Three things for NC State football to consider following its 24-9 loss to Syracuse

N.C. State coach Dave Doeren knew by 1:30 p.m. Monday that Devin Leary was out for the season.

The news from the medical staff, he said, came after his Monday news conference — that Leary had a full pectoral tear and not a partial tear, as first believed. He would need surgery.

Leary’s injury made Jack Chambers the starting quarterback Saturday at Syracuse, where the No. 15 Wolfpack was beaten 24-9 by the No. 18 Orange. But even Chambers did not know the severity of Leary’s injury, and the implications, until later, he said.

“I found out basically when you guys found out,” Chambers said to the media after the ACC game.

His emotions after being told were understandable.

“It’s something different and you definitely feel bad for him and feel heartbroken for him because he’s a warrior and competitor and a guy you want to see succeed,” Chambers said. “He will succeed, and come back bigger and stronger. But it’s definitely heartbreaking.”

But will he come back to N.C. State? The ACC’s preseason player of the year, Leary was considered someone the NFL types might want and draft after this season. And now this. But he does have a year of eligibility remaining, and the decision could be to make one more run with the Wolfpack.

But that will be decided later. For now, it’s Chambers’ team to run. Freshman M.J. Morris had playing time Saturday and Doeren said both would be used in the final five games of the season.

There are some big ACC tests still ahead — Wake Forest and North Carolina, to name two. Both have shown they can score points in bunches and have major quarterback star power.

The Wolfpack (5-2 overall, 1-2 ACC) did allow Chambers to throw the ball more in the second half Saturday, and he did make some nice throws. The former Charleston Southern quarterback, a walk-on transfer to NCSU in May, was 18-of-30 for 160 yards, albeit with a chunk of that yardage coming in the final minutes of the game.

“Jack played hard. He did some good things,” Doeren said. “He made a lot of plays with his legs today and didn’t turn the ball over. He had good poise, didn’t get rattled. He can definitely grow from that game.”

Chambers had a key mistake — a bobbled snap early in the second half with the Pack trailing 10-3 and at the Syracuse 22. The din of the 49,705 fans at the JMA Wireless Dome caused other mistakes in communication and running plays.

But it was start — as the starter. Chambers knows he has to be better. He’s determined to be better.

Three things to consider for the Pack moving forward:

The defense can’t carry the load

Not every game the rest of the way. The Wolfpack defense is among the best in the ACC and made things tough at times for the Orange. But not tough enough, linebacker Isaiah Moore said.

“We knew had to rise up and make some plays and we didn’t do that,” Moore said.

The Pack did pick off two Garrett Shrader passes and the Orange did not break the game open until Sean Tucker’s late TD run.

“We didn’t do our job,” Moore said. “We gave up too many big runs and so many big points. We knew they were talented coming into the game. We knew they had playmakers who could make big plays and that we had to stop them. And we didn’t.”

And the loss of Leary? A tough blow, yes, felt by the entire football team.

“It’s all about the next-man-up,” Moore said. “That’s what we’ve been going through the last couple of years. He’s our leader. As soon as we found out we comforted him.”

As Leary will now try to comfort and encourage his teammates.

Pack needs more playmakers

It would have helped if the Wolfpack had injured running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye available Saturday. It would have helped if one of their best offensive linemen, left guard Chander Zavala, had not left the game after the first quarter with an injury. Or later losing Cory Durden and Devan Boykin off the defense. That hurt.

The hope for the Pack is that other than Leary, they have close to a full complement of players for their next game — the Thursday night game Oct. 27 against Virginia Tech at Carter-Finley Stadium.

That will include tight end Trent Pennix, who has been out with an injury. He will give Chambers another target. But Keyon Lesane, Porter Rooks and the other wideouts will need to step their games up, run their routes sharper.

Pack must persevere

The Wolfpack has a one-word focus motto each week and the one for the Syracuse game was “perseverance.” Little did the Pack know …

N.C. State had to tough it out Saturday in a very loud and tough road environment and stuck with it, even as the Orange added to its lead. It was 10-3, Orange, at the half and 10-6 in the third quarter. The Pack was managing the game.

Trailing 17-6, the Pack could have made things interesting had Thayer Thomas latched on to Chambers’ throw and stayed in bounds in the back of the end zone. It was the kind of play he usually makes. Christopher Dunn’s third field goal made it 17-9 and the Pack still was in it.

“The defense did a great job of executing the game plan,” Chambers said. “We just didn’t execute ours.”

There will be more tough moments to come for the Wolfpack. There will be good moments. As Moore put, the Pack is not resetting any goals. Not yet.

This story was originally published October 16, 2022 at 6:10 AM with the headline "Three things for NC State football to consider following its 24-9 loss to Syracuse."

Chip Alexander

The News & Observer

919-829-8945

In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.