Andy Musselman
The last time the football team won a conference game was last October, when N.C. State beat then-No. 17 Florida State. The Wolfpack then lost nine straight ACC games. A year later, State beat another ranked ACC opponent, taking down No. 21 Virginia 29-24, ending the Cavaliers’ seven-game winning streak.
Coach Tom O’Brien said he was proud of his team in its “new season,” and said it was good to get the first ACC win of the season.
“It’s a big win for us,” O’Brien said. “Now we have to see if we can put two ACC wins together.”
State took advantage of several opportunities against the Cavs. Virginia had the first possession, but quarterback Jameel Sewell’s pass was intercepted by redshirt junior safety DaJuan Morgan. The Pack needed only 54 seconds to score. Redshirt junior quarterback Daniel Evans found sophomore receiver Donald Bowens for a touchdown.
The Wolfpack led most of the way, only giving up the lead in the fourth quarter to UVa tailback Mikell Simpson. Simpson rushed for a five-yard touchdown, giving the Cavs a 24-23 lead. With about seven minutes left in the game, Evans threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Bowens, putting the Pack up for good, 29-24.
O’Brien said the offense did a great job doing what the coaches have been trying to tell them all season.
“We had trouble running the ball,” O’Brien said. “We couldn’t punch a hole through [Virginia’s offensive line] at all, but we pass protected well enough to get the ball off and Daniel made some great throws, and there were some great catches out there.”
Bowens, who took the place of injured senior receiver John Dunlap, recorded new career highs with 11 catches for 202 yards and two touchdowns.
“He had a phenomenal game,” O’Brien said. “[Bowens] got a little more action and one man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity. He took advantage of his opportunity.”
Bowens, who is nominated for the AT&T All-America player of the week award, said he way trying to do whatever it took to help the team win.
“It was a big game,” he said. “I just went out there and tried to make plays. We were all determined to win.”
Redshirt sophomore receiver Koyal George had his first career catch of the game, a 25-yard touchdown near the end of the second quarter.
Senior tight end Marcus Stone said one of the major reasons for State’s play was the bye week two weeks ago. Stone caught five passes for 47 yards.
“We had a really good practice on our bye week,” Stone said. “Last game and this game, we’re rebuilding. We keep learning from each game.”
Evans had a career day, throwing for a career-high 347 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
“He’s making a lot of good throws,” O’Brien said. “He’s getting protected pretty well, too. He’s doing a great job, but you have to do the three phases of it. Guys are catching the ball, guys are running around. We’re protecting him, we’re giving him a chance to throw it and he’s delivering it on time to making theses throws.”
The defense was also trying to adjust to the play of Virginia’s Sewell. Most of Virginia’s big plays came on third downs, which for most of the first half and third quarter, State wasn’t able to stop.
“That’s what we spent the whole half time talking about, trying to make sure they understood what the third-down package was,” O’Brien said. “We were doing a decent job first and second down, but we had to win third down.”
Sewell eventually left the game with a leg injury. Redshirt senior defensive end Martrel Brown said although Sewell left the game, he still gave State a lot of work trying to stop him.
“I don’t like seeing nobody get hurt,” Brown said. “It gave us kind of a relief, but it wasn’t that big of a relief because he gave us havoc. And we couldn’t really get to him because he is such a great scrambler.”
The Pack will head to Florida on Saturday to take on Miami and first-year coach Randy Shannon.
Brown said the Pack will try to bring something the team has been gaining over the last two weeks.
“Confidence,” Brown said. “Confidence, I don’t think we had it at the first half of the season. I just think we have confidence, try to get a little swagger back. We keep trying to work harder, win the rest of [our] games.”