting center Grant Gibson after he injured himself after a Wolfpack touchdown celebration – but this wasn’t the normal team.
It was a feisty performance against the massive bulk of the Kentucky lines, and the run defense got hammered on, but the team was able to stay in the game until mistakes were too much to overcome late.
There wasn’t enough of a ground game to matter – just 50 yards – but QB Bailey Hockman kept pushing with the short-range passing game. However, the interceptions, the mistakes, and the inability to get into any sort of a groove were way too much to overcome for a team that needed all the breaks to go its way.
Being -3 in turnover margin was devastating, and not being able to stop the run was even worse. The Wolfpack didn’t do any one thing all that well this year, and there were WAY too many penalties and misfires throughout the year, but this was the Find A Way team that couldn’t find away against a Kentucky team that – sorry – always seems to find a way.
The Pack needed to have something it could rely on, and it couldn’t take advantage of its opportunities. Making things worse was …