No drill: NC State defensive backs prepare to face Mississippi State’s ‘air raid’
It was third and 19 and South Florida quarterback Timmy McClain was looking for help. N.C. State safety Cyrus Fagan was looking for work.
That’s the term Fagan used to describe his third quarter interception of McClain, one of three picks the Wolfpack defense collected last week.
McClain was on the run, a theme for both Bulls’ quarterbacks during the 45-0 N.C. State win. Chasing McClain down was freshman defensive end Davin Vann. Fagan, a former quarterback, immediately knew what was going through McClain’s mind as soon as he broke the pocket.
“It’s a lot of bodies in there,” Fagan said. “You don’t know what’s coming. I used to play quarterback so I know how his mind was racing and I knew the scramble rules.”
The scramble rules for the offense means the deep receiver comes back to the quarterback, the closest receiver goes long. Fagan processed that as the play developed, eyeing McClain the entire time.
“So I found some work,” Fagan said. “And went towards my work.”
Fagan’s “work” was an open area in the secondary. The reward for his work was a gift-wrapped interception from McClain.
Two different South Florida quarterbacks combined for 33 pass attempts. This weekend against Mississippi State (1-0), Fagan and the rest of the Wolfpack defense might see that many attempts in one half.
There will be plenty of chances for Fagan and company to find work.
The Bulldogs are coached by Mike Leach, the genius behind the air raid offense. Leach has a system that he has stuck with, successfully, from Texas Tech to Washington State and now Mississippi State. It can look complicated, but it’s pretty simple: Throw the ball around the field, get it to the athletes in space.
Last week in a 35-34 win over Louisiana Tech, Bulldogs’ quarterback Will Rogers attempted 47 passes. That’s right on par with the 2020 season when MSU finished third in the country in pass attempts per game at exactly 47. They were fourth in the nation in passing yards per game (370.0). Yes, Fagan and company will have chances to get more work, this time against a coach that lives and dies by the forward pass.
“His passing game and playbook is the same on first down, second down and third down,” N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren said. “They’re very, very good at what they do.”
Preparing for the air raid
When Leach was the offensive coordinator at Kentucky, the Wildcats broke 116 school records. Last season at Mississippi State, his first year in Starkville, Bulldogs quarterback K.J. Costello passed for 623 yards in an upset of defending national champion LSU. The 623 yards is an SEC single-game record.
The NCAA record books for passing has Leach’s footprints in black and white, most of the damage done by his gunslingers at Texas Tech. While Leach was in Lubbock, Doeren was at Kansas, a Big 12 foe.
He remembers those game weeks preparing to face Leach and the air raid.
“It was a tough offense,” Doeren recalled. “Texas Tech at that time was at their sweet spot. They were playing really well. They don’t do a ton. There’s not a ton of formations. There’s a really good understanding of spacing and timing in their offense and doing things after the catch with it. We have to be able to tackle space.”
Doeren added that the screen pass is an underrated part of the Leach system, and looks similar to a stretch run play for N.C. State. The Wolfpack defensive staff has to be one step ahead and have different counters for the Leach attack. If N.C. State stays in one defense, Doeren explained, Leach will “pick you apart.”
Last week, Louisiana Tech was able to rattle the Bulldogs just enough to jump out to a 31-14 lead. They sacked Rogers three times, but the Mississippi State offense scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
N.C. State didn’t get any sacks against South Florida, but did harass both quarterbacks all night. Doeren was pleased with the pressure his defense brought and didn’t put too much in the lack of sacks.
“Well, what you’re looking for is getting the ball back to your offense,” Doeren explained. “And there’s a lot of ways to do that. We may not sack the quarterback as many times as you want, but you’ve got to hit him. You’ve got to pressure him, get him off the spot, you’ve got to force incompletions. We did some of that.”
In Tony Gibson’s 3-3-5 defense, the defensive line will be outnumbered every time, but Gibson likes to bring pressure from all over. The linebackers and defensive backs blitz occasionally, perfectly picking their spots throughout the game.
“With a three-man rush it’s sometimes hard to get pressure,” linebacker Isaiah Moore said. “But we’ll dial it up when we need to.”
Sack or not, the pressure presented by the front seven made Fagan and the rest of defensive backs’ jobs a lot easier in week one.
“As a DB (defensive back) your world is sweet when a quarterback has to get a quick pass off,” Fagan said. “When they apply that pressure, we know they can get back there, we just have to lock in and do our job.”
Big game for DBs
More passes means more chances for turnovers by the N.C. State defense. Fagan and company know this and are up to the challenge. Fagan actually took it a step further, putting the outcome of the came squarely on the shoulders of the secondary.
“We just know that the game is on us,” Fagan said. “Win, lose or draw it’s on us.”
Doeren doesn’t think that’s fair. There are 11 players responsible for defending Mississippi State. The front seven has to play their assignments, as well as the linebackers. When they apply pressure they have to finish the play and not let ball carriers slip out of their grasps. Everyone on that side of the ball has a job to do, on both sides of the ball. But Doeren likes that mentality from Fagan.
“It all ties together, better cover equals more sacks,” Doeren said before adding, “I’m glad he feels that way. That’s what you would hope.”
Last season, the N.C. State defense was ranked No. 38 in the nation in passing yards allowed. The Wolfpack defense gave up 300 yards or more through the air three times; two of those were 400-yard passing games. The secondary this season is deeper and more experienced. Fagan, a transfer from FSU, is a perfect combo on the back end, playing beside Tanner Ingle. The depth will come into factor as N.C. State will have fresh legs to rotate against the pass-happy Bulldogs.
Doeren doesn’t see a drop off at corner from Derrek Pitts, Jr. to Shyheim Battle to Chris Ingram to Teshaun Smith. Ayden White was also in the rotation versus South Florida. Tyler Baker-Williams was spelled by Joshua Pierre-Louis and the biggest difference was Baker-Williams, a junior, was able to line up faster.
Whoever is in the secondary will get plenty of chances to defend the pass and add to the turnover total. For Fagan and the rest of the group, this is the kind of game they love.
“We want to see the team succeed and we know it starts in that DB room,” Fagan said. “We have to come to play and bring our A-game.”
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 2:00 PM with the headline "No drill: NC State defensive backs prepare to face Mississippi State’s ‘air raid’."
