NC State Football: 3 Bold predictions vs Pitt in Week 7
3. Ryan Finley throws his first interception of the 2017 season
Ryan Finley has been better than advertised. After leading the Wolfpack to a 7-6 record in 2016 only months after arriving on campus as a graduate transfer student from Boise State, Finley has played like a man on fire this season. He has led his team to a commendable 5-1 record while passing for 1,770 yards on 158 completions and 10 touchdowns. M
ore impressively, he hasn’t thrown a single interception on 223 consecutive passes.
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As a super-redshirt junior, currently in his fifth year of college football following an initial redshirt season during his first season on campus at Boise State in 2013 and medical redshirt season in 2015, Finley has shown that he is incredibly well versed at playing quarterback at the FBS-level. He has proven to be a steady hand in the pocket who simply doesn’t make mistakes.
But in NC State’s Week 7 games against Pitt, Finley’s interception-less streak could be in serious danger of finally coming to an end. Pitt is currently tied for 32nd in the nation in passes intercepted with six so far this season, averaging one per game over the first six weeks of the season, and could very well continue this trend into Week 7.
Lead by junior safety Jordan Whitehead, a rangy, two-way star playmaker in the vein of Jabrill Peppers, the Panthers back-seven could make it an extremely long afternoon for the Wolfpack’s passing game in hostile territory.
Pat Narduzzi’s defensive alignment, largely derived from the Michigan State Spartans’ cover 4 scheme that he helped to popularize in the late-2000s as the team’s defensive coordinator, is predicated upon putting their defenders in the right position to make plays on the ball. It could give Finley and company fits in their forthcoming game.