The No. 23 NC State football team defeated Boston College, 17-14, in Chestnut Hill, MA on the back of senior defensive end Bradley Chubb’s two and a half sacks and forced fumble.
The Wolfpack (7-3, 5-1 ACC) put on a great defensive game holding a Boston College (5-5, 3-4 ACC) team that had scored 121 points over its last three games to just 14 points.
State’s run defense gave up 52 rushing yards on the opening drive and looked outmatched early — just as it has been the past two games. But the defense redeemed itself when senior cornerback Shawn Boone intercepted a tipped pass in the end zone.
On the ensuing drive, the Wolfpack looked much more like itself, driving the ball down into Eagle territory. However, the Pack stalled out, forcing junior placekicker Kyle Bambard to kick a 54-yard field goal which was just short.
After another long drive by the Wolfpack that went for 68 yards on 11 plays, Bambard missed his second field goal of the game, this one from 36 yards out.
The Eagles scored the first points of the game on a 66-yard touchdown run thanks to running back A.J. Dillon as he ran through an open hole and ran past the rest of the NC State defense.
NC State, who was pinned down inside its own 15-yard line after the kickoff, got the drive started with a big 36-yard run by redshirt junior quarterback Ryan Finley on a pitch play that fooled the BC defense.
NC State would use that play to drive down the field for 87 yards on 11 plays that ended in a senior all-purpose Jaylen Samuels reverse play. Samuels beat the Boston College defender to the pylon for the score to tie the game at seven.
On the next possession, Chubb forced a fumble with a hit on Eagles backup quarterback Darius Wade. The fumble was then recovered by senior defensive end Kentavius Street in BC territory.
Boston College got the ball right back however as Finley threw his fourth interception in the past three games, this time to BC defender Ty Schwab.
NC State’s defense reacted quickly and forced a three-and-out to make the Eagles punt. The punt was blocked by the Wolfpack’s redshirt sophomore Tyrone Riley and recovered by Boston College for a turnover on downs which gave NC State the ball with eight seconds remaining in the half.
Bambard came out to kick the field goal and after one delay of game penalty and three BC timeouts, Bambard was given four attempts that didn’t count to practice his kick and on the fifth try, he nailed the 41-yard field goal to put NC State up 10-7 at the half.
At the half, Finley was 6-of-18 on pass attempts for 71 yards and an interception. The Wolfpack had 135 rushing yards to the Eagles 172. In total yardage, however, the two teams were practically even as NC State had 206 to Boston College’s 207.
About five minutes into the third quarter Chubb passed NC State alumnus Mario Williams for most sacks in school history as he got one and half sacks within three plays to reach 26 career sacks at NC State. Chubb finished the contest with eight tackles, two and a half sacks, four tackles for a loss and a forced fumble.
Bambard missed his third field goal of the game after another long NC State drive that got to the Boston College 20-yard line; the 36-yard attempt hit the upright and bounced out.
NC State turned the ball over for the the second time of the game as Samuels tossed a backwards pass to Finley, but the ball sailed past his hands and rolled down the field into the arms of an Eagles defensive lineman on the NC State 23-yard line.
Boston College would turn that turnover into six points as a jetsweep play to Eagle Thadd Smith, who dove to the pylon for the score to put Boston College up 14-10.
NC State took the lead back midway through the fourth quarter as junior running back Nyheim Hines used his track star speed to run down the sideline and get through holes for the 50-yard touchdown.
Boston College, down 17-14 with just for four minutes to go, decided to attempt a fake field goal, but the Wolfpack had good coverage on the play forcing a tough throw that went incomplete giving NC State the ball.
The Pack ran the clock down to 28 seconds remaining in regulation, and the Eagles failed to muster any offense as time expired.
Finley finished with 13 completions on 32 attempts for 146 yards and one interception while Hines returned to form rushing for 113 yards adding his 77 kick return yards. Hines had 190 all-purpose yards after being slowed by an ankle injury in the last two games.
NC State will face off against Wake Forest on Nov. 18 in Winston-Salem, NC before returning home to face UNC-Chapel Hill for the final regular-season game of the year and senior day.
