The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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down on 24 attempts, while he added 2 receptions for 11 yards to help power the Wolfpack offense the entire night. The tailback averaged 8.2 yards per carry and was able to do just about whatever he wanted in the victory, including breaking off a 69-yard run. Individual Defensive Performance of the Year Doeren and the coaching staff came up with the idea of placing senior cor- nerback Devon Marshall on Florida State star wideout Duce Robinson just two days before kickoff. Despite a 7-inch height difference between the two players, NC State was confident in the former Villa- nova transfer's skills. Marshall, who stands 5-foot-11, proved the staff right, and did so in con- vincing fashion. He put together a ca- reer-best showing with 6 pass breakups and 2 interceptions against the Semi- noles, limiting the ACC's second-leading receiver at the time to just 2 catches for 40 yards on 9 targets. To put Marshall's dominant perfor- mance in context, he was one of only two players in all of college football to record 6 pass breakups in one game this season, joining Cal's Brent Austin (versus Vir- ginia on Nov. 1). Top Three Offensive Plays of the Year 1. Freshman wide receiver Teddy Hoffmann's touchdown pass at Pitt. NC State caught the Panthers flat-footed with a trick play in the second quarter. Bailey threw a pass behind the line of scrimmage to Hoffmann, who looked downfield to connect with senior tight end Justin Joly. It turned into a 59-yard touchdown strike. Joly limped into the end zone with an apparent leg injury but was still able to finish the play on the road Oct. 25 at Acrisure Stadium. 2. Freshman quarterback Will Wil- son is carried into the end zone. NC State had a third-and-1 from the North Carolina 15-yard line and opted to al- low Wilson to bulldoze his way for a first down. He did more than that, though, scoring a touchdown on the ground. Wilson was carried by the Wolfpack's offensive line, his feet not even on the ground, for the last 4 yards. "That was fun," Wilson said following NC State's 42-19 victory to end the regu- lar season. "When I got tackled, the next thing I knew, my feet were in the air and I was just enjoying the ride and protect- ing the ball." 3. Sophomore wide receiver Ter- rell Anderson goes 75 yards on a screen at Duke. It seemed like NC State's offense was going to go three-and-out to open its Sept. 20 game at Duke after a 1-yard loss on first down and an incompletion on sec- ond. But offensive coordinator Kurt Roper called for a screen pass to Anderson, who turned upfield and outran the entire Blue Devils defense for a touchdown. His ex- plosive play ended up as the Pack's longest pass of the regular season. Top Three Defensive Plays of the Year 1. Redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Isaiah Shirley's pick six at Wake Forest. NC State blitzed Wake Forest quarterback Robby Ashford late in the first quarter of the team's first road game of the year, which forced an errant throw on a screen pass. The ball ended up in Shirley's hands with nothing but green grass in front of him, which resulted in a 41-yard pick six for the Wolfpack's 276-pound defensive end to help swing the momentum. 2. Graduate linebacker Cian Slone's game-sealing interception vs. Vir- ginia. Virginia was marching down the field with a chance to score the go-ahead touchdown in the final two minutes of the Sept. 6 nonconference clash. But as Cava- liers quarterback Chandler Morris looked to the end zone, he didn't see Slone read- ing his eyes. The Utah State trans- fer read the pass perfectly, inter- cepting the signal-caller for his first career pick to seal the Pack's marquee out-of-league victory at Carter-Finley Stadium. Returning from a torn ACL that cut short his 2024 season, Caden Fordham led the Power Four conferences with 130 tackles this fall. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS 30 ■ THE WOLFPACKER