NC State beats Old Dominion 38-14

NORFOLK, Va. -- Jacoby Brissett threw one touchdown pass and ran for another to lead North Carolina State to a 38-14 victory over Old Dominion on Saturday night.

Brissett ran for a 21-yard touchdown, and was 18 of 27 for 179 yards passing with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Samuels.

"Jacoby had a fever and didn't feel well this morning, but no way are you keeping him off the field," North Carolina State coach Dave Doeren said. "He wanted to play no matter what."

Matthew Dayes ran for 108 yards and a touchdown. Shadrach Thornton added 92 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Samuels also ran for a score. North Carolina State (3-0) finished with 256 yards rushing compared with minus-3 for Old Dominion (2-1).

Shuler Bentley was 11 of 23 for 151 yards with two touchdown passes for the Monarchs, including a 70-yard scoring strike to Ray Lawry to start the second quarter. After Lawry's touchdown, the Wolfpack held the Monarchs without a first down the rest of first half.

North Carolina State held Lawry, the nation's leading rusher, to just 15 yards on 11 carries. Lawry entered averaging 218 yards per game.

"Take away the screen pass (Lawry) caught and we pretty much eliminated him," Doeren said.

The Wolfpack opened the scoring with a 15-play, 73-yard drive on its first possession that lasted nearly eight minutes. They converted a fourth-and-1 from the 8, and Samuels scored from the 3 on the next play.

Brissett ran in for a score early in the second quarter, and North Carolina State stretched its lead with 42 seconds left in the first half, capping a nine-play, 51-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Brissett to Samuels.

The Wolfpack led 28-7 with 6:44 to go in the third quarter when Dayes bulled in from the 2 to cap a four-play, 20-yard drive.

The Monarchs responded with their best drive of the game, moving 75 yards in 11 plays. Bentley hit Jonathan Duhart with a 13-yard touchdown pass to pull the Monarchs to 28-14 late in the third quarter.

Kyle Bambard kicked a 36-yard field goal and Thornton ran in from the 1 to cap the scoring for the Wolfpack.

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