Ricky Person loves to open the season.
Bam Knight wasn’t bad either.
The person had another first big match for the Wolfpack on Thursday night. He scored three touchdowns to help NC State win 45-0 in South Florida.
The person ran for two 11-yard results and got a 33-yard touchdown in the first half. He scored two goals and threw a touchdown in last season’s opening win against Wake Forest at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Knight hurried to help. He added a 163-yard game and a 46-yard touchdown.
The NC State defense dominated the Bulls, who started former UNC outfielder Cade Fortin. Fortin completed just three of his first nine passes in 0 yards before second-year USF coach Jeff Scott put on Fortin and went to Timmy McClain to run the reading option.
Fortin returned in the second half to throw one of the three USF interceptions.
NC State will come out of the 8-4 season and the 7-3 mark in ACC game during the 2020 pandemic season.
The Wolfpack returns 20 starters from the group last year and has more depth than the ninth-year coach Dave Doeren has had at any time during his tenure.
Quarterback Devin Leary, in his first game since last October, completed 17 of 26 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns.
Leary, who missed the last seven games of the 2020 season with a broken leg, looked good on his return. He threw an interception in the second quarter.
NC State scored on their first push, a perfect pass from Leary to Person, and advanced 24-0 at halftime. The second half was an opportunity for Knight to stretch his legs and tight end Christopher Toudle added a 7-yard touchdown catch.