Senior wide receiver Owen Spencer might want to consider a career in fortune telling. Spencer said two days after his team’s win over Wake Forest last week that he expected a wild one in Chapel Hill.
“It’s going to be interesting,” Spencer said in an interview with the Technician. “I’m looking forward to a good, clean, nasty, physical, pretty, nasty game.”
Before his team’s 29-25 victory Saturday over the Tar Heels, such a prediction made little sense. But then his erased a nine-point deficit late in the third quarter, twice made SportsCenter’s Saturday night Top 10 and sealed the deal with a safety of all things. In hindsight, he probably couldn’t have said it better.
Throughout the first half and most of the third quarter, the kickers were as involved as anybody in the rivalry showdown. The Heels built a 19-10 lead on the strength of four Casey Barth field goals before a back-and-forth final period ended in the most memorable of coach Tom O’Brien’s four consecutive defeats of UNC. The Pack’s first field goal came off the foot of Josh Czajkowski, whose season-long 47-yarder came a week after a hamstring injury sidelined him during his team’s win over Wake.
The game’s final 16 minutes featured two ejections, the longest run and most improbable touchdown pass of redshirt junior quarterback Russell Wilson’s career, and a punt return for a touchdown, among a number of other momentum swings.
With his team down nine points late in the third quarter, Wilson dropped back to pass on third-and-18, saw no open receivers open, then took off on a 34-yard-run to UNC’s 8-yard-line. A personal foul was assessed to the Heels for a late hit out of bounds on Wilson, giving the Pack first-and-goal from the Tar Heel 4-yard-line.
Three plays later, State’s decision to go for it on fourth-and-two paid off, as the Pack converted on one of the most improbable touchdowns of the season. Redshirt junior quarterback Russell Wilson rolled right, reversed field twice, and then, with a pass rush in his face, lofted the ball toward a crowd in the back corner of the end zone. The pass appeared to carom off the hands of Darrell Davis and into the arms of a diving Spencer, whose highlight-reel reception withstood an official review and was named SportsCenter’s No. 1 play in its nightly Top 10 highlight reel.
“It was a prayer, and it was answered,” coach Tom O’Brien said.
After the score, emotions still running high from the late hit on Wilson boiled over. An altercation between the Heels’ Kevin Reddick and the Pack’s Jarvis Williams resulted in both players’ ejections.
The defense quickly forced the Tar Heels to punt to junior wide receiver and return man T.J. Graham, who raced 87 yards untouched up the sideline to put his team ahead 24-19 with 14 minutes remaining.
After another stop by the defense, freshman running back Mustafa Greene and sophomore running back James Washington led the Pack down the field for a field goal that made it 27-19.
But Carolina responded by advancing the ball to the N.C. State 12-yard-line, where it faced fourth-and-two. A play-action pass by T.J. Yates appeared to fall incomplete, but the Heels’ Josh Adams recovered after the ball bounced off his hands to make a game-preserving catch as he fell to the ground.
Three plays later, thanks to a 15-yard completion on third-and-16, the Heels found themselves in need of another fourth down conversion, this time on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard-line. Yates faked a handoff, then dropped back and completed an easy touchdown pass to make it 27-25, State.
On the two-point attempt, Yates rolled right, then fired a jump ball into the same corner of the end zone where Spencer scored a quarter earlier. Yates’ heave harmlessly fell to the ground and the Pack held on to a two-point cushion.
Leading by two, State was forced into a three-and-out and had to punt the ball back to the Heels with just less than a minute to play. Senior Jeff Ruiz, who had not punted since the Pack’ overtime loss to ECU more than a month ago, picked a good time for a career-best 57 yarder that pinned the Heels on their own 4-yard-line. Redshirt sophomore linebacker Terrell Manning broke through the offensive line to record a safety and his team’s seventh and final sack of the afternoon, making it 29-25, Wolfpack.
But the outcome remained up in the air during two onside kicks by UNC. State recovered the first one, but was penalized for moving before the snap to allow Carolina another opportunity. The Pack recovered the second one as well to allow Wilson and Co. to kneel the ball and officially give the seniors a perfect 4-0 record against the rival Tar Heels.
“This is the greatest highlight of my career,” senior linebacker Nate Irving said. “So far.”
