Since stepping onto campus four or five years ago, the 16 seniors who played their final game in Carter Finley Stadium on Saturday have seen their share of adversity. Following the 2005 season, State experienced consecutive losing seasons, a coaching change and injury problems. After the Oct. 25 loss to Maryland dropped the Pack to 2-6 going into the bye week, many believed a third consecutive losing season to be inevitable.
Senior Andre Brown and others resolved to step up as leaders to bring the Pack out of the ACC cellar.
“We started taking practice more seriously and it shows,” senior running back Andre Brown said afterwards. “We took a look at ourselves during the bye week and the rest was history.”
O’Brien said he was happy with how his team responded to adversity.
“I’m so proud to be around these kids — they refused to quit and they refused to give in,” coach Tom O’Brien said following the win.
“They kept playing and kept getting better and better — to finish the way we did, it’s everybody in this building, everybody hung in there.”
State’s resurgence culminated in the 38-28 victory Saturday. Seniors impacted the game from a variety of positions, as punter/kicker Bradley Pierson started the game with a solo tackle on his own kickoff to stop Miami return man Brandon Harris shy of the 30-yard-line. Pierson said he had no doubt the team would pull out the victory.
“All of us believed in each other and believed that we were gonna do it,” Pierson said. “Deep down inside we were all kind of expecting it.”
The defense, led by seniors Robbie Leonard, J.C. Neal, Jeremy Gray and Keith Willis Jr. set the tone right away with a three and out on Miami’s first offensive series.
Brown, who had 93 rushing yards on the day, started the game with carries of 15 and 12 yards on Stateís first two offensive plays. Fittingly, it was Brown who also finished the State’s opening drive, getting himself open for the two-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Russell Wilson, who had escaped the pocket and was being pressured by three Hurricane defenders.
Brown’s early success opened up running lanes for his backfield counterparts, redshirt junior Jamelle Eugene and quarterback Russell Wilson, who combined with Brown to give the Pack its best rushing game of the year with 219 yards on 44 carries for an average of 5.0 yards per carry.
Eugene said the seniors were a critical part of the team’s victory.
“Andre in the backfield and a lot of other seniors played their best,” Eugene said.
The success of the running game was possible largely because of an outstanding performance from senior offensive linemen Meares Green and John Bedics, who also provided Wilson with time to run and throw all over Miami, particularly in the first half.
State’s seniors also made their presence felt on the defensive side of the ball. Leonard and Neal teamed up on a big third down stop early to create a second consecutive three-and-out on the defense’s second possession. Gray’s interception with less than a minute to play extinguished the final Miami threat and effectively ended the game, leaving State only a few harmless kneel downs away from a fourth consecutive win and 4-4 finish in conference play.
Senior captain Daniel Evans was granted the opportunity to kneel the ball, as the Pack counted down the last few seconds of a Senior Day performance that made the Wolfpack bowl-eligible for the first time since 2005.
