Still about half-shocked that N.C. State didn’t come away with the Loss on Saturday afternoon, in Greenville, N.C. And the question comes up after the way the Wolfpack game vs. East Carolina ended…Did N.C. State really win this game on Saturday afternoon in Greenville, or did East Carolina just flat out lose this game, and totally let it slip away….
(What really happened here?)
A missed extra point and a missed field goal, by the ECU Pirates, and N.C. State walks out of Dowdy Ficklen Stadium, with the “W”…I was listening to the game on the radio(105.7 FM locally), and just knew that N.C. State was going to start out the new 2022 season, at (0-1), falling to a team(ECU) that N.C. State should have beaten by at least 2 touchdowns…I don’t see as where State has any real running game right now, and they will have to find one, if they want to contend for any ACC honors…State is (1-0), but that might be one of the most fragile (1-0) records that I have ever seen…This group is (1-0), but they are so close to (0-1) that you could almost print it…
Maybe that fragile (1-0) mark fits the North Carolina Tar Heels too…Is this really good football when a team gives up 61 points??? I know that they(North Carolina) scored 63, and the word is, that it doesn’t matter if you win by 1, or 100 points, it is still a win, but a final score of 63-61, and neither team can stop the other, and we ask/pose the question again, is this really good college football???
North Carolina is just glad that they survived, and APP State is beating themselves up, knowing that they could have won this game, up there in Boone, if they could just have pulled off that two-point conversion pass play where Chase Brice overthrew his wide open receiver…
This game just kept going back-and-forth, and North Carolina did just enough to get out of Kidd Brewer Stadium, with a victory….The State-ECU game, and the North Carolina-APP State game sured kept me glued to that radio on Saturday afternoon, and those games helped take our minds off of all the craziness that was Friday night high school football, just one day/night ago…
These two college games captured the state of North Carolina on the first Saturday in September, and once they got us, they kept us glued to the radio, or TV, hanging by a thread, waiting for the outcome of these contests…They were not pretty ball games, but both of those Saturday afternoon college football games, got us back into the college football spirit here on Labor Day weekend…
A very crazy day in the world of college football in North Carolina, and it proves again, that even though both of these teams barely won, N.C. State and North Carolina remain the top two college football teams in our state…That may not be saying much right now, but with freshman Drake May at QB at UNC, they have their route charted with solid leadership for at least the next three years…State, with Devin Leary at the controls, is still in better shape than they would be, if they had Dennis Leary back there at quarterback…
Not a real fulfilling beginning to the new college football season, but at least a large majority of the college football fans in North Carolina, know the difference between the N.C. State Wolfpack and the North Carolina Tar Heels…Right now that difference is right around one and a-half points….And can we say that APP State is better than East Carolina??? How could anybody in their right mind, right now, know for sure…
And is North Carolina 1 1/2 points better than N.C. State??? Right now, anybody in their right mind, has put this college football day behind them, and they are on to the Sunday dinner…
We can put this college football day behind us, and pick all this back up again in November, or we can cleanse our souls and start getting ready for Charleston Southern next Saturday in Raleigh…North Carolina will be traveling to face Georgia State….You want MORE!!!!!
The choice is yours…
#13 Pack Leaves East Carolina with 21-20 Win
Pirates missed game-winning field goal in final 10 seconds
from GoPack.com:
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Trailing by one, East Carolina missed a 41-yard game-winning field goal attempt in the final seconds as #13 NC State opened the season with a 21-20 road win.
ECU struck first with a TD midway through the first quarter, but the Pack responded with three straight scores to go into the half up 21-7.
QB Devin Leary found WR Thayer Thomas from 12 yards out to open the Pack’s scoring. Then the NC State special teams got into the scoring action, as WR Jasiah Provillon blocked an ECU punt, and SAF Sean Brown fell on the ball in the end zone for a ST TD.
In the second quarter, So. Demie Sumo-Karngbaye scored his first career score, going in from 24 yards out in the final minute of the first half.
The Pirates cut the deficit in half midway through the third quarter, with a second TD pass of the game. The score remained 21-14 going into the fourth quarter.
The Pirates added a TD with just 2:58 left, but missed the extra point to leave the score at 21-20. ECU drove the ball down for a 41-yard game-winning field goal attempt with nine seconds left, but the kick was no good.
