NC State
Texas Tech
Wolfpack Posts Thrilling Overtime Win at Texas Tech
9/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept 21, 2002
By Tony Haynes
Lubbock, Texas--Who says you need John Wayne and Gary Cooper around to produce a good old-fashioned Texas shootout? NC State and Texas Tech had their six-guns blasting full force in the northern Texas plains on Saturday in a game that left players, coaches and spectators utterly exhausted. When the dust had settled, the 16th ranked Wolfpack survived its most challenging test of the season by outlasting the Red Raiders (2-2) in overtime, 51-48. NC State actually bounced back to win after blowing a 38-10 lead it had built midway through the third quarter. With the win, the Pack improved to 5-0 for the first time since Dick Sheridan's 1991 squad won its first six games.
Freshman tailback T.A. McLendon's 5th touchdown of the afternoon, an eight-yard run on third and four, set off a celebration that was filled with both relief and euphoria. McLendon's five scoring runs tied the single game school record that was set by Stan Fritts in 1972 against Wake Forest. With Greg Golden spending most of his time at cornerback against Tech's wide-open passing attack, McLendon was actually scheduled to start the game. But those plans were scrapped when he overslept and missed a team meeting on Saturday morning. When he finally entered the game early in the first period, McLendon sent notice that he would be a force for the entire afternoon. Along with his five scores, he also finished with a career-high 150 yards on 32 carries.
"He's got to learn how to read his alarm clock and get to places on time," NC State head coach Chuck Amato joked afterwards. "He's a great player. He's somebody we've been bringing along slowly and he still has a lot to learn. Can you believe I've been saying he needs to become tougher? When you watch him run, nobody can tackle him."
During one goal line sequence in the third quarter, NC State quarterback Philip Rivers looked over to the sidelines to get a play, only to see Amato pointing towards McLendon and yelling, "give the ball to him." But McLendon's punishing runs were only a part of the story on Saturday. In his well-chronicled duel with Raiders quarterback Kliff Kingsbury, Rivers connected on 20-of-32 passes for 301 yards. But Kingsbury was dynamite as well, leading his team back from a seemingly insurmountable deficit. The Texas Tech senior finished 27-of-50 for 273 yards and three touchdowns.
Rivers hit 12-of-16 for 144 yards and McLendon ran for 61 yards on 13 carries as NC State built a 17-7 lead at the break. Employing sometimes as many as six defensive backs, including Golden who was the starting tailback the first four games, the Wolfpack pretty much held Kingsbury and the Tech offense in check for two-plus quarters.
Then came an NC State flurry in the third quarter that actually sent hundreds of Red Raider fans to the parking lot. The Wolfpack took the second half kickoff and drove 59 yards in eight plays to move in front 24-10. The march concluded with McLendon's second score of the day from one-yard out. Then defensive end Shawn Price got into the act by scoring his second touchdown in as many weeks. After scooping up a Kingsbury fumble, the senior broke a few tackles before outrunning two Raiders to the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown return that gave NC State a 31-10 advantage with 10:49 left in the third period.
"Shawn Price is probably our leading scorer now with two touchdowns in two weeks," Amato cracked.
Moments later, the Wolfpack was knocking at the door again following a 34-yard punt return by Jerricho Cothery that included a 15-yard dead ball penalty on Texas Tech for a personal foul. Taking over at the Red Raiders 15, the Pack went right back to McLendon, who responded with an 11-yard bolt down to the Tech four. On the very next play, he crossed the goal line again to give his team a seemingly comfortable 38-10 lead with 6:58 left.
Many of the Texas Tech fans who decided to stick around thought it was over. So perhaps did NC State. Kingsbury, however, had other ideas.
The Big 12 Conference's all-time leading passer connected on five in a row, including a five-yard touchdown throw that gave Texas Tech some life with 4:10 left in the third quarter. Trailing 38-17, the Raiders came right down the field again, this time covering 54 yards in eight plays. Vincent Meeks's two-yard scoring run brought the Raiders within 14 at 38-24 with 14:50 remaining.
