The NC State football team got itself back into the win column Saturday night with a 19-17 victory over Florida State, and now the Wolfpack will face another tough ACC test.

The 15th-ranked Pack is headed north to Syracuse, N.Y., where the 5-0 Orange will look to upset NC State in a top-20 matchup that has some serious implications in the ACC Atlantic Division even with everybody chasing Clemson.

For NC State, there also is concern heading into the weekend at quarterback. Devin Leary exited the Florida State game, and while his status technically is “day-to-day”, it feels like a stretch to think the Pack might have him against the No. 18 Orange.

Here are 5 keys for NC State if it hopes to win Saturday afternoon:

Keep contain

NC State will finish up the toughest stretch of its schedule against the Orange, as a back-to-back-to-back against Clemson, Florida State and Syracuse will come to an end.

Among the unique challenges of the stretch for the Pack was the mobility of each quarterback, as DJ Uiagalelei, Jordan Travis and Garrett Shrader present a very real threat on the ground. And for NC State’s elite defensive front, keeping contain on the quarterback has proven to be a weakness.

Uiagalelei led the Tigers with 73 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns down at Death Valley, headlined by a huge 38-yard keeper that helped set up a touchdown. Against Florida State, Travis had even more success. He rushed for 108 yards — including a massive 71-yard explosive play that really shifted the tide to FSU’s favor during the opening half.

Now the Pack will have the same challenge against Shrader, who has rushed for 219 yards and 5 touchdowns this year. The Pack has to do a better job of keeping contain and also making the tackles against a 3rd mobile quarterback in a row.

Be dynamic on offense

While the potential loss of Leary is detrimental to NC State’s offensive outlook, the presence of backup Jack Chambers does open the playbook to be a little more dynamic.

Leary, for all of his strengths, is the definition of a pocket passer. Chambers isn’t, as the Charleston Southern transfer has shown off his speed both at the Football Championship Subdivision level and against Florida State.

So if it is indeed Chambers at quarterback for NC State, it’s an opportunity for coordinator Tim Beck’s offense to get a little more plural in what it is doing. Use Chambers’ feet, as well as the growing confidence of the running backs, as a weapon against the Orange.

It’s something Syracuse won’t have film on to know how to combat, and it could dispel some of the damage the loss of Leary would bring about.

Stay on schedule and play ahead of the chains

NC State has a little bit of a 3rd-down problem. The Wolfpack’s offense is converting on 3rd down against ACC opponents just 25.93% of the time, which ranks 12th in the league.

And a big part of the problem the past 2 weeks for the Pack on 3rd down has been that NC State has been getting off schedule and playing behind the sticks. Against Clemson, the Pack was just 5-for-14 on 3rd down, with an ugly 7 of those coming on 3rd-and-9 or more. NC State converted on just 1 of those 7.

Then against Florida State, the Wolfpack went an abysmal 2-for-13 on 3rd down. Only 2 of those opportunities came on 3rd-and-9 or more, both failed, but another 6 came between 5 and 8 yards to go and NC State converted just once.

Sometimes it’s penalties, sometimes sacks and sometimes just negative plays, but NC State really needs to get that fixed. Against a stout Syracuse defense with potentially a new quarterback in the mix, NC State can’t afford to play so consistently behind the chains.

Start out on top

With Syracuse undefeated and NC State still ranked among the top 20 as well, there should be a really strong showing from Orange fans at the JMA Wireless Dome

And with NC State likely playing with Chambers at quarterback, it will be as important as ever for the Wolfpack to get ahead on the scoreboard early and do something to take the Syracuse faithful out of the game a bit.

Against Clemson, the Wolfpack didn’t start poorly, but it also never gave Tigers fans any real reason to doubt their team would win. And then against Florida State, NC State laid its biggest egg of the season in a gross half of football.

The Pack, of course, had its home crowd on its side for that matchup against the Seminoles, but against Syracuse that obviously won’t be the case. If Chambers does get the start, then it will be the biggest game of his NC State career, and a strong start could go a long way into settling Chambers into things.

Receivers have to make plays

As a whole, the Wolfpack hasn’t gotten everything it would have wanted out of its receiving corps. Thayer Thomas has been great, but nobody in the rest of the collective really has established themselves this season.

Against a strong Syracuse defense, this is the week someone needs to step up, get open and make some key catches. Darryl Jones had a nice touchdown against the Seminoles, and Keyon Lesane played well against Clemson.
But still it has been overall an issue for NC State’s wideouts to get consistently open even for Leary. Syracuse has been equally good at stopping the run and the pass, and while NC State likely will have a heavy dose of attacking on the ground it will have to throw the ball some.

For the sake of Chambers, the receivers need to do a good job of getting themselves open.