NC State football holds off Marshall. Three takeaways from the Pack’s wild 48-41 win

Vegas predicted this would be a high-scoring game, and it was right.

N.C. State won its non-conference matchup against Marshall, 48-41, on Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium.

The game was headlined by the teams trading touchdowns, especially in the second half, as the Pack (4-2, 1-1 ACC) came away with points on five of its last seven drives.

N.C. State now leads the all-time series, 6-0, after taking a five-year break.

Here are three takeaways from the Wolfpack’s first win with sophomore quarterback MJ Morris in the backfield.

MJ Morris leads Pack to victory

Dave Doeren said the N.C. State offense needed a spark when he announced Morris as N.C. State’s starting quarterback this week. The sophomore’s first outing of the season was certainly a mixed bag.

He threw three interceptions, two coming in the first half. Marshall (4-1, 1-0 Sun Belt) turned one of the miscues into a pick six and scored first. Morris threw another interception to start the third quarter, but the Wolfpack was bailed out by a turnover on downs. Defensive linemen Davin Vann and Savion Jackson sacked Marshall quarterback Cam Fancher for a loss of 11 on fourth down.

Morris, however, added five explosive passing plays for a gain of 15-plus yards. Two of his touchdown passes were for 39 yards and 62 yards, respectively, to tight end Trent Pennix. The 39-yard pass put N.C. State up 21-14 after a fumble recovery.

Additionally, Morris handed the ball off to running back Delbert Mimms for a touchdown in the first quarter. Mimms’ rush into the end zone – his longest run of the season – followed five straight completions from his quarterback.

He completed 17-of-32 yards for 265 yards, a career high. His four touchdowns were also a career high, so Morris’ performance was far from perfect but he showed a lot of positives.

Controversial game management

Fans on social media criticized the game management at the end of the first half. They said conservative play calling led to three straight drives resulting in punts and a 24-21 lead for Marshall at halftime.

It’s hard to blame them. The Wolfpack scored an 18-yard rushing touchdown at the 11:43 mark in the second quarter. About two minutes later, linebacker Payton Wilson recovered a fumble forced by defensive lineman Davin Vann. Wilson returned that for 10 yards, and then Morris found tight end Trent Pennix for a 39-yard score. N.C. State was rolling with 2:34 left.

On the Wolfpack’s following drives, most of the passing attempts were for short yardage, and the Marshall defense limited production on the ground. Even with the limited gains, the team found itself on 4th and 5 twice and 4th and 6 once. When the Pack was on its own 40, the team opted to punt instead of go for it.

It felt like N.C. State was trying to run out the clock instead of taking risks to extend the lead. Sure, it pulled off the victory, but it squandered an advantage and made its job in the second half more difficult.

N.C. State defense comes up big

Once again, the Wolfpack defense deserves a lot of credit for its efforts. It wasn’t able to pull off the win against Louisville, in a 13-10 loss last week, but it played a key part in the win this week.

First, it did a great job stopping the Herd on third down. Marshall converted on 5-of-18 attempts and went 1-of-5 on fourth down.

Prior to the game, Marshall averaged 169 rushing yards per game and 4.31 yards per carry. The Pack held the visitors to 104 yards and 2.7 per attempt.

N.C. State picked off one Marshall pass and forced three fumbles, as well. Linebacker Payton Wilson returned one fumble for 10 yards. That turned into Pennix’s 39-yard touchdown. Wide receiver Kevin “KC” Concepcion scored an 8-yard TD after nickelback Robert Kennedy’s pick in the fourth.

The team’s pass rush efforts were worth praise, too. It recorded four sacks and six quarterback hurries, with six players contributing in each statistic. Vann and defensive lineman Brandon Cleveland contributed 1.5 sacks each, while Wilson finished with 14 tackles, one sack and a hurry.

Yes, it gave up 11 big plays – as seen by the second-highest opponent point total – but N.C. State’s defenders made up for those.

The following are live updates from the game.

Concepcion TD pushes Pack lead to 14 points

Kevin Concepcion caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from MJ Morris with 6:04 to play in the game gave the Wolfpack a 48-34 lead. A freshman, Concepcion has seven catches for 104 yards with two touchdowns in the game.

