A beautiful Saturday afternoon in Winston-Salem set the stage for what Wolfpack fans hoped would be an ACC victory over Wake Forest. Last week’s late comeback against Pittsburgh restored high hopes for a team preparing to face conference competition, but in the second half of Saturday’s game, those hopes quickly diminished.
In their last meeting, State defeated Wake Forest 21-17 at Carter-Finley on November 15, 2008. But the Pack couldn’t maintain a strong defense Saturday against Deacon quarterback Riley Skinner, who broke the school record, throwing for his 45th career touchdown and then some.
A crowd that was split between red and black welcomed the teams to the field. The Pack defense came out strong in the opening minutes of the game. Willie Young forced an early fumble and the ball was recovered at the 33-yard line. Wilson connected with George Bryan for a third down conversion at the 16-yard line. Toney Baker’s 4-yard run brought the Pack within 13, followed by a 9-yard run by Russell Wilson. Wilson’s 4-yard pass found George Bryan in the end zone and a solid kick by Josh Czajkowski put the Pack on the board at 7-0.
On the second Wake Forest drive, Willie Young, who had a career-high, tying three sacks, took out Skinner for a 4-yard loss on the play at the 34. But Skinner found his footing again and threw for 2 long passes to get Wake within 14 in State territory. Wake Forest’s Jordan Williams lost control of the ball on a wide-open pass and the Deacon’s settled for 3 points.
The Deacon defense turned up the heat on Wilson, who overshot a touchdown pass intended for Donald Bowens on the third down. Czajkowski put the Pack up 10-3 on a 30-yard field goal.
Clem Johnson intercepted a Deacon pass in the red zone, but the offense was unable to take advantage of the drive.
Wake found some holes in the State defense and drove for a touchdown to tie the game at 10-10 in the second quarter.
On the following drive, things seemed to be looking up for the Pack, as two flags were thrown on the Wake Forest defense. But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Wilson’s consecutive passing streak came to an end at 379 when a pass intended for Owen Spencer was intercepted by Wake Forest’s Josh Bush. Bush made the most of the interception, running for 61-yards. The Pack defense pushed back, forcing Wake into a fourth down. The field-goal kick hit the post, keeping the game tied at 10-10
State was held down on the following drive, with the third down coming at only the 19-yard line. Shortly thereafter, Baker fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Wake Forest, but the Deacons were unable to score on the drive. The teams headed to the locker room at the half, with Wake leading on a field goal, 13-10.
The second half opened up with much of the same play as the first. After several minutes of play, Wake widened their lead 20-10 on a touchdown pass from Skinner, who was sacked a career-high six times.
The Wolfpack offense came to life again as Wilson found Spencer on a 41-yard pass to the Wake Forest 18. Wilson took control and ran the ball in for an N.C. State touchdown to bring the Pack within three at 20-17. The rushing touchdown was Wilson’s first of the season and fifth of his career.
In the fourth quarter, the State defense lagged behind, appearing unprepared to push back against the Deacs. Skinner took over the offense and put Wake up 27-17 with just over ten minutes remaining in the half.
Wilson found a wide-open Spencer for a 45-yard pass, bringing State to the 22. Jarvis Williams caught a pass to bring the Pack within 10-yards. A flag on Wake pushed State to first and goal at the 5-yard line, where Wilson connected with Baker for a touchdown. Cjazkowski made the extra point and State found themselves within three, once again, at 27-24 with 8:26 on the clock.
However, much of the scoring momentum was killed when Wake ran the kick-off for 79 yards to first and goal. A short pass landed Wake on the 1-yard line. But a false start pushed the third-down play back to the 6-yard line. While no Deacon ended up in the end-zone, an easy field goal stretched the lead to 30-24.
With time running out, Wilson sailed a pass into the end zone, but was intercepted for the second time of the game, third of his career. As dismayed Pack fans began to trail out of the stadium, the clock ran down and the lights went out on any chance State had for a last minute comeback.
State returns home on Saturday to take on Duke. The Tobacco Road rivalry kicks off at 4 p.m.