STAT LEADERS
QB Devin Leary
17-of-33 for 211 yards, 1 TD
RB Demie Sumo-Karngbaye
14 rushes for 79 yards, 1 TD
WR Thayer Thomas
4 catches for 58 yards, 1 TD
LB Jaylon Scott
8 tackles, 5 solo stops
NOTABLES
• Thomas first quarter TD catch was the 21st of his career which moves him into second place in school history for most career TD receptions. He is now tied for second with Jerricho Cotchery, only behind Torry Holt’s record of 31.
• Sumo-Karngbaye played in six games as a true freshman last year, but took no offensive snaps (all his action was on special teams). His second quarter TD was the first of his career, and he is the first #0 to score a TD in Wolfpack history – players were allowed to wear #0 starting in 2020.
• The win was only the Pack’s second all-time in Greenville (2-3), and the first since 2007. NC State has now won three straight in the series overall.
• Opening the season in a true-road game for the first time since 2008, the win was the first of the season on the road for the Pack since 1999 (23-20 at #16 Texas).
UP NEXT
The Pack will open its home slate next Saturday, as Charleston Southern comes to Carter-Finley Stadium for a 12:30 p.m. contest.
TAR HEELS OUTLAST APP STATE, 63-61
from GoHeels.com:
BOONE, N.C.—Redshirt freshman Drake Maye continued his torrid start to the season, throwing for 352 yards and combining for five touchdowns as North Carolina outlasted Appalachian State 63-61 on Saturday despite surrendering 40 points in the fourth quarter.
Maye, the younger brother of former Tar Heels basketball star Luke Maye, has thrown a school-record nine touchdown passes in two career starts. He also ran for a score against the Mountaineers.
Chase Brice threw for 376 yards and six touchdowns for Appalachian State (0-1).
The two teams combined for 62 points and 504 yards — in the fourth quarter.
With the game tied at 49, Maye lofted a ball over the middle to D.J. Jones for a 42-yard touchdown pass on an all-out blitz by the Mountaineers to give North Carolina (2-0) the lead with 2:50 left in the game.
App State responded with Brice throwing his fifth TD pass of the game, a 28-yard strike to Deshaun Davis with 31 seconds left. The Mountaineers went for the 2-point conversion — and the apparent win — but Brice’s pass sailed just over Davis’ head.
It seemed the game would end there, but UNC’s Bryson Nesbit returned the ensuing onside kick for a 43-yard touchdown — a mistake that gave the Mountaineers 31 seconds to try to score again. Sure enough, Brice found Kaedin Robinson for a 26-yard TD strike with 9 seconds left to cut the lead to 63-61.
The Mountaineers went for 2 but Brice was stopped short of the end zone.
The Tar Heels fell behind 21-7 before rattling off 34 straight points and silence a record crowd of 40,168 at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Maye threw three TD passes in the first half, including a 10-yard TD strike to Nesbit to give the Tar Heels a 28-21 lead with 1 second left.
Maye made it 28 straight unanswered points for UNC with a 12-yard touchdown run to start the second half, receiving congrats from former Tar Heels and current Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell in the end zone after tiptoeing the sideline.
UNC pushed its lead to 41-21 after two Noah Burnette field goals entering the fourth quarter before the Mountaineers battled back with six touchdowns.
It was the most points ever scored in a UNC game since the school started football in 1888.
DOWNS AND OUT
The Tar Heels played without standout wide receiver Josh Downs, who sat out with a lower body injury.
Downs, arguably the team’s best player, had nine catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns in UNC’s win over Florida A&M and led the ACC with 101 catches last season for 1,335 yards and eight TDs.
THE TAKEAWAY
North Carolina: New defensive coordinator Gene Chizik has plenty of work to do. His defense gave up 338 yards and 40 points in the fourth quarter.
Appalachian State: Brice had a spectacular game, but the offense stalled in the third quarter. The defense struggled to stop Maye.
UP NEXT
North Carolina: at Georgia State on Saturday.
Appalachian State: at No. 6 Texas A&M on Saturday.
Both Appalachian and East Carolina scored more offensive touchdowns yesterday than their ACC opponents.
I do not feel sorry for ECU. No one felt sorry for NCSU in 2016 when we missed 3 field goals that would have beaten Clemson. We deserved to win as much as Clemson did in 2016. i would rather win than lose a close game no matter what the circumstances. We will improve. GO WOLFPACK!!