Another FG extends lead

Another big passing play from quarterback MJ Morris but the Wolfpack in position for Brayden Narveson to kick a 27-yard field goal to give N.C. State a 41-34 lead with 7:03 to play. The score was set up by a 38-yard pass play from Morris to Kevin Concepcion that reached the Thundering Herd 16.

State FG restores 4-point lead

After MJ Morris connected with Terrel Timmons for a 47-yard gain, the Wolfpack turned that big play into points when Brayden Narveson booted a 40-yard field goal for a 38-34 NC State lead with 14:44 to play in the game.

Marshall adds FG

After giving up the lead again, the Herd reached the NC State 9 on their ensuing possession. But the Wolfpack defense held firm from there and Rece Verhoff’s 26-yard field goal cut the NC State lead to 35-34 with 1:24 to play in the third quarter.

Pennix scores second TD

Tight end Trent Pennix pulled in a deep pass for a 62-yard receiving touchdown, his second time in the end zone. The Wolfpack’s drive lasted just two plays and took 43 seconds off the clock. Coming into the game, the graduate student from Raleigh hadn’t contributed a touchdown.

Marshall keeps responding

The Herd didn’t let the Wolfpack’s touchdown deflate any confidence. Marshall scored a 28-yard touchdown on a drive that included three plays of at least 10 yards, retaking the lead in a back and forth contest.

Michael Allen with career-high score

Sophomore running back Michael Allen ran the ball in for a 37-yard touchdown. That was his first career rushing TD and a career-high. Previously, his best touchdown was a 34-yard reception in 2022.

Halftime: Marshall takes 3-point lead into break

The Herd took a one-possession lead after two straight scoring drives. Its most recent score was a 4-yard touchdown run by quarterback Cam Fancher with 31 seconds left in the half to retake the lead. Marshall finished the first two quarters with 167 yards to N.C. State’s 181 yards, but the Pack ended the first half with three straight punts.

NC State scores after Wilson’s fumble recovery, pass to Pennix

A full team effort gave the Wolfpack a 21-14 lead in the second quarter. Defensive lineman Davin Vann forced a fumble, which linebacker Payton Wilson recovered and returned for 10 yards. MJ Morris found tight end Trent Pennix for a 39-yard touchdown pass.

Wolfpack ties game with Mimms’ season-high run

N.C. State running back Delbert Mimms III recorded an 18-yard rushing touchdown, his longest run of the season, to tie the game. After starting 1-of-6 passing, MJ Morris completed five straight passes on the drive before the handoff to Mimms.

Marshall records a pick six to retake lead

MJ Morris threw his second interception of the game, which the Herd turned into a pick six. Marshall’s Josh Morten snagged the pass and returned it 27 yards for the touchdown.

NC State ties the game in first quarter

Freshman wide receiver Kevin “KC” Concepcion grabbed a 17-yard touchdown pass from MJ Morris. That ended a 7-play, 43-yard scoring drive. It is the first touchdown throw for Morris this season.

The Herd strikes first

In just the second play of MJ Morris’ start, the Herd intercepted his pass and capitalized on the N.C. State mistake four plays later. Marshall quarterback Cam Fancher ran the ball in for a 7-yard touchdown, capping a 29-yard drive.

Rakeim Ashford out

Graduate student Rakeim Ashford left the game on Marshall’s opening drive due to an injury. The Wolfpack athletics department announced Ashford is out for the day. The team is already without redshirt sophomore Sean Brown, whose appeal for a targeting call against Louisville was denied.

Baldwin back on offense

Redshirt sophomore Jakolbe Baldwin returned to his normal position of wide receiver. The N.C. State coaching staff moved him to safety last week. No additional information was provided about the switch.

50th anniversary of 1973 ACC Championship

N.C. State recognized its 1973 football team, which won the ACC Championship 50 years ago, in Lou Holtz’s second season with the program.

The Wolfpack went 9-3 overall and 6-0 in ACC play, defeating Wake Forest in a 52-13 blowout. It finished No. 16 in the Associated Press poll.