NC State holds on for a 38-31 win at Maryland
Nov 7, 2009
Joe Ovies of 620 AM The Buzz is writing live Saturday from N.C. State's home game with Maryland
4:20pm, NC State holds on for a 38-31 win: NC State DE Michael Lemon comes up big to save the day. Lemon sacks Jamarr Robinson with 5 seconds on the clock, forcing a quick final play for the Terps. He pressures Robinson again for an incomplete pass as time expires.
Congrats to the Wolfpack -- today's win is their first in the ACC this season.
4:14pm, premature cannon blast: 4th and long, NC State goes for the jugular. Russell Wilson's pass to Owen Spencer in the end zone was broken up by Maryland DB Anthony Wiseman. Officials clearly wave the play as an incomplete, but that doesn't stop the cannon guy from lighting the fuse.
With under a minute to go, I'm shocked O'Brien didn't attempt the field goal. It would have put the Pack up 10 with under a minute to go. Instead, Maryland gets a last ditch effort for the end zone and overtime.
4:10pm, official leaves his mic on: The head official forgets to turn his mic off during a meeting with fellow refs. Bonus points for not dropping any F-bombs. Deducted points for blowing the whistle and startling everybody in the stadium.
4:05pm, Pack go for it on 4th down: Russell Wilson kept the ball for a 1 yard gain and the 1st down inside Maryland territory. Key play on a key drive if NC State wants to win this game.
Maryland challenged the spot of the ball, but the ruling on the field stood.
3:57pm, conservative Terps hit field goal to get within 7 points: Maryland now trails 38-31 with under 5 minutes to go in the game. Faced with a 4th and 1 on the NC State 22 yard line, the Terps elected to go for the FG. I would have gone for it, especially with the Wolfpack's inability to tackle. Davin Megget has been effective this half. Either way, still plenty of time for Maryland to have another crack at the end zone and tie it up.
I've said it once, and I'll say it again -- only Wolfpack mistakes will keep them from winning this game. They have out-played Maryland in just about every facet of the matchup, yet they have allowed the Terps to hang around with turnovers and special teams miscued.
3:54pm, holding saves the day: Davin Megget would have given Maryland a new lease on life with a 23-yard touchdown run. Too bad a holding penalty brought the TD back. Ouch.
3:43pm, Pack back up 10 points with 38-28 lead: A 38 yard pass from Russell Wilson to Owen Spencer set up 1st and goal from the 3 yard line. Wilson's pass intended for George Bryan on 3rd down was deflected, but pass interference was called on the Maryland defender. Given a fresh set of downs, Jamelle Eugene rushed it up the middle for a 2 yard touchdown. Last time NC State was up 10 points, the Terps took the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown.
Injury update: Ted Larsen was shaken up on the scoring play. Seriously, get a witch doctor out here to lift the injury curse.
3:35pm, heading into the 4th quarter: NC State leads Maryland 31-28 with 15 minutes left in the ball game. I'll say this -- it's a good for the Wolfpack that Chris Turner was knocked out of the contest. Backup QB Jamarr Robinson has been shaky all afternoon. Only NC State mistakes will keep the Terrapins alive.
3:27pm, Wilson off the hook: Maryland backup QB Jamarr Robinson has thrown 3 passes, all have have missed the mark. His last attempt was overthrown in the end zone, forcing Maryland to send out their field goal unit. The kick goes wide right from 47 yards out. The score remains 31-28 with 4:02 left in the 3rd quarter.
3:24pm, Wilson throw 3rd INT today: Russell Wilson is having a decent afternoon overall, but his interceptions have been head-slapping bad. The NC State QB just threw his 3rd pick of the game, telegraphing his read to Maryland DB Kenny Tate.
3:12pm: coffee is for closers: NC State simply cannot close out an opponent. Torrey Smith returns kickoff 82 yards and pulls Maryland out of a 10 point deficit. Wolfpack now lead 31-28 with 10 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter.
3:10pm, Wolfpack take 31-21 lead: Efficient. Best was to describe the 9 play, 80 yard scoring drive by NC State. Maryland blitz package left wide outs open for short gains. Russell Wilson capped off the drive with a 2 yard touchdown run.
3:02pm, 2nd half is go: NC State gets the ball to start the 2nd half. They'll start on their own 20 yard line.
3:00pm, Turner not on the field: Maryland QB Chris Turner is not on the field. He hurt his left leg late in the first half and is out for the rest of the game with a knee injury. His father will blame the lack of facilities for the injury.
2:40pm, NC State leads 24-21 at the half: For a non-television game, this contest is taking its sweet time. Some stats:
Russell Wilson is 17-of-26 for 236 yards. He's got 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
Jamelle Eugene has 46 yards on 6 carries.
NC State is out-gaining Maryland 300 to 143.
2:36pm, late half drive ends in INT: Russell Wilson hit Jarvis Williams on a 36-yard pass and put the Wolfpack on the Maryland 43 yard line. Wilson then connected with Darrell Davis for 21 yards to put NC State in scoring position. Unfortunately, the drive ends with 38 seconds left in the half when Wilson was intercepted by Richard Taylor.
