Durham– N.C. State finally put a win in its conference record column Saturday with a solid 27-17 win against Duke at Wallace Wade Stadium. The victory for the Pack against Duke was its first against the Blue Devils in five years. Saturday’s game was the first time both teams have met since the realignment of the ACC in 2003.
The first quarter started off slowly as both teams put field goals up on the scoreboard. The quarter wouldn’t end quietly, however. State would finish off the quarter with an 89-yard kickoff return by senior safety J.C. Neal, putting the Pack up 10-3.
The Wolfpack (3-6 overall, 1-4 ACC) was determined to keep its bowl eligibility hopes alive and even used a quote from a movie as motivation during the week. J.C. Neal said the extra motivation helped. He would know, his kickoff return got the team going in the right direction early Saturday.
“Coach O’Brien quoted a movie, “Blue’s Brothers” and said ‘we are on a mission from God’,” Neal said. “And we bought into that quote and we put on a show from them tonight.”
Neal’s touchdown not only motivated the defense, but it motivated the offense as well.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Russell Wilson finished the night 13 for 25 passing with two touchdowns. Wilson credited his receivers for making plays.
“They all want the ball in their hands, and I was going to give it to them,” Wilson said. “They did an exceptional job, really.”
State would continue to make plays as Wilson threw a 2-yard pass to tight end Anthony Hill. The score put State up 17 to 3 with seven minutes left in the first half.
Duke would finally answer with a three play, 57 yard scoring drive. Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to his tight end Brett Huffman, closing in on the Wolfpack. The Pack would finally put the game away with Wilson’s second touchdown pass of the game to receiver Jarvis Williams.
With the return of Nate Irving on defense, State allowed only 10 points in the first half before Duke completed a 4-yard pass with 1:26 left in the final quarter. O’Brien said Irving’s return gave the team a lot of confidence.
“He was our best player on defense,” O’Brien said. “They missed him. We haven’t played as well without him so I think everyone understands that when he’s back, there’s a sense of comfort in the rest of the guys because he certainly makes plays.”
State will now have to win its final three games of the season to be bowl eligible. The Pack’s next game is next Satuday against Wake Forest. Though coach O’Brien would not elaborate on the quote from “Blue’s Brother’s”, Wilson said it was a factor in the win.
“That’s been our somewhat motto this week,” Wilson said. “‘A mission from God’, lets go after and let’s go 100 percent. No matter what happens, if we go down, we go down 100 percent.”
Coach Tom O’Brien on the Wolfpack victory
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