Time and again, viewers of Saturday’s game against Akron felt they had just seen the scoring drive to win the game, as some fans leaving Carter-Finley Stadium prematurely demonstrated.
They supposed the fourth-quarter 96-yard touchdown drive from Akron was the end of the contest, and thought it all but over when the Wolfpack answered with a touchdown pass to redshirt freshman Jamelle Eugene with only 1:07 remaining.
It was all too easy to believe the game was over on multiple fourth quarter scoring drives during the afternoon, but when Akron running back Dennis Kennedy narrowly crossed the goaline with no time remaining, it was met with disbelief.
Incredulous N.C. State players refused to stray too far from the sideline. Fans wouldn’t leave their seats and coach Chuck Amato jogged into the north end zone tunnel after the game officials to get an explanation as to why officials weren’t reviewing the final play.
“I was told there wasn’t a buzzer. It wasn’t I asked because we couldn’t review the play before that,” Amato said. “But they review every play.”
Coaches need at least one timeout to challenge the call on the field, so that if the call is not overturned they can forfeit it.
“I don’t know all the rules, I wasn’t very clear on that,” senior linebacker Pat Lowery said. “But we can’t complain about that, we should have stopped them on the last play of the game. That would have solved everything.”
The replay showed the ball breaking the plane as Kennedy’s knee hit just behind the goaline. It was Kennedy’s third 1-yard touchdown run of the game, and that was the difference.
“It was a total shock, they came out and played us to the wire. Their guys played hard, we played hard and went tit for tat and they just came out on top,” redshirt sophomore roverback Dajuan Morgan said. “They just played harder today, played better than us today.”
At first, frustration surrounded the game’s initial half that receiver Darrell Blackman described as a “stalemate.” The only score came from an Akron 25-yard drive, and the third quarter was much of the same, as a redshirt senior John Deraney 42-yard field goal was the only score.
“In that first half we were having trouble getting something going,” redshirt junior quarterback Marcus Stone said. “[The defense was] just stopping them and stopping them and doing a great job.”
But the final 15 minutes saw a flurry of scoring and momentum swings, as the lead exchanged hands four times.
Stone, who went 11 for 15 in the second half, threw a swing pass to Blackman that went the distance and State led 10-7 with 10:46 remaining.
“For eight or nine minutes it was just up and down for the remainder of the game,” Lowery said.
Akron’s next drive went three plays for -5 yards. When sophomore J.C. Neal partially blocked a punt it was the second time a punt was deflected, and State took over at the opponent’s 23.
State got to the 4-yard line before Akron stopped the offensive drive on a fourth-and-one Stone option.
“Before you even ask,” Amato said, “If I had to do the fourth down and one, on the four yard line, I’d do the same thing.”
Amato noted how the defense had played, limiting Akron to negative four yards on 14 plays in the third quarter as reason for his decision.
“I didn’t realize our defense could play that good like they have for a game and three quarters,” Amato said. “In my wildest dreams I would have never thought they could have gone 96. I didn’t think it was a gamble.”
Ninety-six yards later, when Kennedy scored a second time for the Zips with 5:18 left, and State knew it would have to answer the call.
Stone completed two straight throws to junior tight end Anthony Hill before a botched snap by redshirt senior Leroy Harris ended the drive, and possibly the game. But the Pack would another chance with 2:30 left.
The offense quickly advanced inside the 20, but faced a fourth-and-five from the 11-yard line. Stone hit Eugene with a touchdown to seemingly take the lead for good.
“He [won the game]. Not once, but twice,” Amato said of Stone.
State was so convinced of victory that several players left the sideline to celebrate with Eugene, prompting a 15-yard penalty assessed on the kickoff.
“We should have waited until he came to the sideline. Instead we got a little penalty that cost us big,” Morgan said of the excessive celebration penalty.
The Zips started the drive with 1:07 left, and proceeded to take every second off the clock before punching it in at the State’s 1-yard line.
“When they scored we had to come back and score, it just kept going back and forth, and it just happened to go their way at the last minute,” Blackman said.
Amato said his team was “hurting in that locker room” from losing the game.
“I really think we have a good football team,” Amato said. “They’ll fight back.”