Today's entry is against Boston College and brings us back to 2006. A game for the ages. Daniel vs Goliath. Maybe not exactly Goliath, but the QB comparison could not be more different. Matt Ryan, a junior at BC had won his last eight starts for the Eagles, and would go on to be a first round draft pick, an NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and a 2011 Pro Bowler. Daniel Evans on the other hand was an unheralded legacy QB recruit that picked up an NC State offer on signing day when one of the Wolfpack targets went elsewhere.
In retrospect, it seems even more amazing now that Evans would help the Pack win in his first career start over Ryan and the Eagles. But it was really the NC State defense that kept the game in check for 59 minutes before Evans could deliver the magic.
The Pack was 1-2 going against the 20th ranked, 3-0, seven point favorite BC Eagles. The game started ominously for the Pack as BC took the opening drive 83 yards for a score, capped off by a 22 yard Matt Ryan TD pass.
But there was a silver lining, just five minutes into the game. The extra point was missed, and it would prove vital. Eagles 6, Pack 0. NC State's first drive on offense didn't look too good either. The 3 and out went for just 1 total yard, and BC had the ball again. But it was here that State began to gain some traction. A 3 and out for BC gave State the ball back, and this time they did something with it. A 49 yard Andre Brown run followed by a 22 yarder by Toney Baker gave NC State a first and goal. We didn't punch it in, but the field goal by Deraney cut the lead to 6-3.
The teams exchanged punts to close out the 1st quarter, and early in the 2nd, BC was on the move again. They marched 71 yards into the red zone, but a big Demario Pressley sack on third down forced a field goal try, and the lead was now 9-3. The rest of the 2nd quarter moved quickly, with four punts exchanged, and neither team crossing midfield with the ball, so this Saturday night ESPN2 game went to halftime with the score BC 9, NC State 3.
Nothing doing on NC State's first drive of the 3rd, but the NC State defense again held it's own against a BC team averaging 32+ points on the season with another stop. This time NC State capitalized on good field position, and moved the ball down to the BC 26, where on second and ten, Andre Brown plowed through the BC defense, and NC State took it's first lead of the game at 10-9.
On the ensuing kickoff, a 36 yard kickoff return proved costly in this field position battle. Although BC didn't gain a first down, their punt pinned State at the 2, and Deraney's ensuing punt from the end zone gave BC the ball at the 46. But State's defense stood tall. This time on a pass to the end zone, Jimmie Sutton came up with the pick and the lead stayed intact.
Still the Pack offense struggled and a 0 yard possession gave BC the ball back around midfield again as the 4th quarter started. This time, BC wasn't denied as they marched 49 yards for the go ahead score. However, with the score 15-10 in this low scoring affair, BC had to go for 2, and they tried, but failed, so the score held at 15-10.
NC State drove to the 50 on the next possession, but had to punt, and from here BC grinded out a 5 and a half minute drive, and the Pack got the ball back on their own 20, with only 4:30 to play. With only 1 timeout left, this looked like the last chance, and an 8 yard pass pulled State to a 3rd and 2, but the 3rd down pass was incomplete, and the 4th down pass was picked off at the 35, sending a few Pack fans to the exits with 3:08 to play.
On the next possession, the clock started to tick before first down (as it did in 2006) and 1st down went for no gain. Then came the second down play that was the first in a series of miracle/turning points. This being the one that noone really remembers or even noticed. Callendar with a run around the left side and with a hard charge towards the sidelines he would have gotten the first down, and this puppy would have been over. But because he didn't want to go out of bounds he essentially gave himself up to stay in bounds and only gained 9 yards. NC State called timeout with 1:37 to play, and a 3rd and 1 coming up.
On third down there was a fumbled snap that Ryan fell on and now it was 4th and 1. The clock ticked under a minute, and on the 27 BC elected to go for it instead of trying a risky field goal. It was the right call, especially with their kicking woes, but the handoff to Toal was STOPPED! NC State ball with 46 seconds to play!
No timeouts and 73 yards to go. And it was only made worse by the fact that our offense had to run on the field and snap it was quickly as possible. The crazy 2006 time rules started the clock on change of possession after ready for play, so we lost about 4 seconds before the first snap. After an incompletion, 2nd down with to Anthony Hill for 18 yards.
But Hill couldn't get out of bounds, so quickly to the line we went. An incompletion, and then a 20 yarder to Dunlap along the State sidelines. Now we had the ball on the 34. Just 16 seconds left. Then, Evans drops back to pass, he pumps, eludes the pressure, shuffles left, sees Dunlap in the right corner and heaves it towards the end zone......
CAUGHT! TOUCHDOWN! TOUCHDOWN! CARTER-FINLEY EXPLODES!
8 seconds to play and NC State has the lead! We tack on the extra point, and after the kickoff runs off the 8 seconds, we have the victory 17-15!
More youtube highlights of the game from ESPN
Today's honorable mention:
2010 NC State 44 Boston College 17
Up next:
Wednesday: Clemson
Thursday: UNC
Friday: Florida State
Also of note, a big thanks to accfootballphotos dot com for many of the pictures in this thread. Gene Galin's pictures are really the best in the business.
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