In a seesaw battle with No. 16 Florida State, the NC State football team was able to pull out a much-needed victory, 28-24. The win moves the Pack to 6-2 and 3-1 in conference play, while also giving State the tiebreaker over FSU in the ACC’s Atlantic Division.
“We played a very significant game against a leader on our side and a night game late in October, which is a great thing for this school, this university, our alumni and this football program, ” coach Tom O’Brien said.
Capitalizing on some missed opportunities from the Florida State offense, N.C. State struck first on the scoreboard with a quarterback sneak from Russell Wilson in the first quarter.
This momentum did not last long.
The Seminoles responded in the second quarter with a three-touchdown onslaught. All three scores were accounted for by FSU quarterback Christian Ponder, with two short runs and an 11-yard pass to Willie Haulstead. Ponder racked up 105 passing yards and 18 rushing yards in the first half while N.C. State redshirt junior quarterback Russell Wilson gained 29 yards through the air and 38 on the ground.
After the first Ponder touchdown, State running back Dean Haynes gave up a fumble, which would lead to Ponder’s passing touchdown. Haynes suffered a concussion on the play and did not return.
Another huge momentum swing occurred in the third quarter, and this time the tide turned in the Pack’s favor. Wilson ran in another two touchdowns to tie the score at 21.
The fourth quarter was filled with drama for both sides. Two minutes in, Wilson threw an interception to Seminole corner Xavier Rhodes, which FSU turned into a field goal to get the score to 24-21.
“Coach said we have to fight,” Wilson said. “One play at a time, keep fighting, and try to be successful one play at a time. That’s what we did in the second half. We came back and made the plays. ”
On the next State possession, the Pack decided to go for it on fourth-and-one and Wilson threw the game-winning play action touchdown pass to junior tight end George Bryan in the back of the end zone.
Florida State drove down the field, but the would-be game-winning march was halted when Pack linebacker Nate Irving recovered a fumble at the 8-yard line with 48.3 seconds left. State ran out the clock to prevail.
“I saw a quarterback play action fake, so I stepped up and I saw the ball,” Irving said. “I saw that he had a loose grip on the ball so I just kept going and it popped out.”
With the victory, State is now bowl eligible. The Pack will head to Clemson, S.C. next week to take on the Tigers.
“It was just a normal game here at Carter–Finley,” O’Brien said. “Other than that, for these kids, that was a great effort. We got ourselves a little discombobulated after the fumble in the first half and we got back on our heels. We ended up throwing the same passes at the end of the game and we were able to complete ours and they didn’t complete theirs. “