North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State comes up one-yard Short
11/12/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
NC State's football players will never have to watch the movie "The Longest Yard." On Thursday night, they lived it.
Chris Coleman's bid to grab a game winning touchdown pass in the final moments came up one-yard short, giving North Carolina a 10-6 win over the Wolfpack in front of 41,159 emotionally drained fans at Ericsson Stadium.
The game deciding play took place with 1:43 remaining. Facing a fourth and goal situation from the North Carolina four-yard line, the Wolfpack (6-5, 3-5 ACC) needed a touchdown to end UNC's six game winning streak in the series.
As had been the case most of the night, NC State quarterback Jamie Barnette encountered a furious Tar Heel pass rush as he retreated into the pocket. Just as he was about to get hit, Barnette tossed a short pass to Coleman, whose desperate stretch for the goal line came up one yard short. Just like that it was over, and Carolina's winning streak continued.
"I was confident I was about to score," said Coleman, who made 10 catches for 111 yards on the night. "Maybe I could have gotten a little more depth so I could have caught the ball in the end zone. But then again, if I would have had more depth, some linebackers would have been underneath me."
On the play before, Coleman was wide open in the back of the end zone. There was only one problem: Fellow NC State wide receiver Koren Robinson was wide open in front of him. Barnette's pass, which had been intended for Coleman, was tipped by Robinson, who thought the pass was being thrown to him. The Wolfpack got one last chance from the four when the Tar Heels were called for an off side penalty.
That last chance ended with Coleman being tackled at the one.
"It just shouldn't have gotten to that point," said Wolfpack coach Mike O'Cain. "We just didn't do the things necessary on offense to win the game. We weren't consistent all night. We'd get a good play and then we'd get a poor play. We just didn't get the job done."
Coming in, NC State had hoped it would be able to bury Carolina (2-8, 1-6 ACC) with a quick spurt at the beginning of the game. That spurt never happened, and in fact, it was the Tar Heels who took control early.
Running back turned quarterback Domonique Williams hit fullback Deon Dyer with a 12-yard scoring pass to give the Heels a 7-0 lead with 7:19 remaining in the first quarter. The key play in the drive was a Williams to Kory Bailey pass of 45-yards on third down and 18 from the North Carolina 14.
"It was the only big play they had all night," O'Cain said. "We felt like if we don't give them a big play, they don't beat us."
Williams was able to draw the NC State secondary towards him with a scramble to his right. He then spotted Bailey, who had slipped ten-yards behind Pack cornerback Lloyd Harrison.
Kent Passingham's 28-yard field goal with 6:13 remaining in the second quarter pulled NC State within four at 7-3. On that same drive, the Pack cost itself a golden opportunity to score a touchdown when it was called for illegal procedure on a first and goal play from the two.
Josh McGee's 32-yard field goal late in the third period gave Carolina a 10-3 advantage.
The Pack came right back with a nine play, 52-yard drive that resulted in another Passingham field goal of 26-yards with 11:30 left. Still, everyone wearing red had an uneasy feeling as NC State had once again failed to punch the ball in the end zone.
"I feel like if we would have jumped up on them early, it would have been a whole different ball game," Coleman said. "They got up on us and it built up their confidence."
The Tar Heels only generated 228 yards of total offense, but as it turned out, that was enough. Carolina's defense played well for the second straight week.
"I knew going in that it would have to be a close, low scoring ball game for us to have a chance," said Carolina coach Carl Torbush. "I was really proud of Domonique Williams. For him to come out and do what he did on the first drive says a lot about his maturity. I felt like everybody did what we needed to do for us to get the win."
On the night, Williams hit just 5 of 14 passes for 85-yards.
Barnette was 20 of 40 for 210 yards, but no touchdowns.
The Pack's inability to run the ball against the ACC's lowest ranked rushing defense proved to be costly. NC State had just 83-yards on the ground.
"We just didn't execute on offense all night long," said O'Cain. "We didn't stay on blocks well and did a very average job of protecting the quarterback. Jamie was the getting the ball off, but he was getting hit quite often."
Now NC State must pull itself off the mat and get ready for another rival game at East Carolina a week from Saturday. With a win, the Pack will be bowl eligible. A loss would put an end to a season, which seemingly has been coming up about one-yard short.
