North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Works Overtime To Beat Duke, 31-24
10/23/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Brian Williams |
By Tony Haynes
DURHAM, N.C. (Oct. 23) -It was close, it was high scoring and it went down to the wire. Sounds like a Duke--NC State football game, right? In typical fashion, the Wolfpack and Blue Devils kept the fans on the edge of their seats at Wallace Wade Stadium. And for the first time in this long neighborhood rivalry, it took an overtime period to finally decide the outcome.
A seven-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jamie Barnette proved to be the difference as NC State (5-3, 2-3 ACC) edged the Blue Devils 31-24.
The Wolfpack picked itself up off the mat in the extra period after watching Duke's Sims Lenhardt boot a 50-yard field goal on the last play of regulation.
"He hit that one from 50 yards and it would have been good from 60," said NC State coach Mike O'Cain. "I thought our players showed tremendous character when we were struggling on both offense and defense early in the game."
There were no shortage of heroes or big plays for the Wolfpack on this sunny, breezy day in Durham. Quarterback Jamie Barnette connected on 19 of 28 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns. Tailback Rahshon Spikes rushed 26 times for 146 yards and two scores. Spikes' day included 74-yard pass reception. Wide receiver Koren Robinson had his best day, catching ten passes for 129 yards and a touchdown.
NC State needed all of that and more to defeat a Duke team that's been playing its best football over the last three weeks.
"I want to give Carl (Franks) and his staff tremendous credit," O'Cain said. "They've taken a program that was 0-4 and turned it around over the last three weeks. They didn't win the ball game, but they played their rear ends off."
But so did NC State. Defensive end Clint Johnson gave the Pack two big quarterback sacks, one late in the fourth quarter and the other in overtime. But it was senior cornerback Tony Scott who may have made the biggest play of the game.
Holding a 21-14 lead, Duke (1-6, 1-3 ACC) was driving when Spencer Romine lofted a pass to receiver Scottie Montgomery at the goal line. But Scott broke on the ball and picked it off at the six with 12:34 remaining in the game.
NC State then proceeded to drive 94 yards in 13 plays to tie it up. A 12-yard pass from Barnette to Robinson made it 21-21 with 7:19 left.
After forcing a Duke punt, the Wolfpack went on another march. A 28-yard run by Spikes got NC State a first down at the Blue Devils 44. Five Plays later, Kent Passingham kicked a 27-yard field goal to give the Pack a brief 24-21 lead with 1:34 left.
Duke then went on a desperation drive that put Lenhardt in position to send it to overtime with a wind-aided 50-yard field goal that cleared the crossbar with room to spare.
In overtime, Duke won the toss and elected to go on defense first. Barnette hit Robinson with an 11-yard pass to give NC State a first down at the Duke 11. Three Spikes runs set-up first and goal from the two. After a false start penalty, Barnette retreated in the pocket to throw, but decided to tuck it and run after seeing an opening up the middle. The seven-yard touchdown scamper wasn't a designed play.
"It was a pass, but everything just opened up," O'Cain said. "He (Jamie Barnette) did a great job of seeing it open up. Their end got up field and we kind of caved their tackle up inside and it just opened up."
Then it was Clint Johnson's turn to be a hero. On Duke's first play of the extra period, the junior defensive end sacked Blue Devils quarterback Spencer Romine for a loss of 11.
"Clint Johnson did a great job in the overtime period," Said O'Cain. "He got a great take-off and was around the tackle before he was able to get set."
After incomplete passes on second and third down, Romine's desperation lob into the end zone was intercepted by Pack strong safety Adrian Wilson to end the game.
"They played much better than we did in the second half," said a disappointed Franks. "We had some opportunities to score some points, but we missed a field goal and threw the interception. We had the lead and just couldn't stop them. You have to give them all the credit."
For three-quarters, it looked like Duke would snap a five game losing streak to the Pack. After Spikes' 10-yard run gave NC State a 7-0 lead early, the Blue Devils came right back. B.J. Hill's 32-yard run tied the score, and when Scottie Montgomery made a 12-yard touchdown grab, Duke went ahead 14-7 with 6:52 remaining in the second period.
NC State tied it when Spikes caught Barnette's flair pass and went 74-yards. Receiver Eric Leak made it all possible by throwing a nice block on Blue Devils cornerback Ronnie Hamilton.
Hill's six-yard run then gave Duke a 21-14 at the half.
"This was a great win for us," said Spikes. "It gives us an opportunity to build confidence. Right now, we have a lot of key players who are down. That gives a lot of the younger guys a chance to step-up and do the little things. To come out like this and beat Duke really gives the young players confidence and helps them relax."
There weren't a lot of people in the seats relaxing on Saturday. Just call it another day at the office for Duke and NC State.
