N.C. State’s substantial first half lead against Boston College Saturday was nothing new for Pack fans who have seen their team ahead at halftime every game this season. The team’s third blocked punt of the season and a pair of early of touchdown passes by Russell Wilson gave State a 24-3 lead just past the halfway point of the second quarter. But considering some of State’s experiences after fast starts during the first five games of the season, after 30 minutes, the outcome of coach Tom O’Brien’s battle with his former team remained anything but a foregone conclusion.
In week two, O’Brien and Co. led UCF by 21 before the Knights came within seven late in the fourth quarter and nearly forced overtime. Two weeks later, State held a 31-14 lead against Georgia Tech with less than 20 minutes to play, only to see that lead shrink to 31-28 with about 12 minutes remaining. The Pack prevailed against Central Florida and Georgia Tech. But in week five, a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter against Virginia Tech had been erased three minutes into the fourth quarter of what ended in a 41-30 loss.
Saturday, for the first time since the season-opening win over Western, State’s early lead was never in jeopardy. BC scored late in the first half to bring the score to 24-10 before the Pack answered with a field goal to make it 27-10 at the break. But 17 more unanswered points down the stretch put the game all but out of reach by the start of the fourth quarter.
Even after jumping out to an early lead, the Pack continued to air it out. Redshirt junior quarterback Russell Wilson threw 51 passes, completing 38 of them for 328 yards and three touchdowns. The Pack’s pass-heavy attack helped the team control the game’s tempo from start to finish, as State finished with nearly 36 minutes of time of possession and 26 first downs, all while allowing Boston College to move the chains only 12 times.
“We came in meaning to do that,” O’Brien said. “We may throw it more if we have to. It’s tough to run against those guys up front. They overmatched us up front and we weren’t getting anywhere running the ball, so what are you going to do? You’re going to throw the ball. Our advantage was to make them rush the passer in the heat and try to get to him. And then he can run around and tire them out even more.”
An interception return for a touchdown by redshirt sophomore cornerback C.J. Wilson gave Wilson his second score of the season and stretched the lead to 34-10 early in the third quarter.
“The score was a big one for the defense,” O’Brien said. “Coming out in the third quarter and getting the interception for a touchdown was big. Winning the third quarter is a goal we have. We didn’t do it well enough a week ago. That was an emphasis today.”
The pick six by Wilson helped the Pack play what sophomore safety Brandan Bishop called his team’s best third quarter of the season.
“We knew we had to get off to a fast start, but also keep the pedal on them in the third quarter,” Bishop said. “I thought we had a lot better third quarter today than we’ve had pretty much the whole year so far. We did a good job of keeping the pressure on them and not letting up.”
While the offense piled up more than 420 yards, the defense’s effort in shutting down the BC offense was hard to ignore, especially considering the way Wolfpack defenders struggled in a 52-20 loss a year ago. The Pack defense surrendered 264 yards and five touchdowns to Boston College running back Montel Harris in 2009, then held the entire Golden Eagle offense to only 272 yards in Saturday’s win. The Pack kept Harris out of the end zone and limited him to 53 yards rushing.
“Last year, it was a pretty terrible day for the defense,” Bishop said. “We didn’t forget that. We remembered that all offseason and obviously wanted to come out and have a much better performance today. Their running back had a career day on us a year ago, and that was something we never wanted to experience again.”
With two picks against Boston College, Bishop now leads his team with three picks and has also forced a fumble. On his second takeaway of the afternoon, he caught the ball cleanly, built up momentum, and then fell to the grass with no Boston College player in his vicinity. In previous weeks, his failure to take his second interception to the house might have been cause for serious frustration. But in a game his team put away long before his second interception, Bishop couldn’t help but smile while explaining his unforced stumble on the return.
“I’m not really sure what happened,” Bishop said jokingly. “I think maybe a sniper got me. I felt like I had nothing but green grass in front of me, and then all of a sudden, I’m tumbling down. My feelings were pretty hurt.”