While all this was happening, the NC State offense seemed to get out of sync against a desperate Texas Tech defense that started to blitz more often. Still, the Pack had a good drive going early in the third period before McLendon fumbled the ball away at the end of a screen pass that had moved the ball deep into Raiders territory.
"We stopped ourselves," Amato said of the offensive lapses in the second half. "We took that one drive and went right down the field when T.A. fumbled the ball. The first half our offense was on the field for 18 minutes. The second half it was turned completely around when it was very warm out there."
And Texas Tech took advantage of fatigued NC State defense that was growing weary by the minute. Following the McLendon fumble, Kingsbury guided his team on a 70-yard drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown pass to Mickey Peters. The drive was kept alive by a questionable roughing the passer penalty on fourth down that allowed the Raiders to keep moving. On yet another fourth down play later in the march, NC State cornerback Marcus Hudson was called for pass interference on a ball that fell incomplete. Not only did the Peters score bring the Raiders within seven points with 8:09 left, it also had the Tech players convinced that this would somehow prove to be their day.
"We were up 38-10 and complacency set in," Amato said. "The thing that concerned me all week was stopping the running game, and we couldn't."
And while Kingsbury was doing most of the work in Tech's comeback, there were a few successful running plays mixed in that exploited the Pack's defensive alignment with extra defensive backs.
After watching Texas Tech pull within 38-31, NC State seemed to re-establish control when Rivers connected with receiver Jerricho Cotchery on a 72-yard bomb that setup McLendon's two-yard TD run that made it 45-31 with 7:32 remaining.
But the Raiders weren't finished. Another drive, this one covering 65 yards in just four plays, ended with tailback Taron Henderson's two-yard scoring run to bring the Raiders back within 45-38 with just over six minutes remaining. On the play before, NC State safety Terrence Holt appeared to have ended the threat with an interception. But a late flag that was thrown long after Holt had made an acrobatic catch in the left corner of the end zone appeared. The side judge working that side of the field called pass interference.
Leading 45-38 with six minutes left, the Wolfpack desperately needed a time-consuming drive. It didn't happen. Three plays later, Rivers was intercepted by Tech free safety Raymond Pierce, who returned the ball to the 19. The Raiders then evened the score when Kingsbury found receiver Anton Paige from 13 yards out.
But in a game that seemed to be slipping away, NC State finally got a break when a potential game-winning field goal from 39 yards away was missed by Tech kicker Robert Treece with 34 ticks left. The dodged bullet gave NC State new life in the overtime period. Treece briefly gave the Red Raiders a 48-45 lead with a 33-yard kick in the extra period. But after holding Tech to just three points, McLendon and the Wolfpack were not about to let opportunity slip away for a second time. One other thing: NC State wasn't about to put the ball in the air, either. Four McLendon carries later, the Wolfpack had recorded one of its most memorable wins during the Amato era.
"They were telling me I needed to be a hero and I needed to want it," McLendon said. "They called 29 toss and everybody made good blocks. When I saw the end zone, I had to have it. They never quit and they're a great football team; we just had to show them that we wanted it more. When they missed that field goal, it gave me all the energy in the world. When it went to overtime, I told myself that we were going to win the football game."
And win they did--in a good old-fashioned Texas shootout.
Peterson Streaking:Athough he made just one catch, senior receiver Bryan Peterson extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one reception to 30. He's now tied with Torry Holt for the second best streak in school history. The 99 total points scored were the most points scored in a game involving NC State since the Pack's 100-0 win over Hampton Roads in 1919. The Wolfpack also upped its record in overtime games to 5-2. But most importantly, the Pack stayed unbeaten.
"I told those kids that we're the 8th team in the history of this school to start a season 5-0," Amato said. "I don't care where we are in those polls as long as we keep winning games."
