North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Georgia Tech
NC State Falls For The First Time, 24-17
11/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 2, 2002
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.--NC State's dreams of posting an unbeaten football season were shattered on Saturday night in front of a stunned sell-out throng of 51, 500. Propelled by the steady hand of improving quarterback A.J. Suggs and a stout defense, Georgia Tech ended the Wolfpack's nine-game winning streak with a 24-17 victory at Carter-Finley Stadium.
The Jackets (6-3) were also helped, ironically, by one of their own mistakes. The biggest play of the game was actually non-play on a delay of game penalty that wiped out an NC State sack and allowed Tech to convert a huge third down after the Wolfpack (9-1) had grabbed a 17-9 lead early in the 4th period.
While Suggs finished 21-of-36 for 211 yards and one touchdown through the air, Georgia Tech was also bolstered by the running of running back Gordon Clinkscale, who picked up 94 yards on 15 carries. It was Clinkscale's nifty 14-yard cutback run that gave the Yellow Jackets the lead for good with 9:23 left.
From that point on, the NC State team that had been so opportunistic all season long could not find a way to keep the magic alive. With just over eight minutes left, Wolfpack freshman T.A. McLendon, who was held to just 49 yards on 17 carries, broke loose on a long run that ended with a fumble at the Tech 31. On NC State's next possession, sophomore receiver Dovonte Edwards dropped a third down pass that would have given the Pack a first down deep in Georgia Tech territory. Then on the Pack's last gasp fourth down play with just a minute remaining, Philip Rivers was intercepted by Yellow Jackets safety Jeremy Muyres to seal the outcome.
"We just didn't make the plays we needed to make," said NC State head coach Chuck Amato. "We're not going to point our fingers at any one player. We win as a team and we lose as a team."
The two teams played to a 3-3 first half tie after NC State used a terrific goal line stand at the end of the period to force a Georgia Tech field goal. The Yellow Jackets failed to score after having it first and goal at the two.
Early in the third quarter, Tech got another great chance to score the game's first touchdown when the normally sure-handed Jerricho Cotchery fumbled a punt that was recovered by Andrew Economos at the Wolfpack 41. Again the Jackets moved to the doorstep and again they couldn't get in. Three plays from the Pack one-yard line netted nothing. Two Luke Manget field goals later, Georgia Tech had a 9-3 lead and the big homecoming crowd was getting concerned. The Wolfpack faithful had every reason to be worried, especially since the NC State offense was having a difficult time finding any answers against Georgia Tech's changing defenses. Not only were the Yellow Jackets stopping the run, they were also getting pressure on Rivers, who had only been sacked six times through the first nine games.
"The key against any quarterback is to keep them uncomfortable," said Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey. "The first thing we had to do was to stop the run. If you can't stop the run, you've got no chance against this team."
But with his team trailing 9-3, Rivers finally got the Pack moving on a nine-play, 69-yard drive that ended with a 19-yard scoring pass to Cotchery in the right corner of the south end zone. Adam Kiker's extra-point made it 10-9 NC State with 1:35 left in the third.
On the Wolfpack's next possession early in the fourth quarter, Rivers engineered another march, this time from 65 yards out. It ended when McLendon took a handoff on the old Statue of Liberty play and raced eight yards down the right sideline for his 15th touchdown of the season. Just like that it was 17-9 and the crowd that had felt so uneasy throughout the third period was smelling blood.
"I thought it was going to be one of those good old NC State comebacks," said senior offensive tackle Scott Kooistra. "The crowd was roaring and everybody was excited."
But then came the delay of game penalty that would actually end up helping Tech. On third and 14 from his own 16-yard line, Suggs was dropped for an apparent loss, which would have forced the Jackets to punt from their own end zone. But right before the snap, the noise in the stadium drowned out a whistle that had blown the play dead.
"It's in the rulebook on delay of game that the play is over," Amato said. "If it was our team, I would be glad those rules are in."
It was then on third down and 19 that Suggs hit Jonathan Smith for 28 yards and a first down. The drive eventually ended with a two-yard touchdown pass to John Paul Foschi. Tech then tied the game on Suggs' pass to Smith on the two-point conversion.
Clinkscale's run on Georgia Tech's next drive concluded the scoring and ended NC State's winning streak. Now Amato must get his team refocused for a Maryland team that might be the hottest club in the ACC. A 59-7 drubbing of North Carolina on Saturday gave the Terps their seventh straight victory.
"Now is the time we've got to stick together," Amato said. "There's an old saying I learned from Coach Lou Holtz, `what are we going to do now?' It's going to be interesting to see because we've got to do it on the road against a Maryland team that's hot right now."
