In a story about a football team that, in a single game, threw two interceptions, lost two fumbles, muffed a punt, had a field goal blocked and had a punt blocked for a touchdown, it would probably be a bit of a surprise for the ending to be: “and that team won.”
That was exactly the case for NC State football, which did all of those things in a 28-23 win over Boston College at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday, Oct 6. This next part might also sound strange, but it’s very encouraging to see the Wolfpack win a game despite making that many mistakes.
Of course, making that many mistakes in a game is not ideal, and the Pack won’t want to tempt fate that way again. But how many other teams would lose that game? How many previous NC State teams have lost that game?
One would only need to look at the 2016 one-score loss to the Eagles at home in graduate quarterback Ryan Finley’s first year at NC State. The game featured a pick in the end zone and a touchdown wiped out by an ineligible receiver penalty. Or last year’s season opener against South Carolina, in which the Wolfpack outgained the Gamecocks 504 yards to 246 (the Pack outgained BC 533-318 Saturday), but lost by a touchdown due to fumbling twice and giving up a touchdown return on the opening kickoff.
This battle-tested group was different, and stayed composed despite the Eagles turning a 28-3 deficit into a five-point game.
“There was no flinch,” head coach Dave Doeren said. “They were great. Just had to go get a couple first downs, and I thought our onside defense was really good there at the end. It was a battle.”
One of the biggest reasons for the victory was the team’s rebuilt defense, which has arguably outperformed last year’s defense despite the loss of four NFL linemen. The Wolfpack only allowed Boston College to cash in those turnovers for 10 points, and forced three-and-outs after both of Finley’s uncharacteristic first-half interceptions.
“Tough as nails,” Doeren said. “[Defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable] and his staff has those guys right where they want them. The kids are playing hard, they believe in what they’re doing and they’re playing together. They don’t care who makes the play or who gets the credit; they just play hard and they bought in this game plan. A lot of time went into it − didn’t sleep a lot last week preparing for what BC does. They’re a really good offense and we played pretty damn good.”
That allowed Finley to settle in and finish the game 25 of 34 for 308 yards and two touchdowns, showing off his connection with junior receiver Kelvin Harmon and redshirt junior Jakobi Meyers, who combined for 19 catches, 227 yards and two touchdowns.
“I think winning games like this is important,” Finley said. “If it happens again, you have a sense of ‘been there, done that.’ That was definitely important for us to be able to run the clock out like that and be in those pressure situations.”
And late in the fourth quarter, as the Eagles mounted their comeback, the Pack stiffened again. Graduate linebacker Germaine Pratt recovered a fumble at the 3-yard line to keep Boston College from getting points on the board.
And when the blocked-punt touchdown made it a one-score game, the Pack recovered an onside kick and then picked up a couple key first downs to salt away the game.
“You just heard the guys on the sideline saying, ‘Come on, let’s finish,’” Doeren said. “As opposed to just being like a funeral over there. You could hear them encouraging each other, ‘Let’s go, finish, finish, put them away.’ There was just a lot of positive encouragement between the players to each other about finishing the game. Sometimes you feel like everyone gets tight and there’s panic. I didn’t sense that at all.”
Obviously, against the likes of NC State’s next opponent, Clemson, these kinds of mistakes can’t happen. But the Pack knows that and will learn from this past Saturday. However, the fact that the Wolfpack has the talent level to win a game against a good Boston College team, and overcome that many self-inflicted wounds, is a very good sign of how far this team has come.
