WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina State University

State becomes eligible for a bowl with 38-28 win over Miami

By Ty Johnson

Nov 29, 2008

Following a 27-19 loss to Wake Forest, N.C. State was 2-4 and far from bowl consideration back in 2005.

With a quarterback quagmire and hosting Southern Miss before traveling to Tallahassee to play against Florida State, State fans were painfully aware that Philip Rivers had graduated and wasn't coming back.

But when SoMiss came to Raleigh, unheralded quarterback Marcus Stone took over and paced the Pack to a 21-17 victory.

Stone led the team on a tear, winning at Tallahassee and taking two of the team's final three contests to qualify for the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, NC.

The team beat South Florida 14-0 and had its best finish since Rivers was drafted following the 2003-04 season.

After playing a much improved South Florida team in 2008, State was 2-3 and in a similar situation to the 2005 team - fighting for bowl relevancy and fading fast. It was then that redshirt freshman quarterback Russell Wilson made his third start to the season, the one that stuck, according to coach Tom O'Brien.

"Wilson had three starts to his season," O'Brien said. "He started at South Carolina, and he started again at Clemson, and he finally started again at BC and stayed healthy."

After dropping three more games, State needed to win out just to break even - a tall task even without a defense that was the laughingstock of the ACC, as one assistant coach put it.

Four games later, Wilson now has the Wolfpack bowl eligible for the first time since 2005 after a 38-28 win over Miami, a game where he threw for two touchdowns and ran for another to give State the opportunity to play a 13th game.

Wilson's play has had comparisons to Rivers flowing from media outlets every week, and while the redshirt freshman has yet to lead the Wolfpack to the level of success that Rivers did, his statistics bode well for State's future - Wilson is the first quarterback since Rivers to have multi-TD passes in six straight games and has the longest active streak of pass attempts without an interception in the country.

"I don't know anybody that's performing any better than he is right now," O'Brien said.

Wilson's play is one factor that has changed the Pack from a team that had a meltdown at home in last season's finale with postseason eligibility on the line when Maryland trounced the home team 37-0 to a team that is playing as well as any team in the ACC.

"This team isn't close to what we were a year ago," O'Brien said. "We had a strong focus and intensity this week because Miami was an important game."

O'Brien said bowl eligibility was a team goal from the beginning of the season, but also added what it meant for the program.

"It gives us more practice time," O'Brien said. "The more practice we get with these young guys the better off we're gonna be in the long run. "

O'Brien did lament that the extra game would also be immediately beneficial for his .500 team.

"We're six and six - we didn't lose, we didn't win. Let's go get a winning season."

The shootout began when Wilson found senior Andre Brown for a two yard touchdown strike, giving State the lead 7-0. After an exchange of punts, Miami took over in its own territory at the 31. On the Canes' first play of the drive, quarterback Robert Marve hurled a deep ball over the middlewhere a streaking Dedrick Epps hauled the ball in for a 69 yard touchdown pass.

State's ensuing drive came to an abrupt end as a trick play featuring a Brown pass led to an interception giving the Hurricanes a chance to take the lead. Miami drove downfield to the Wolfpack one yard line where Jevarris James went up and over the scrimmage skirmish and into the end zone, giving Miami a 14-7 lead. The interception was the first thrown by a State player since the South Florida game and O'Brien joked later he would have to scold Brown for the throw.

"For all those guys who want all those fancy special plays, there's yours," O'Brien said of the halfback pass. "So don't ask me about trick plays anymore."

The following Wolfpack possession appeared to stall after a botched snap left State staring down a second and 26 from the 29, but a Wilson rollout opened up the defense. After dodging a would-be tackler, Wilson streaked up the sideline, then cut completely across the field and into the end zone for an untouched 29 yard touchdown run. Wilson outran the entire Miami defense, but credited the score to the blocking of his wideouts.

"I just trust my wide receivers to block downfield and make key blocks," Wilson said. "I try to get as much yardage as I can."

Miami appeared poised to answer on the ensuing drive, but Bobby Floyd tipped a Marve pass up and into the hands of DeAndre Morgan who slid down in the end zone for a touchback. The drive led to a 39-yard Josh Czajkowski field goal to give State the lead 17-14 going into halftime.

Another Czajkowski field goal on the first drive of the third quarter put the Pack up 20-14, but the Canes drove downfield for a touchdown on the next drive to put the U up 21-20. Miami coach Randy Shannon said the change in tone after Miami took the lead was the moment the game changed.

"[We] were able to get up 21-20," Shannon said. "And then couldn't stop them."

Wilson and Co. answered as the redshirt freshman found Owen Spencer on a deep route near the north end zone. Spencer spun away from a defender and across the goal line to give the Pack a five point lead. O'Brien elected to go for two, and Wilson connected with Eugene to put the Wolfpack up 28-21.

"I didn't really know how far i was to the end zone until I turned around," Spencer said. "I saw the defender and I thought 'I can't get knocked down.'"

Czajkowski hit a career-long 42 yard field goal with just under nine minutes left to make it a two-score ball game at 31-21 as Miami's hopes at a higher-tier bowl game slipped away with each passing second.

"You've always got to be confident in your next kick," Czajowski, who finished 3/3 on field goals and converted all three extra points, said of his career-long field goal. "You're helping the team out with what your gift is."

The Canes took to the air against the Wolfpack secondary, and picked it apart until Nate Irving got two hands on a Jacory Harris pass and returned it into Miami territory. A few plays later Brown plunged into the end zone to put the Pack up 38-21 and State's dreams of bowl eligibility became reality.

Miami found the end zone again and recovered an onside kick to postpone the celebration in Raleigh, but Jeremy Gray ended the Canes' hopes with an interception. It was then that O'Brien got nostalgic.

Daniel Evans came in to finish off his final home game with a kneel to seal the victory.

Evans, who was viewed as the saving grace of State football two seasons ago and struggled in his second year, was booed off the field in a game earlier this season, but the Wolfpack faithful erupted into cheers as number seven jogged onto the field to take the final snap from scrimmage.

The graduate student's career has come full circle at N.C. State, and perhaps the changing of the guard at the quarterback position that's been in progress since Rivers' departure has finally concluded with Wilson at the helm.

"I can't wait," Wilson said of seasons to come. "I'm looking forward to the future, but at the same time we've got one more game to win"

But Brown, in his final game at Carter-Finley, was living in the moment as the game concluded, chasing down O'Brien with a water cooler.

"We didn't get him as good as we wanted to," Brown said of dousing the second-year coach. "He kinda got mad and then he just smiled about it...but you can't mess around with coach [O'Brien] too much."