With the home team down 20-17 and less than 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Carter-Finley Stadium went back in time Thursday night.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Daniel Evans to junior wide receiver John Dunlap to the back right corner of the northeast end zone for a game-winning touchdown. This time, however, it was only for 12 yards.
And with that, Evans’ third scoring toss of the night, competent offensive football officially returned to Raleigh.
Three underclassmen led the Wolfpack’s offensive assault. With Evans’ 190 yards passing and three touchdowns, sophomore Andre Brown’s 113 yards rushing and redshirt freshman Geron James four receptions for 91 yards and a score, N.C. State dropped 24 points and 340 yards on No.17 Florida State.
The win sets the Pack at 3-2 overall and undefeated after two conference games.
James proved to be the early offensive highlight for State when he made back-to-back acrobatic catches of 30 and 27 yards. James said after the game he hoped his performance was one of many to come.
“This is the opening, but hopefully later on I’ll be back out there doing the same thing,” James said. “Hopefully this will go on and go on.”
Coach Chuck Amato said after the game he knew about James’ potential, but his time hadn’t come until last night.
“He’s been there and we’ve been hoping for him because he’s a good football player,” Amato said.
The 6-foot-4, 185-pound receiver’s quarterback said he was happy for the second-year player.
“He’s one of those guys who hasn’t got as many touches as maybe he wanted but he was able to get in there and I’m really happy for him,” Evans said.
Evans’ second start for the Pack was, statistically, more impressive than his first. He went 13-for-22, 190 yards, three scores and no interceptions. But he said the Florida State game didn’t feel too different from his first start.
“It was a pretty similar atmosphere, playing against a top-25 team on national television,” Evans said.
Brown, who rushed for 179 yards in last year’s win against the Seminoles, said the atmosphere around the team was changing after a slow start to the season.
“We’re winning so everyone is upbeat, jumping around and having fun. Two weeks ago, it wasn’t too happy. After we lost to Akron we were down and kind of dreary,” Brown said. “But coach Amato said ‘We gotta snap out of this,’ and we went out and beat BC and now this.”
And while the offense ignited the stadium early and often Thursday night, redshirt junior offensive guard Kalani Heppe couldn’t describe the feeling on the field after the win.
“I can’t put it into words,” he said on the field immediately after the win. “To be here, to beat a team like this — I can’t put it into words. This is amazing. Amazing.”