It seems like every week a new NC State receiver decides to light things up on the field. In the season opener, Jakobi Meyers (14 catches on 15 targets) carved up James Madison; a week later, Thayer Thomas ran wild — nine catches on nine targets, 114 yards, a touchdown — over Georgia State. On the road at Marshall, Kelvin Harmon, NC State’s star receiver, thundered through with six catches (on seven targets) for 150 yards.
When NC State opened up its 2018 ACC schedule at home against Virginia, though, it was yet another wide receiver that flourished: Emeka Emezie. The sophomore wideout, who is in the midst of a nice 2018 campaign (244 receiving yards, two touchdowns), had a career day: six catches (on seven targets) for 90 yards and a second quarter touchdown. Two of the grabs, including this touchdown jump ball, were special
For the season, Emezie has 20 receptions on 26 targets, according to Football Study Hall — a catch rate of 77 percent.
Yes, it’s not exactly rocket science to deduce that Ryan Finley has plenty of options on the perimeter. Further proof: There are currently 18 players in the ACC with at least 15 receptions and 175 receiving yards. Four of those guys — more than any other ACC team — play for NC State: Harmon, Meyers, Thomas and Emezie. This catch, off the flea flicker action, was a beaut, too.
The fifth-leading receiver on NC State’s roster isn’t bad, either. C.J. Riley has 11 receptions for 118 yards and a fantastic jump-ball touchdown grab against JMU. This is an almost embarrassment of riches for the Wolfpack.
Ryan Finley: Shares the wealth
Finley didn’t exactly have his A-Game on Saturday against a talented Virginia defense, but he still put together a gaudy stat line: 22-of-32 (68.8 percent), 257 yards and three touchdowns. For the season, with this receiving corp, Finley has completed 68.6 percent (No. 1 in the ACC) of his passes and averaged 8.6 yards per pass attempt.
The veteran quarterback also leads the ACC in passing yards per game (328.3), and ranks 11th in the FBS (and No. 1 in the ACC) in ESPN’s Total Quarterback Rating.
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