WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina State University

N.C. State shocks ECU in overtime, 30-24

By Dane Huffman

Sep 21, 2008

Raleigh, N.C. — There was no stopping them from rushing the field Saturday in yet another emotional football game between N.C. State and East Carolina.

But after a long afternoon in which the Pirates appeared to have the better team, it was Wolfpack players streaming across the field in joy after a 30-24 overtime win.

“The emotion in that game was unbelievable,” N.C. State quarterback Russell Wilson said.

ECU coach Skip Holtz, who has engineered a stunning reversal in Greenville, took a long jog across the field with three policemen around him to shake hands with Tom O’Brien.

N.C. State (2-2) has played solid defense all season but watched in frustration as the offense couldn’t score. Saturday was different as the defense provided two goal-line stands and the offense drove for touchdowns State had to have. The win pushed the Wolfpack to 16-10 all-time against the Pirates.

“This game was a big game for us,” N.C. State defensive end Shea McKeen said. “Not only a rivalry, a top 25 team, but for us personally it was huge. What we talked about all week was believe – believe in ourselves, believe in our coaches.”

That State was the one looking for a boost marked a reversal of fortune in a series where the Pirates have often seemed like the younger sibling with something to prove. That wasn’t the case this time as ECU came in ranked No. 15 and holding wins over West Virginia and Virginia Tech.

“They came in here ranked, so it’s a big deal for this football team and our school that we won this game,” O’Brien said.

State struggled to slow the Pirates (3-1) for much of the game. ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney piled up 210 yards and a score as he showed a senior’s grasp of the offense with strong throws and smart decisions. And ECU’s running game contributed 173 yards as the Pirates led 21-17 early in the fourth quarter.

East Carolina looked, and played, with a maturity that made one believe it could contend for a BCS bowl.

The Pirates led 21-17 early in the fourth quarter and drove to a first-and-goal at the Wolfpack 4-yard line.

ECU looked like a team ready to take command.

But three plays only pushed the ball to just inside the 1, and Pirates coach Skip Holtz decided to go for the touchown. Sophomore running back Jonathan Williams took off to the right side and was slammed down by State safety J.C. Neal.

“We bend but we don’t break,” Neal said. “The ultimate goal is, ‘Don’t let them score.’”

“The decision to go for the touchdown there was all mine,” Holtz said. “We had a missed assignment and one of their guys got in the backfield. Give N.C. State a lot of credit. They had to make some big plays to stop us, and they did.”

ECU was soon in front of the Wolfpack goal again. But a first-and-goal at the N.C. State 9 yielded only Ben Hartman’s 21-yard field goal with 4:27 to play.

“That was great. That was motivating for the offense,” Wolfpack running back Andre Brown said of the defensive stops. “We always knew we had a great defense but we were keeping them on the field too long.”

Wolfpack freshman T.J. Graham sailed 45 yards up the field on the kickoff return and State suddenly had life.

“We knew we had to get it done. We knew the situation,” State’s Wilson said. “But at the same time, we have to play within ourselves.”

On second and goal at the ECU 5, Wilson hit tight end George Bryan for a touchown. The official on the play first ruled Bryan had dropped the ball, but State was awarded the score after replays confirmed he caught it.

The extra point, with 1:12 left, pushed the game into overtime.

East Carolina, so poised for much of the game, slowly unraveled after its goal-line failures. The Pirates left defensive end McKeen unblocked in overtime and he barreled through and sacked Pinkney from behind. McKeen lifted his right fist in celebration as he saw the ball bound away from Pinkney and N.C. State’s Willie Young.

That gave State the ball at the ECU 25 to start its part of overtime with a commanding chance to win. Wilson lost a yard, but Brown bulled for 15 on the next play to get State to the ECU 10. From there, Brown powered up the middle and over the goal for a score that had the fans in red erupting.

“I just said, ‘I don’t want to rely on a kicker,’ to be honest with you,” Brown recalled. “I just wanted to put that boy in there and get off the field.”