ACC Football Power Rankings, Week 5: There’s a Hurricane brewing

11. NC State Wolfpack (1-1, 1-1)

The Wolfpack followed their win against Wake Forest by getting thrashed by the Virginia Tech Hokies. The 45-24 result was not indicative of how badly the Hokies outclassed the Wolfpack. For the second straight week, the pass rush was non-existent, and a team that prided itself on defense surrendered 40 points.

What’s worse is the Wolfpack was thrashed by a team that played without 23 members of their roster, including quarterback Hendon Hooker due to COVID-19. North Carolina State was missing three players on defense due to injury, but the ‘Pack put up little fight against the Hokies.

This game leaves a lot of questions for Dave Doeren and his staff to answer. They need to figure out who is going to play quarterback. The maxim rings true, “if you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have any.” Both Devin Leary and Bailey Hockman played. Neither set the world on fire.

NC State was pushed around in the trenches on both sides of the ball. The offensive line surrendered six sacks to the Hokies, and the defense allowed Tech to run for 314 yards at 7.7 yards per rush.

The Wolfpack have to contend with maybe the best defensive line in the country when they take on Pittsburgh next week. It might not matter who’s at quarterback for the Wolfpack; he isn’t going to have much time to throw.