North Carolina State running back Matthew Dayes had beat Zaire Franklin down the left sideline. Ryan Finley’s throw dropped right in front of Franklin because the linebacker failed to turn around. He placed one hand on Dayes, minimal contact on the coverage.

The running back dropped the ball as he fell out of bounds. For the second time in two drives, Syracuse would have found a way to get off the field on a fourth down in its own territory. Except the referee drew the flag from his pocket. He called Franklin for a pass interference because the linebacker failed to turn around on the coverage.

“I thought I played through the hands, I should have gotten my eyes back,” Franklin said.

“I could have played it way better,” Franklin added later. “I look at the penalty as a consequence of me not sticking to my fundamentals.

Instead of getting off the field, SU allowed Dayes to rush for a touchdown three plays later. The score tied the game at seven and began the Orange’s (4-6, 2-4 Atlantic Coast) inability to usher its defense off the field. N.C. State (5-5, 2-4) punted just four times, converted 10-of-18 (55.6 percent conversion rate) times on third down and converted on one of its two fourth downs. The Wolfpack held the ball for 41 minutes, 18 seconds of the game, good for 68.8 percent of the clock. NCSU won Saturday’s contest in the Carrier Dome, 35-20.

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MORE COVERAGE:

• Eric Dungey ‘probably doubtful’ against Florida State
• Syracuse is down to its last strike after loss to N.C. State
• Gallery: The best sights from SU’s loss to the Wolfpack

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SU tried a number of strategies against N.C. State, including overloading the offensive line with blitzers on third down and changing personnel. The changes worked initially — SU held the Wolfpack to just 4-of-11 on third down at one point — but broke down late in the game.

“Fifty percent, that’s a big number, that’s a big number,” Babers said. “And that’s going to continue drives, that’s going to give them a lot more plays and that’s going to give them a lot more time of possession.”

On North Carolina State’s first drive, the Wolfpack gained at least eight yards on its first five plays, driving 43 yards to the Syracuse 35. On second and 2 from SU’s 27, Josh Black and Zaire Franklin stopped Dayes for a 2-yard loss. Then safety Kielan Whitner jumped on a North Carolina State wide receiver and tipped Finley’s pass away.

For third down, Syracuse trotted out De’Jon Wilson and Kendall Coleman at both defensive end spots and paired Josh Black and Chris Slayton at the defensive tackle spots. Franklin and linebacker Parris Bennett walked to the line of scrimmage. In all, Syracuse showed a six-man blitz.

The Wolfpack kept its five offensive linemen to block and sent its running back on a swing route. Wilson pass rushed for two steps to pull the right tackle’s attention and then left to cover the running back. That left four offensive linemen to cover five defensive players.

Coleman rushed unblocked and sacked Finley. He got up from the sack and pointed at defensive line coach Vinson Reynolds. Babers said SU brought extra pressure because it forced the Wolfpack into third-and-long plays. SU pushed N.C. State into 10 third downs of 5 or more yards and five of 10 or more yards.

Jessica Sheldon | Photo Editor

“We realized they had a max protection formation,” Coleman said, “so we tried to bring more guys to even that out.”

“I thought we matched up extremely well with this football team,” Babers said. “So we didn’t just want to play coverage all the time.”

That only worked until midway through the third quarter. On one drive N.C. State converted four third downs of 4, 6, 5 and 12 yards. The Wolfpack picked up 49 yards on those four third downs, which accounted for all but 37 yards on the drive. On N.C. State’s non-third downs, it picked up 3.7 yards per play as opposed to the 12.25 yards per play on third down.

Finley and N.C. State moved down the field in 7 minutes, 34 seconds. On its final third down conversion, Wolfpack tight end Jaylen Samuels caught the ball well short of the first-down marker. But he stiff-armed linebacker Parris Bennet, outran defensive back Scoop Bradshaw to the sideline and cut up to pick up 18 yards.

Two plays later, Dayes scored again, widening N.C. State’s lead to eight points and distancing itself from SU for good.

“We have been been really good on third down and in the red zone,” safety Rodney Williams said, “so when it’s something we really pride ourselves on, it’s tough when we give it up.”

Published on November 12, 2016 at 7:52 pm

Contact Chris: [email protected] | @ChrisLibonati