2:24pm, Wolfpack block Maryland FG: Shaky start for backup Maryland QB Jamarr Robinson ends in botched FG for the Terps. NC State DE Audi Agustin blocked the 27-yard attempt, preventing the Terps from tying the game 24-24. In the series, Robinson fumbled his first snap and missed a wide open reciever in the end zone.
2:18pm, Wolfpack give it back with mistake: Donald Bowens fumbled the punt. Gives Maryland the ball on the NC State 31 yard line.
2:15pm, Maryland penalty dooms drive and Turner gets hurt: Could we have a break in the scoring fest? An offensive facemask penalty on OL Justin Lewis turns a 30-yard gain into a loss. Maryland QB Chris Turner is on the sideline with an leg injury. Could be ankle or knee. More when I get an update.
2:05pm, Wolfpack take 24-21 lead midway through 2nd quarter: Russell Wilson found little used Darrell Davis in the endzone. 10 plays for 76 yards, ending with an 18-yard strike from Wilson. What, you came to this live-blog with the expectation of defense being played? Ha! We're looking at a replay of NC State's game against Florida State last weekend.
That's 3 touchdowns for the NC State QB. Good for the Wolfpack, and good for my ACC fantasy team.
1:57pm, former Wolfpacker honored: Former NC State WR and current New York Jet Jericho Cotchery was just honored during a break. Just one of the many recent State players to be making an impact in the NFL. Tom O'Brien has to love that for recruiting.
1:55pm, Terps back on top 21-17: Just 2 minutes into the 2nd quarter, Maryland took back the lead. Chris Turner called his own number from 1 yard out, pushing to the right of the line. The play was sent for review, but the touchdown stands. The Terps go 8 plays for 62 yards.
1:48pm, finally: Longest. Quarter. Ever. 2nd quarter now underway with the Wolfpack leading the Terrapins 17-14. Russell Wilson is 9-14 for 120 yards and has thrown two touchdowns.
1:43pm, missed opportunity as Pack settle for FG 17-14: Russell Wilson hit Jarvis Williams in a great spot for a potential 1st down, but Williams couldn't hang on to the ball. Wolfpack settle for a Josh Czajkowski field goal from 48 yards out. For those of you keeping score at home, that's the longest of his career.
1:35pm, Maryland ties it up 14-14 with pick-six: Terps LB Alex Wujiak intercepts Russell Wilson and takes it 70 yards for a touchdown return. NC State originally punted the ball on 4th down, but a running into the kicker penalty gave the Wolfpack 5 yards and a 4th & 6 situation inside Maryland territory. The coaching staff decided to go for it, and it just blew up in their face.
Let's throw out the second-guess argument: Why didn't NC State just decline the running into the kicker penalty? Maryland was pinned inside their own 5 yard line after a great punt.That just tells me the coaching staff has zero confidence in their defense.
1:21pm, we've got a shoot-out as Pack take 14-7 lead: Russell Wilson connected with Donald Bowens from 35 yards out. Great pass by Wilson, but better positioning by Maryland defender. Looked like Bowens pushed off, but the officials didn't call it. Crowd doesn't seem to mind. Scoring drive consisted of 4 plays, 79 yards.
1:15pm, missed tackling dooms Wolfpack defense, Terps tie it 7-7: Maryland goes no-huddle and gets results. Davin Megget hit paydirt on 3rd down, going over the top inches from the goal line. The Terps with a 10 play, 69 yard scoring drive. Most of it kept alive because of poor NC State tackling. At this point in the season, bad tackling is simply a given from the Wolfpack.
1:05pm, Wolfpack get on the board early 7-0: 2 plays into their drive, NC State gets a touchdown. Russell Wilson hooks up with George Bryan on a 17 yard pass. Baby steps for Maryland, typically they start the game with a pick-six. At least they made the Wolfpack work for it.
1:03pm, we've got kickoff: Maryland off to a fantastic start...for NC State. Chris Turner intercepted on the first play from scrimmage. Wolfpack get the ball on the Terps 21 yard line.
12:55pm, late arriving crowd: When it's this beautiful outside, I wouldn't want to leave a tailgate. It appears plenty of Wolfpack fans are thinking the same thing.
12:40pm, bowl scouts in the house: The Champs Bowl and Chik-Fil-A Bowl will be scouting this game. No, really. Just a hunch, but they heard the pressbox food at Carter-Finley is excellent. So I'm guessing they're just grabbing lunch before heading over to Chapel Hill.
12:30pm, sparse crowd in the pressbox: I knew the focus today would be for the mythical "State Championship" between North Carolina and Duke, but it really hit me when I walked into the pressbox. The cream of the Triangle media crop are in Chapel Hill, while folks typically assigned to the NC State beat are up here. Me? I think I'm getting hazed on my first assignment. I kid, I kid.
