Updated: 8:53 p.m., 11/17/07 to add quotes, statistics.
BY TIM PEELER
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – NC State’s slow start to the season came back Saturday evening, when the Wolfpack began sluggishly against Wake Forest, fought back from a 21-3 halftime deficit to cut the Demon Deacon lead to three points, then gave up 17 unanswered points to end its four-game winning streak.
“They got us on our heels early and we didn’t catch up to what they were doing,” said Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien. “We looked like we were a step slow and a step behind. We gave them a big lead to start with – that was all on us. We dug ourselves too big a hole. That ended up being the story of the game.”
The Wolfpack made multiple mistakes, including four turnovers, 11 penalties for 90 yards and a handful of dropped passes in front of 33,052 at BB&T Stadium. Junior quarterback Daniel Evans threw three interceptions, including one that was returned 57 yards by Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry for the Deacons’ final score of the game.
But Evans didn’t create the Wolfpack’s only miscues on the night – the secondary gave up a 62-yard touchdown pass from Riley Skinner to Jordan Williams immediately after the Wolfpack cut Wake’s lead to three points, the defensive front was slow to adjust to the Deacons’ perimeter-oriented offense and even the normally reliable Steven Hauschka missed a fourth quarter field goal that might have made a difference.
“I thought there was a lot of fight in our kids to come back,” O’Brien said. “We had won four in a row and were trying to get it to five. But we made too many mistakes.”
The Wolfpack players could not pinpoint why they came out a bit flat against the defending ACC-champion Deacons.
“They came out amped up and we came out sluggish and slow,” said receiver Darrell Blackman.
The Wolfpack (5-6 overall, 3-4 ACC) finishes the regular season next Saturday against Maryland in a noon game at Carter-Finley Stadium. Both teams enter the contest looking to become bowl-eligible, making it a matchup that will be nearly identical to two years ago, when both teams entered the season finale with 5-5 records. The Wolfpack won the game to become bowl-eligible, then beat South Florida 14-0 to finish the season 7-5.
“It comes down to the last game of the season, us or them to get that sixth win,” Evans said. “We don’t really have a choice but to come back fighting. It’s hard to think about right now. The sting of this one will take a little while to go away.”
The Wolfpack fought back from a 21-3 halftime deficit to cut the Demon Deacon lead to three points late in the third quarter, but turnovers dashed the Wolfpack’s hopes of stretching its streak to five games.
The Deacons (7-4, 5-3) scored on field goal after wide receiver Owen Spencer fumbled the ball in Wolfpack territory, then added the final score of the day when Curry made his interception return, the third interception in two games that has been returned by an Wolfpack opponent.
The Wolfpack offense had two short-field possessions to open the second half, turning the second into a touchdown, thanks in great part to a roughing-the-passer personal foul and a goal-line pass interference call against Wake Forest.
On third-and-goal from the six, Evans threw a touchdown pass Matt Kushner, the first touchdown of the sophomore tight end’s career, to close Wake’s lead to 21-10.
On its next possession, Evans converted two big third down plays, hitting Koyal George on third-and-10 to get the Pack in the Deacon territory and then lofting a 39-yard pass to Darrell Blackman on third-and-15 to put his team on the Wake 4-yard line.
Sophomore running back Jamelle Eugene carried the ball into the end zone on a two-yard run to close the game to 21-16. Evans then hit Kushner over the middle for a two-point conversion that cut Wake’s lead to just three points with 1:41 remaining in the third quarter.
But on the Deacons’ next play from scrimmage, Skinner hit Williams on a 62-yard touchdown pass after Wolfpack defender Jeremy Gray tripped and fell out of bounds on coverage, giving Wake a 28-18 lead.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Deacon running back Micah Andrews fumbled after catching a pass from Skinner, and Wolfpack defensive end Martrel Brown fell on it at the Wake 30-yard line. But the Wolfpack missed an opportunity to score following the play when Hauschka missed a 38-yard field goal wide left, just his second miss of the season.
The Demon Deacons converted that turnover into a 37-yard Sam Swank field goal with 6:50 remaining in the game to take a 31-18 lead.
In the first half, the Wolfpack fell behind 7-0 when the Demon Deacons scored on their first possession of the game, on a one-yard run by De’Angelo Bryant.
Both teams committed red-zone turnovers, with the Wolfpack losing the ball on a Evans interception and Wake Forest giving it back to the Wolfpack on a Josh Adams fumble. Wolfpack cornerback De’Andre Morgan recovered the fumble on the NC State 13-yard line.
The Wolfpack turned the recovery into points, on a 43-yard Hauschka field goal with 13:34 remaining in the first half, cutting the Deacon lead to 7-3.
But the Deacons extended their lead to 21-3 with two second-quarter touchdowns, on a four-yard run by Adams and a five-yard pass reception by Bryant from Skinner.
The Wolfpack, despite the return of junior tailback Andre Brown to the backfield, had trouble establishing a rushing attack, while Wake rolled up 117 yards in the first half on the ground. Eugene, coming off a career-high 159 yards last week against North Carolina, managed just 23 yards on seven carries in the first half. He finished the game with 56 yards on 18 carries.
Brown, who missed four consecutive games after breaking his foot on Oct. 6 against Florida State, did not carry the ball in the game, but he did make two catches for 14 yards.
Meanwhile, Evans had a rough half, completing 11 of 25 passes for 151 yards and throwing two interceptions, one in the red zone and another in the Wake Forest end zone.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
Courtesy: Associated Press
