ORLANDO, Fla. – It took a hug from receivers coach Lonnie Galloway to calm Geno Smith down.
Frustrated after committing fumbling with 2:19 remaining, the quarterback paced the West Virginia sideline yelling four simple words that could explain so much of Smith’s sophomore season.
“I’m tired of losing,” he said.
The team committed five turnovers and the sophomore lost his position coach and offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen, who coached his final game with the Mountaineers, as West Virginia dropped its Champs Sports Bowl matchup against N.C. State 23-7 Wednesday in Orlando, Fla.
The team’s athletic trainer Dave Kerns said after the game that the sophomore will need surgery on his injured left foot which failed to completely heal following offseason surgery. Smith said after the game that surgery had been discussed.
Smith’s fumble was the sophomore’s second turnover and the team’s fourth turnover in the fourth quarter. The Wolfpack generated 10 points off the turnovers, but more importantly, the mistakes ended any chance of a WVU comeback.
Senior Noel Devine fumbled after a 28-yard carry, fellow senior Jock Sanders fumbled a punt on the team’s own seven-yard line while Smith also was picked off by N.C. State’s Brandon Bishop on the Wolfpack’s 10-yard line.
All of the team’s five turnovers came in the second half.
“We knew all year if we didn’t turn it over we wouldn’t lose,” said Smith, who finished 22-for-39 for 196 yards. “My hat goes off to NC State, but we have a lot of confidence in ourselves as an offense and we feel like no one can stop us if we don’t hurt ourselves, which we did today.”
Mountaineer kicker Tyler Bitancurt also missed two field goals in the game of 42 and 43 yards, respectively, in the game including a fourth quarter attempt with 7:54 remaining.
Wolfpack kicker Josh Czajkowski, meanwhile, finished 3-of-4 on field goal attempts, two of which coming after halftime.
“It was more than a loss,” said WVU senior linebacker J.T. Thomas. “You never imagine things going like this. It was kind of like a nightmare.”
The West Virginia offense finished with 326 total yards while the Mountaineer defense surrendered over 21 points for the first time this season.
N.C. State quarterback Russell Wilson finished 28-for-45 with two touchdowns and rushed for 41 yards, despite being sacked five times in the game. Wilson complete 7-of-8 pass attempts to five different receivers for 79 yards on the Wolfpack’s second possession of the game, capped off by a 16-yard touchdown to tailback Mustafa Greene for a 7-0 NC State lead with 1:37 remaining in the first quarter.
The junior quarterback started 11-for-14 for 109 yards on NC State’s first two possessions of the game. Nine different players recorded a reception in the team’s first three possessions.
“I’m not going to question whether we played hard,” said WVU defensive lineman Chris Neild. “It was just the execution.”
The West Virginia offense found the endzone after its defense held the Wolfpack to its first three-and-out of the game when Geno Smith found Stedman Bailey down the right sideline to tie the game 7-7 with 2:10 left in the first half.
The Wolfpack took a 10-7 lead entering halftime, however, with a Czajkowski field goal and connected on two additional field goals on the team’s first two possessions of the second half.
“I was hoping we could go out with a bang,” said WVU head coach Bill Stewart.