WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina State University

N.C. State stuns North Carolina, 28-27

By Dane Huffman

Nov 28, 2009

Raleigh, N.C. — Raleigh, N.C. — Maybe Tom O'Brien should schedule North Carolina more often.

A tough fall for N.C. State closed on a remarkable note Saturday as the Wolfpack upset No. 23 North Carolina 28-27 in a wild football game at Carter-Finley Stadium.

It was O'Brien's third straight win over Carolina in his three years in West Raleigh.

State had a hard time gaining traction against UNC’s stout defense, but quarterback Russell Wilson hit the throws he had to have as a sun-splashed crowd of 57,583 enjoyed a game that swung back and forth. The victory came five days after State announced offensive coordinator Dana Bible has a vicious form of leukemia. Bible is in isolation at a UNC hospital.

“This is the hardest year I’ve ever been through,” O’Brien said. “Your best football player on defense [linebacker Nate Irving] almost kills himself in the summer. You end the year with your offensive coordinator with cancer. We played with a walk-on corner the whole second half.”

O’Brien said his was “like a MASH unit out there.”

“It’s a disaster right now,” he said. “Thank God it’s over. I don’t think we could play in a bowl if we wanted to.”

Dick Sheridan won the coin toss for N.C. State – beating Carolina yet again – and this game was reminiscent of many Sheridan won as the Wolfpack’s head coach. The game was back and forth throughout as Carolina controlled the game early but failed to convert key chances. The Tar Heels settled for a 31-yard field goal by Casey Barth on their first possession and squandered a great chance on their second possession when Johnny White fumbled on a tough hit by Jarvis Byrd inside the Wolfpack 1-yard line.

Carolina was left to bemoan some opportunities that it didn’t convert.

“Coulda, woulda, shoulda – but they didn’t,” said Wolfpack defensive end Willie Young.

Carolina did torture State with big plays, especially in a 21-point explosion in the second quarter. T.J.Yates hit Jheranie Boyd for a 35-yard score, Johnny White ran 40 yards on a reverse that made the Pack defense look silly and Yates hit Boyd again, this time for 70 yards, as the Tar Heels rang up a 24-14 halftime lead.

And Carolina’s defense punished State up front, leading one to think the game might be headed toward a lopsided finale.

But Wilson was marvelous for State, passing for 259 yards and four scores with no interceptions. His 56-yard strike to Owen Spencer pulled the Wolfpack within 24-21 in the third quarter.

And State’s defense, despite a porous young secondary, made key plays in the second half. Carolina’s only points in the second half came on a 20-yard Barth field goal with 7:28 left in the third.

Wilson snatched the lead for State when he found Owen Spencer on a brilliant 38-yard throw for a 28-27 lead with 14:31 left in the game.

Given the ebb and flow of Saturday, that score seemed unlikely to stand. But Carolina failed on a fourth-and-10 at the Wolfpack 33 when Young pressured Yates into an incomplete pass.

Carolina drove right back into Wolfpack territory after that, and Barth had a 38-yard try that Alan-Michael Cash blocked with 4:44 to play.

Wolfpack players exalted on the sideline, but O’Brien showed no emotion. Instead, he sent in his offense for a drive that proved decisive.

Wilson hit Toney Baker for 16 yards on a second-and-11 at the Wolfpack 36.

Then Baker surged through the UNC line for 14 yards on a determined run and then three more on the next play to put the ball at Carolina’s 47 with 3:31 to play.

The Tar Heels called time, and O’Brien motioned Wilson over to him. When Wilson only came about halfway, O’Brien demanded he come all the way over and told his quarterback: Relax. Be smart. Take care of the ball. Finish it off.

Carolina gang-tackled Baker on second down, but on third-and-11, Wilson made a perfect throw to Spencer for a first down. Wolfpack tackle Jeraill McCuller pointed to the Tar Heel fans in triumph, telling his teammates, “look what we did – they’re leaving!”

State (5-7 overall, 2-6 in ACC play) nearly ran out the clock from there, turning it over on downs with 23 seconds when Spencer couldn’t hold Wilson’s throw in the endzone.

Yates threw an interception on the first play to Clem Johnson – “The quarterback just kind of lobbed the ball up there and I went and got it,” Johnson said - and the Wolfpack had an improbable win.

The usually implacable Wilson was so excited he flung the game ball into the stands, and State had to go retrieve it to give to Bible.

“As soon as I let I go, I realized I should have kept it for Coach Bible,” Wilson said. “It was my best throw of the day.”

For Carolina, it was another fourth-quarter lead that slipped away, and a defeat that could cost it when bowls are announced next Sunday.

“It’s very disappointing,” said UNC coach Butch Davis, whose team is 8-4 overall and 4-4 in ACC play. “We didn’t play very smart today. The penalties really hurt us. You can’t have that many penalties, but especially on the big plays like we did today.

"We gave them other opportunities and took scores off the board for us. Give N.C. State credit, but we didn’t play very well today.”