Coming off two losses to top-5 teams, the NC State football team failed to bounce back against a struggling Boston College team, losing 21-14 Saturday in Carter-Finley Stadium.
The Eagles (4-4, 1-4 ACC) had lost its previous 12 ACC games, with its last conference win coming against the Wolfpack (4-4, 1-3 ACC) back in 2014. Penalties once again hindered the Pack, as it committed eight penalties that cost the team 94 yards and brought back a handful of big plays.
“There were a couple plays obviously in that game, where you have a touchdown called back on a formation and you give up a play on a trick play where our eyes were bad,” head coach Dave Doeren said. “There are always plays within a game that we have to play better. We knew coming into this game that they were a good defense and we knew that we had to maximize our opportunities and when we could score we needed to, and obviously we didn’t do that enough.”
State also struggled to run the ball, earning just 31 rushing yards while BC tallied 168. Additionally, the Pack tallied -14 rushing yards in the first half as the offensive struggles continued.
“When you can’t run the football, which we haven’t been able to for two weeks, it turns into a pretty one-dimensional offense, it’s hard on the quarterback,” Doeren said.
Both offenses started off slow before junior Bradley Chubb created the first turnover, forcing the fumble and giving the offense field position in Boston College territory. However, NC State failed to capitalize as it was forced to punt. The Eagles responded with a penalty-aided 62-yard drive that put the first points on the board and take a 3-0 lead with 14:54 left in the half. The Wolfpack only committed three penalties in the first quarter, but the 44 yards that came with them proved to be costly.
With the Boston College defense stacking the box, NC State was forced to pass the ball. It worked, as redshirt sophomore Ryan Finley connected with senior Bra’Lon Cherry on a slant that Cherry took the rest of the way for a 79-yard touchdown to give the Pack a 7-3 lead with 8:24 left in the half.
On the ensuing drive, sophomore Jeff Smith came up big for the Eagles, taking a jet sweep 60 yards to the house to give them a 10-7 lead with 7:35 remaining in the first half.
The rest of the half ended as it started, with both offenses struggling to get points on the board.
Penalties once again hurt NC State to start the second half. A holding penalty negated a big gain big redshirt sophomore Stephen Louis, and Finley was strip-sacked on the next play, giving Boston College great field position. This led to a field goal that extended the Eagles’ lead, 13-7.
Then came the most eventful 20 seconds of the game. The Wolfpack once again got into BC territory, but Finley’s pass went off the hands of senior Matt Dayes and the Eagles came down with the interception. However, redshirt junior Josh Jones made a diving interception to give the Pack the ball back. On the very next play, freshman Kelvin Harmon made an amazing highlight-reel touchdown catch on a 23-yard pass from Finley to give NC State a 14-13 lead with 8:31 left in the third quarter.
Another penalty negated another good Wolfpack play, as an ineligible receiver downfield took away what would’ve been a 53-yard touchdown pass from Finley to Louis. Once again, this led to a punt.
Two drives later, the Eagles made a deep push into NC State territory. BC scored on a trick play, as running back Davon Jones found a wide open tight end Tommy Sweeney for the touchdown. Boston College then converted a two-point conversion to go up 21-14 with 4:43 left in the game.
Sophomore Nyheim Hines came through in the clutch for the Wolfpack, returning the ensuing kickoff 56 yards and catching a 32-yard pass to get his team in the red zone. However, Finley threw a duck into the end zone that was picked off by junior Kamrin Moore, effectively allowing BC to run out the clock and end the game.
“We got the pass interference so it was first-and-goal and we let that go, we just got to execute, punch it in, we just didn’t execute,” Harmon said. “We had a great scheme, it just comes down to us as players.”
NC State has now lost its third-straight game after a hot 4-1 start. It almost upset Clemson in Death Valley two weeks ago, but it hasn’t performed to that same level since that rough loss.
“We just have to get over it,” Chubb said. “We have to focus on our opponent but we’re not doing that. We just have to come in as a team and focus on the Florida State game.”
It doesn’t get any easier from here for the Pack, as it faces a tough No. 12 Florida State Nov. 5 at home as it looks for an upset and a shot at bowl eligibility.
