Raleigh, NC – KC Concepcion picked up where he left off last season as he helped lead the NC State Wolfpack to a 38-21 victory on opening night from Carter-Finley Stadium Thursday night.
Concepcion’s big night included nine receptions for 121 yards and three touchdowns. He is the first Wolfpack wide receiver since Thayer Thomas in 2020 to bring in three scores in a game.
He is only the fourth sophomore in program history to have a three-touchdown reception game, joining Tramain Hall vs. Duke (2003), Jericho Cotchery vs. Clemson (2001), and Koren Robinson vs. Georgia Tech (2000)
Multiple newcomers for the Wolfpack suited up for the first time tonight, with running back Jordan Waters running for 123 yards on 20 attempts and two touchdowns. His 50-yard run late in the fourth quarter sealed the game. Quarterback Grayson McCall went 26-40 for 318 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception.
NC State Quarterback Grayson McCall #2 (photo by Gene Galin)
Justin Joly and Noah Rogers also shined in their debuts, with Joly hauling in five catches going for 75 yards, while Rogers caught three passes for 43 yards.
Western Carolina’s 21 points are the most given up by the Wolfpack in series history. The previous high was 20 points in 2003. The Wolfpack move to 8-0 against the Catamounts
It was Western Carolina striking first after capitalizing on a 51-yard interception return to the Wolfpack’s eight-yard line in which they scored on the next offensive play to take the early lead over NC State.
Tied going into halftime, the Wolfpack came out on the second half’s opening drive and put up points with a 46-yard field goal from Kanoah Vinesett to give the Wolfpack a 17-14 lead. It was his first FG with the Wolfpack.
The Catamounts would retake the lead with a six-play 75-yard drive to make it 21-17 late in the third quarter after Branson Adams rushed it in for a score.
The third touchdown for Concepcion was a 35-yard catch that gave the Wolfpack a 24-21 lead.
The defense stepped up when needed. Davin Vann and Brandon Cleveland combined for a sack to force a third-and-long that the Catamounts would not convert, punting the ball back to the Wolfpack offense.
The offense drove down the field again, chewing valuable time off the clock, and capitalized with Waters scoring his first TD in a Wolfpack uniform from seven yards out to widen the NC State lead.
Aydan White, Donovan Kaufman, and Jayland Parker led the defense with seven tackles each.
From Dave Doeren
“Proud of how we finished. Obviously, I would love to have been playing better in the first half, but I’m not going to apologize for winning either. I think Western Carolina played a hard-fought game. I thought defensively, we didn’t tackle well in the first half, and we gave up some third downs that we usually don’t do defensively. We didn’t convert on some drives, but we went for it on fourth down twice and didn’t get it. And so there was some frustration there. We came into the fourth quarter and really loved how we responded.”
“I thought KC had a great game offensively, and that sparked this win. I was proud of Jordan Waters responding because I don’t think he played well in the first half and responded, and that was great to see. And that’s what you look for in veteran players; Davin Vann made a big play. You know, lean on guys when you need them. And it’s good to see Grayson in there. Getting tackled for the first time in a year probably felt good for him. But, you know, winning is hard, and being 1-0 is great, having a couple of days to recover and prepare to play in Charlotte against Tennessee.”
From Western Carolina Head Coach Kerwin Bell
“We did exactly what we wanted to do and what we’ve been coaching them do, which is, you know, everybody talks about the upset; there’s no upset unless you play well early and unless you stay in the game and play good, consistent football and took care of the football; and we did that. We just found a way to stay in it. We didn’t give them a lot of big plays, and, you know, at halftime, we thought we were in this thing.
“Offensively, we are who we think we are. We were number one in the nation last year in yards total offense. We’ve got a veteran quarterback who’s playing at a higher level than last year. I think our line’s just as good. We need to stay healthy on that side of the ball. I think the receivers that will grow every week they’re getting are young, but they’re very talented, so it all comes down to the defense. I think tonight you’ve seen just a sneak preview of what we could do defensively, and I think that’s going to carry us over the top to be able to go win a championship.”