WINSTON-SALEM — With bowl-eligibility just over the horizon, N.C. State (5-6, 3-4 ACC) entered its game at Wake Forest going for a fifth straight win, but the Wolfpack’s winning streak ended with a 38-18 defeat against the Demon Deacons.
“Any loss is tough to take, I don’t care where it is or where it comes,” coach Tom O’Brien said. “It was on us. We came in here ready to play, but we just didn’t get it done. We made too many mistakes.”
The team gained only 57 yards rushing, resembling its 75.4-yard average in its five early season losses. By comparison, State averaged 102.5 yards per game during its four-game winning streak.
“They got us on our heels early,” O’Brien said. “We didn’t catch up to what they were doing early and gave them a big lead to start with. We dug ourselves too big a hole.”
At the end of the first half, Wake Forest (7-4, 5-3 ACC) went into the locker room on a high note, after Alphonso Smith intercepted a Daniel Evans pass to John Dunlap in the corner of the end zone in the final minute of the half.
“We had to throw the ball because of how many guys they had inside to stop the run,” Evans said. “Their corners just did a good job of cutting off the routes.”
Wake Forest relied heavily on play fakes and a misdirection offense to increase its lead to 21-3 by halftime.
“We knew that they were getting the reverses, but we just didn’t come out and make plays,” redshirt junior safety DaJuan Morgan said. “We weren’t settled as a defense. We didn’t fight.”
In the second half, the tide seemed to be changing as the Pack held the Demon Deacons to two consecutive three-and-outs before scoring on a 52-yard drive. Evans delivered a six-yard touchdown pass to redshirt sophomore Matt Kushner to ignite a momentum-changing spark for the team.
“In the locker room, coach reminded us of how hard we had been working to get back into contention for a bowl,” senior wide receiver Darrell Blackman said. “We came out a little bit sharper than we were in the first half and started to turn it around.”
Kushner’s second scoring play of the night would come about five minutes later, as he scooped in a two-point conversion to bring the score to 21-18 after a one-yard touchdown run by redshirt sophomore Jamelle Eugene. On the next drive though, the Pack would be cooled off by a 62-yard Wake Forest touchdown pass to Jordan Williams. Demon Deacon quarterback Riley Skinner launched the pass out of the reach of N.C. State redshirt junior cornerback Jeremy Gray.
“We needed something because you could tell they were getting the momentum,” Skinner said. “I saw the corner press up on Williams, and he got a step on the defender and then went up for it and made a great play.”
From there, the Deacs never looked back, as they tacked on 10 more points, all of which came off turnovers. After a Donald Bowens fumble inside Wolfpack territory, Wake was able to easily connect for a 37-yard field goal. The other score resulted from an Evans interception that was returned 57 yards for a touchdown by Wake Forest’s Aaron Curry.
“Turnovers, dropped balls, mistakes — that ended up being the story of the game,” O’Brien said.
