On a rainy homecoming day in College Park, Md., N.C. State did something it rarely does—took the opening drive 73 yards down the field for a touchdown. After Maryland answered with a touchdown of its own, Russell Wilson and company continued to move the ball down the field, marching another 73 yards to put the Pack up 14-7.
But the Terrapins just kept coming, jumping to a 17-14 lead before State tied the game at halftime. The game ended in a familiar fashion for the Pack. With just minutes to go, the opponent put together a game-winning drive to send State home with a loss. Linebacker Robbie Leonard says the close defeats are frustrating the team.
“It’s really disappointing,” Leonard said. “Especially for the defense, who took the field with a couple minutes left. It seems like time after time we stop them, and then we give up the big play.”
Maryland took four plays to go for 67 yards and a touchdown in its first drive after halftime. But the Pack answered in its next possession, with a ten-play 70-yard drive of it’s own to tie the game again. Just when it appeared that the contest could turn into a shootout, penalties and sloppy play caused both offenses to stagnate.
After a missed field goal by Maryland’s Obi Egekeze with just over 11 minutes left in the game, Wilson took state deep into Maryland territory before a sack on third down forced a Wolfpack punt. Maryland got the ball on its own 8-yard-line with 4:50 left on the clock. Quarterback Chris Turner engineered an 89-yard drive to setup a game winning field goal with just eight seconds left on the clock. Leonard said the defense has to learn to close out games if State hopes to win.
“We need to learn how to finish in the fourth quarter,” Leonard said. “Defensively, that wasn’t enough to get it done for a win. [The] offense is stepping it up, and the defense seems to be going backwards.”
After getting shut out in last year’s matchup, the Pack was able to move the ball effectively for the third week in a row. Senior running back Andre Brown, who led N.C. State in rushing last year with 9 yards against the Terrapins, said he felt the offense played well.
“We kind of took it to heart—last year when we didn’t have that much with the running game,” Brown said. “We came out here and I think we ran the ball pretty good. It just wasn’t good enough. We’ve got to win.”
The loss drops the Pack to 2-6 overall and 0-4 in the ACC. With just four games to go, State must finish the season undefeated to become bowl eligible. The Pack has an open date next weekend, and its next game will be at Duke on Nov. 8. O’Brien said the team has to use the extra time to find a way to win football games.
“That’s the biggest thing we have to do, is find that spark to win a football game,” O’Brien said. “We’ve got our backs to the wall–we got six losses–so we’ll come out firing at Duke.”
