Instant Analysis | Louisville blasts NC State

Louisville pulverized NC State on Saturday, running up 44 first-half points before the Wolfpack woke up, eventually cruising to a 54-13 win.

What will get the most attention from this win is that Louisville (6-1, 4-1 ACC) made quick and easy work of an NC State team that gave Clemson fits last week in Death Valley. NC State (4-3, 1-2) was widely considered the fourth-best team in the ACC's Atlantic Division and received a lot of recognition for its strong performance in South Carolina, as it should have. But Louisville just rolled right past the Wolfpack.

It was the kind of eye-catching half that tends to erase any previously held concerns about a team, which, in this case, stemmed from U of L's 24-14 knock-down, drag-out win over Duke last week. As it turns out, those concerns were fleeting.

Up next for the Cards: At Virginia, a team that has (kind of randomly) given U of L trouble the past two meetings.

TURNING POINT

Uh, well, how about the minute the game started? Louisville needed 1:33 to score its first touchdown and 15 minutes to score 17 points. The second quarter wasn't much different, with Louisville getting two touchdown passes from Heisman Trophy frontrunner Lamar Jackson and a muscle-in touchdown run from Jeremy Smith, who is quietly having a strong season. The game was over with 10 minutes left in the second quarter.

MORE GAME COVERAGE

► Smith shows speed with long TD catch

► Game Rewind | U of L 54, NC State 13

► 4 TDs for Jackson as Cards hammer NC State

► U of L's Creque sets new kicking mark

► Louisville's Hikutini has career-best game

► Former U of L star Ragone has jersey honored

GAME BALL

On a day when Louisville honored the No. 15 jersey of former quarterback Dave Ragone, No. 8 dominated. Again. Jackson was electric. Again. He had 304 passing yards and three touchdown throws, plus another 55 rushing yards and one rushing score - at halftime. Those numbers would be good full-game statistics for most quarterbacks. For the record, he finished 20-of-34 with 355 passing yards and three touchdown throws, plus 76 rushing yards and one rushing score.

Ultimately, Jackson set the program record for touchdowns accounted for in a season with 34, ironically surpassing Ragone (and Brian Brohm).

THUMBS UP

Louisville's defense had a magnificent first half, stifling NC State to 54 total yards of offense from 28 plays. That is 1.9 yards per play. NC State had three turnovers - all interceptions - and two first downs in the first 30 minutes. The Wolfpack was 1 of 7 on third downs in the first half, too. It was just a dominant performance from U of L's defense.

THUMBS DOWN

Though he successfully hurdled a guy last season, Louisville's Cole Hikutini joined the small, elite group of college tight ends who unsuccessfully tried to hurdle a tackler this season. But it obviously didn't matter much: Hikutini led all receivers with six catches for 118 yards and a touchdown.

KEY STAT

A week after Duke held the ball for what felt like three, maybe four days of offensive possession and turned last Friday's game into a slogfest, Louisville and NC State this week combined for 141 plays. NC State ran just more than two plays per minute against Louisville, while Duke ran 60 plays in 37 minutes and 12 seconds.