Fans and players alike hoped the football team’s trip to Chestnut Hill Saturday would help take the sting out of the team’s loss to Duke last week. However, the sting was replaced with a chronic pain after N.C. State’s defense fell apart against Boston College, giving the Wolfpack its third straight loss at the hands of the Eagles 52-20.
A relatively even first half gave way to a BC rout after an unorthodox interception took the breath out of State before the end of the second quarter.
The Pack had nearly escaped to halftime down 21-13, when a tipped pass from Russell Wilson fell into the hands of a Boston College’s Wes Davis.
While the turnover only led to a field goal after some poor clock management by the BC offense, the air came out of the Wolfpack heading into the locker room.
After intermission, the team’s psyche hadn’t changed as the defense allowed the Eagles to advance the ball at will en route to another untouched romp into the end zone by Montell Harris.
After State gave the ball back on a punt, it took Harris just more than a minute to find pay dirt again and the Pack found itself down 38-13.
State got a spark from a James Washington kick return that put the offense in BC territory, but the BC defense forced the Pack into a fourth-down situation where George Bryan dropped a pass through his hands to end the drive.
A Wilson fumble on the team’s next possession gave Harris another chance to score as he recorded his fifth touchdown of the game – a BC single game record– to put the Eagles up 45-13 going into the fourth quarter.
A Wilson-led drive to begin the fourth led to a touchdown, putting State within 25 at 45-20, and with Harris still on the field, the Pack defense did what it had been doing all evening: getting run through by BC backs.
A goal line stand by the defense was thwarted as Dave Shinskie entertained the defensive line before slinging the ball into the end zone over State’s secondary for another score. The passing touchdown brought the tally to 52-20, which turned out to be the final score.
