N.C. State faced the No. 24 Clemson Tigers Saturday in hopes of securing its second ACC win. However, the Pack fell back and was caught watching the C.J. Spiller show, which translated into a final score of 23-43.
State lost its sixth straight match-up with the Tigers. With two games left in the 2009 season, the Pack will assuredly be on the outside looking in this postseason. The Pack is now 1-5 in the ACC and 4-6 overall.
The problems that defined the Pack’s play this season were on display Saturday. The team dropped the ball twice as many times as it caught it, with 16 completions out of 39 attempts with one interception.
“I don’t understand that at all,” head coach Tom O’Brien said. “We come out there to play and you have to make plays. You got chances, you got guys open. They’ve just got to catch it now.”
O’Brien said he couldn’t think of a positive thing to say about the game.
“We had too many drops and just could never get off on the right foot,” O’Brien said. “We simply made too many mistakes and allowed too many big plays defensively. We don’t want to be in a situation like this, but we’re in it and we just have to adjust.”
The real story of the night was Clemson’s Spiller, who broke several records, including becoming the first in Clemson history to score in five different ways in a single season, including throwing, running and catching a touchdown in Saturday’s game alone. The Heisman hopeful is now the record holder for all-purpose yards in a season with 1,890, after totaling 158 yards: 97 on 18 carries, 17 on his lone pass and 13 on kickoff returns.
Stopping Spiller and the rest of the Clemson offense also proved troublesome for the Wolfpack.
“We were definitely trying to be alert of where Jacoby Ford was and C.J. Spiller was,” senior safety Clem Johnson said. “I don’t know if we lost track, it’s just that they’re so good and with the breakdowns we had on defense we just struggled a little bit today.”
Clemson gained the early lead and held on to it for the remainder of the game, getting on the board initially after a 28-yard field goal. During the first quarter, State’s offense was unable to compete a pass, with zero yards passing and only seven for 30 yards rushing. In the Pack’s second offensive drive, quarterback Russell Wilson’s throw was intercepted by Byron Maxwell. The play resulted in a Tiger touchdown to make the score 10-0.
According to Wilson, the team needs to keep improving, even with the season winding down.
“[The game] started out a little slow,” Wilson said. “We just had to keep executing, keep making plays. Clemson has got a great defensive line and great players.”
State managed to score a touchdown in the second quarter after Wilson connected with Koyal George for an 18-yard pass. The play marked Geroge’s second career touchdown pass after switching from cornerback to offense earlier this season.
According to George, his performance on the field was disappointing.
“I’m still upset because the ball was thrown at me four times and I only got two of them,” George said. “50 percent is never good enough. I think it’s a matter of focusing. A lot of people expected us to perform better than we’re performing.”
Clemson was quick to respond with another touchdown before the half, gaining a 24-7 lead before heading into the locker room.
The Pack was able to make its first offensive drive of the second half with a Wilson touchdown pass to Jarvis Williams before Clemson jumped back and scored two consecutive touchdowns.
“It was just a rough day all together,” defensive end Michael Lemon said. “We played hard — it’s just in the end we couldn’t pull out the victory.”
Lemon, who was responsible for three solo tackles against Clemson, said the Pack has a new objective now that a bowl game is out of the picture.
“We won’t be going to the championship, so we don’t want anyone else to go either,” Lemon said. “We’re [going to] try and beat everyone else that we play and just see how it goes from there.”
