TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — For a little while Saturday, the N.C. State offense looked credible. Daniel Evans distributed the ball to the running backs and made timely passes.

The team almost made it a whole half without a turnover, and then it came. An Evans interception, then another, then a fumble on a kickoff, then a final interception.

By the time it was all over, it looked all too familiar and all too painful for the Wolfpack.

“Once again we didn’t give ourselves a chance. We played so hard, but we still don’t play smart enough,” first-year coach Tom O’Brien said. “In key situations in the game, we just can’t seem to make a play.”

All those things gone wrong don’t even include the loss of Andre Brown for the season. It’s becoming an all-too-familiar scene for the Pack to see its top offensive players sustain injuries: first Anthony Hill, Toney Baker and Harrison Beck — and now Brown.

It seems to be wearing on O’Brien, too. After announcing Brown is done for the year, O’Brien didn’t even want to talk further about Brown.

Jamelle Eugene, who will replace Brown as the featured back, rushed for 101 yards Saturday and appears ready for the spotlight. Eugene, who said Brown is like a brother to him, had a hard time finding words to describe the loss of Brown.

“He’s an impact player,” Eugene said. “And that really gives me a blow to my heart.”

Evans, who started the game with a solid first half, couldn’t put together anything in the second half. But as the Seminoles laid on big hit after big hit in the final quarter, O’Brien also saw Evans’ protection disappear.

“We’re supposed to pass protect up-front,” the coach said. “And we’re not supposed to go the wrong way and turn guys free and give free shots to the quarterback.”

Evans conceded his interception late in the first half was probably a turning point in the game.

“I just forced it, same old story as last week too — having those red-zone turnovers,” Evans said. “When you’ve pretty much already got points on the board and then you throw it away like that, it hurts, especially going into the half.”

Outside the Pack’s locker room, the agony of the defeat was plain to see.

“It hurts. There’s no other word for it,” senior wide receiver John Dunlap said. “We [aren’t] playing smart right now.”

Senior defensive tackle DeMario Pressley said the locker room was pretty bleak.

“Just sad. It’s not fun,” Pressley said. “It’s sad to lose your fifth game.”

The site of so many previous shining moments for State, Doak Campbell Stadium, turned into a showcase for its current troubles. A place where State had won two out of three and lost the other in a classic 50-44 double-overtime showdown in Philip Rivers’ senior year, turned into a place where the team fell apart Saturday.

In a cruel irony, the coach for the Pack in those previous games that displayed State as a program on the rise — Chuck Amato — was on the opposite sideline Saturday night.

It was a reminder that while many wanted the old coach gone, starting new isn’t always as fun or easy as it’s cracked up to be.