Offensive grades: NC State football vs. UNC-Chapel Hill

NC State football’s offense shined against rival UNC-Chapel Hill and earned some highly rated offensive grades.

The Wolfpack finished off the regular season with a five-game winning streak and a beat down on cross-town rival UNC. The red-and-white offense scored on its first eight drives of the game and came out strong versus the Tar Heels with a commanding 23-0 lead. The Pack’s offense was consistent in the primetime matchup, converting a season-high 27 first downs and 504 total yards of offense. There’s no question the offense has found its rhythm late into the season.

Quarterback 

Graduate quarterback Brennan Armstrong shined in his first rivalry matchup against Carolina and final home game of the season. Armstrong passed for a season-high of 334 yards as well as another season-high of three touchdown passes in the game. The graduate consistently found wide receivers through the air, completing passes for gains over 10 yards to six different Wolfpack receivers. 

Armstrong found freshman wideout Kevin "KC" Concepcion twice in the first half for touchdowns, as well as redshirt sophomore receiver  Dacari Collins for a beautiful 20-yard touchdown catch in the back of the endzone. 

Armstrong had a season-best quarterback rating of 193.4 and easily enjoyed his best day in the passing game. Armstrong was rewarded with the ACC honor of quarterback of the week for his efforts in beating the Tar Heels. Armstrong closed out the regular season with three straight starts at quarterback, throwing six touchdowns with no interceptions and rushing in three more — which gave him responsibility for nine touchdowns and no turnovers. Expect to see Armstrong start in whichever bowl game the Pack is selected to play in. 

Grade: A+

Running backs

In the commanding win over UNC, the red-and-white had a balanced rushing attack. Concepcion served as the leading rusher by lining up in the backfield several times and a handful of jet motions. Concepcion tallied 55 rushing yards on 11 carries. Redshirt junior running back Delbert Mimms III racked up 44 yards on 14 carries, which also included a hard-nosed touchdown run in the third quarter. Overall, the Pack continues to run the ball well with five rushers totaling 170 rushing yards.

Grade: B+

Pass catchers 

The passing game saw its peak in the primetime win versus the cross-town foe. Eight Wolfpack receivers caught passes and racked up 334 yards on 22 completions. The Pack averaged 15.2 yards a reception and relentlessly found gaps in the UNC secondary. 

Concepcion, Collins, senior wide receiver Keyon Lesane and graduate wide receiver Bradley Rozner all had season-highs in receiving yards. The Wolfpack had the most passing first downs of the season at 15 and overall were efficient in finding weak points in the secondary and helped provide open targets for Armstrong to find. 

Concepcion capped off his regular season with yet another ACC Player of the Week recognition. He finished with his third 100-plus receiving yard game, 10 receiving touchdowns, was the Pack's leading receiver and second-leading rusher.  

Grade: A+

Offensive line

For the second consecutive week, the offensive line was efficient in nearly all aspects of the game. They provided optimal time for Armstrong to run through his progressions and gave up just a single sack for a second straight week — as well as opening up lanes for the running backs and getting to the second defense in wide receiver screens and jet motions. 

In Armstrong's final three weeks as starting quarterback the offense, with a lot of credit to the offensive line, had over 40 minutes of possession time and in the final game posted a season-high of 504 total offensive yards.

Grade: A