UNC-Chapel Hill beat N.C. State in Raleigh for the first time since 2005, defeating the Wolfpack 27-19 on Saturday afternoon at Carter-Finley Stadium.
“The game came down to mistakes for us, we made too many,” N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren said. “We dropped a couple of balls that we needed to catch and threw a couple of balls we shouldn’t have thrown. There’s not much margin for error when you play like that on offense.”
“Anytime you lose a rivalry game, it’s going to sting, it’s going to hurt and there’s no excuses for it [losing].”
Graduate student quarterback Brandon Mitchell became the first Wolfpack quarterback since 1976 to run for more than 100 yards. But Mitchell also threw two costly interceptions late in the second half, resulting in his benching by Doeren for the last 6:20 of the game.
“He [Mitchell] was forcing balls into coverage that I told him he couldn’t throw,” Doeren said. “I said ‘If it’s not there, throw it away.’ He didn’t, so I took him out.”
“I’m mad at myself,” Mitchell said. “I turned the ball over twice, two plays in the game that hurt us. We had a chance to win, and I cost my team a win… I would’ve pulled myself too.”
The Wolfpack (3-5, 0-5 ACC) started strong against the Tar Heels (3-5, 2-3 ACC). The Pack scored 10 points in the first seven minutes of the game. But sophomore running back Shadrach Thornton said State’s players missed opportunities and were wasteful in the red zone.
“We’re in the red zone four times in the first half, and we get one touchdown and three field goals,” sophomore running back Shadrach Thornton said. “That’s 21 points we missed out on. Instead of being up 28 to whatever they [UNC] would’ve had, it’s 14-13. We can’t do that. Three points is ok, but we need touchdowns.”
The Wolfpack ran the ball effectively against the Heels, racking up 232 yards on the ground. But Thornton, who had 99 rushing yards, said he was disappointed with the loss.
“I don’t care if I have four yards rushing,” Thornton said. “If we get the win, then that’s what matters. Regardless of what I do or what anybody else does, the win is the most important thing, especially against our rivals.”
State kept its penalties to a minimum, committing six on Saturday for 32 yards. But the Wolfpack lost a key starter early in the game as a result of a targeting penalty, which entails an automatic ejection if confirmed by replay officials.
Midway through the first quarter, the officials ejected N.C. State’s senior starting linebacker D.J. Green. The officials judged Green to have come in with a late hit on UNC’s ball carrier, who was already on the ground. Green’s departure left State’s defense without its fourth-leading tackler for the remainder of the contest.
In the third quarter, UNC’s senior cornerback Jabari Price was also flagged for a targeting penalty after a helmet-to-helmet hit on Mitchell. The automatic ejection of Price, the Heels’ fourth-leading tackler, could have been a huge turning point in the game. But on further review, the officials reversed the decision to eject Price, keeping him in the game.
Doeren said he was disappointed with the way the officiating crew enforced the rule on Saturday.
“I think that rule is a bad rule, and I think that’s been expressed by a lot of coaches,” Doeren said. “It’s not evenly officiated, it’s a judgment call. There’s too much margin for error with that rule change. I understand the intent of the rule, but it’s a bad rule change.”
“If you get in a big game, especially if you’re a team that has very little depth, and the [officials] make a call like that [against Green], especially when they don’t reciprocate with a hit on our quarterback that they didn’t even call. And then the next hit, which was clearly a helmet-to-helmet hit that they overrule, I just don’t get it… It’s something that needs to be changed at the end of the season.”
