Losses by Florida State and Maryland later in the afternoon Saturday have the Pack in the same predicament in the standings as it was before Saturday’s mistake-filled loss to Clemson. Tied at 3-2 in the ACC with Maryland and still in possession of the tiebreaker over the Noles, who are 4-2 in conference play, State can still win out and play in the conference title game.
But after losing to an opponent that fumbled the ball five times and committed seven penalties, it was clear to many both inside and outside the Wolfpack locker room that the one-point loss hurt even worse than a scoreboard showing 14-13 indicated.
As it has throughout much of the season, the Pack again struggled to convert after moving into scoring position. Including Saturday’s loss, State has made 48 trips into opposing red zones, but has finished only 24 of those in the end zone. Against Clemson, redshirt junior quarterback Russell Wilson and Co. penetrated the Tiger red zone five times, but only converted one of those opportunities into a touchdown. In five series in the red zone, State scored one touchdown, converted three field goal attempts, two of which were successful, and threw one interception. Wilson’s interception quickly halted a drive that started on the Clemson seven-yard-line after a fumble by the Tigers
In addition to having difficulty after nearing the end zone, State had one foray into it negated by penalty when an interception and long return up the sideline for a touchdown by Terrell Manning was called back because of a holding infraction that occurred behind the play.
In a game many will remember for sloppy performances from both teams, the latter part of the fourth quarter served as a fitting conclusion.
With a chance to answer what proved to be a game-winning touchdown run by Clemson with 6:18 to play, the Pack elected to punt on a fourth-and-one from the Clemson 43 with less than four minutes remaining. The punt ended up being by far the worst of redshirt junior Andy Leffler’s career with the Pack, a four-yard boot that gave Clemson possession on its own 39.
After forcing a three-and-out, State regained possession with 2:56 on the clock and no timeouts. After gaining one first down, Wilson found Asa Watson on a first down throw over the middle for what would have been a chain-moving completion, but the ball bounced off his chest. A pair of incomplete passes followed to set up the game-deciding fourth-and-10 attempt from the 26-yard-line. Wilson rolled right, saw no open receivers, and held the ball until he was along the right sidelines. Just before two Clemson defenders reached him, he heaved the ball across the field to T.J. Graham on another pass that, if caught, would have been good for a first down. But Graham was unable to reel it in, and all had Clemson had to do to seal the victory was kneel and run out the clock.
