North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Wins Texas Block Party
8/29/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
First it was Syracuse. Then came Florida State. And on Saturday night, 16th ranked Texas found out why it might not be a good idea to put a national ranking on the line against NC State early in the season.
For the third straight year, the Wolfpack found a way to knock off a college football giant as it rallied to edge the Longhorns 23-20. To say that this was an unconventional NC State win would be an understatement. With its offense struggling just to make first downs, the Pack called on a swarming defense and a big-play special teams unit to silence over 80-thousand fans at Darrell Royal Memorial Stadium in Austin.
Three blocked punts were turned into 16 points, including the game winner with 3:22 remaining. With Texas clinging to a 20-15 lead, Terrance Holt slithered his way through the punt protection to get his second block of the night. Then it was up to running back Eric Leak to scoop the ball up and run it into the end zone from 48 yards out to give the Pack it's first lead of the night.
I was just trying to relax and pick the ball up, Leak said. The first time, I was too anxious and didn't pick it up because I was trying to get into the end zone too fast.
Leak was referring to a similar opportunity in the second quarter when his failure to pick up the first block resulted in a safety instead of a touchdown.
The blocked punts turned out to be NC State's best offensive weapon. On the night, the Pack gained just 172 yards, including only 34 in the second half. Amazingly, NC State had possession of the ball for a measly six minutes in the entire second half.
Not a lot of people thought we'd have much of a chance and at times, it didn't look we had much of a chance, said Pack coach Mike O'Cain. We were as bad on offense as we've looked in probably two years, but the kids wouldn't quit. They just kept fighting and fighting.
Especially the defense, which answered the call time and time again after the struggling offense was repeatedly going three and out.
I had a feeling it might turn out to be a defensive ball game, said O'Cain. Our defensive staff came up with a great game plan. They came up with a scheme that I don't think they (Texas) had seen before. We brought tremendous pressure and our secondary did a good job.
NC State spent most of the night working out of an active three-four alignment that it learned from Mississippi State. With linebacker's constantly jumping into gaps and then backing out before the snap, the Texas offensive line never seemed to know who was coming and who wasn't.
The game got off to a rather ominous start when freshman K.J. Stone, making his first career start at tailback, fumbled on his second carry. Six plays later, Texas quarterback Major Applewhite ran it in from two yards out to give the Longhorns an early 7-0 lead.
On NC State's next possession, Rahshan Spikes laid the football on the ground, and again, Texas recovered. The Wolfpack defense then held, forcing a 48 yard field goal by Chris Stockton to make it 10-0.
The Pack then responded with its best and only drive of the night. The seven play, 80- yard march culminated with Ray Robinson's nifty 25 yard scoring scamper. The first blocked punt and ensuing safety closed the gap to one before Texas added another score in the second quarter to take a 16-9 advantage into the locker room.
You can't have three blocked punts for 16 points and win a ball game, said Texas coach Mack Brown. I hate it for our fans, and I hate it four our players. We had 372 yards on offense to their 171 yards, but the only stats that mean anything are the kicking game and turnovers.
It was a wise old coach who once said, offense sells tickets but defense and special teams win games. Seems that guy knew what he was talking about.
