NC State
Duke
NC State Wins Duel With Duke, 28-21
10/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct 25, 2003
By Tony Haynes
Durham, N.C -Regardless of the records, regardless of the circumstances, NC State almost always has to fight and scrap for all it's worth to beat Duke. Saturday was no exception. The Wolfpack's (6-3, 3-2) hard-earned 28-21 triumph over the Blue Devils (2-6, 0-5) in front of 27,614 fans at Wallace Wade Stadium was its 10th straight win over its Big Four rivals from Durham. But like most of the previous nine games in the series, NC State wasn't able to relax until the time on the clock read zero. As usual, the Wolfpack's ace in the hole was quarterback Philip Rivers, who set a new ACC record for career touchdown passes by hitting receiver Tramain Hall on three scoring tosses.
On the day, Rivers was 23-of-31 for 369 yards, and his team would need all the output he could muster against an inspired Duke squad that put together its best effort of the year in Ted Roof's first game as interim head coach. The Blue Devils' defensive coordinator, Roof took over the head coaching duties when Carl Franks was fired following a lopsided 42-13 loss to Wake Forest last weekend.
The coaching change gave NC State's Chuck Amato an uneasy feeling. In his weekly press conference on Monday, Amato fretted that the Blue Devils and their new coach could conceivably surprise the Pack with some new schemes, not to mention the added emotion that always seems to accompany such coaching changes.
As it turned out, Amato was clairvoyant. In the first half, Duke, an I formation team most of the year, came out with some wishbone looks and actually ran the option on a handful of occasions and did so with little-used third string quarterback Chris Dapolito.
"Isn't it amazing?" Amato said. "I jokingly said they might come out in the wishbone. Guess what? That was one of the things they did. They ran the option and they pushed their quarterbacks in and out, one after the other. One's a running quarterback and one's a throwing quarterback. They did a good job of mixing all that stuff up."
They certainly mixed it up enough to give the Wolfpack yet another scare in the series. Following a 57-yard screen pass from Rivers to Hall for a score late in the third period and a 1-yard touchdown run by freshman tailback Reggie Davis with 8:59 remaining in the fourth, NC State seemed to have things well under control, leading 28-10.
But this is the Duke -- NC State game, remember?
With 4:23 left, the Blue Devils capped an 80-yard drive in 11 plays when Dapolito found wideout Reggie Love, who used his 6-4, 225-pound frame to make a touchdown grab over cornerback A.J. Davis in the right corner of the end zone. On the ensuing two-point conversion, Dapolito struck again, hitting Lance Johnson to pull Duke within 10 at 28-18.
Then it really got interesting when the Blue Devils recovered an onside kick at the Wolfpack 33. Unable to get a first down in three plays, Duke made it a 7-point game when Brent Garber booted a 43-yard field goal with 3:30 showing on the clock.
"There's the kicking game," Amato said. "One of these days we'll get an onside kick."
And he could only have a flashback to last year, when the Blue Devils recovered an onside kick that gave them a chance to try a late 65-yard field goal, a kick that missed allowing NC State to escape with a two-point victory.
After Garber's field goal made it 28-21, Duke elected to kick it deep and out of the end zone. NC State was able to get one first down and force the Blue Devils to use their remaining two timeouts before Austin Herbert unloaded a 36-yard punt to the Duke 23 with just 53 seconds left. Following a sack and two incompletions, quarterback Adam Smith zinged a perfect pass up the middle for 36 yards to tight end Andy Roland, who was tackled at midfield. But after spiking the ball to stop the clock, the Blue Devils' hopes for a miracle finish disappeared when Smith was sacked after bobbling the snap out of the shotgun.
Just like that, time expired, thus ending yet another wild one between Duke and NC State.
"On Friday night, we watched some of the highlights of these games that have been so close," said Hall, who finished with eight catches for 142 yards and the three scores. "It never fails."
Throughout the week, Amato reminded his players that Duke traditionally gives NC State fits, and early on, it appeared they got the message. Just five minutes into the game, Rivers faked a double reverse and found Hall wide open behind the secondary for a 33-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
"When we scored the first time we had the ball, I thought that was big," Amato said. "Then we went about three or four series after our score and didn't even get a first down. It was three and out every time."
That left the NC State defense out on the field for a good chunk of the opening half. Duke took advantage, grabbing a 10-7 lead early in the second period when Smith, known more as a throwing quarterback, walked into the end zone from six yards out on an option keeper.
The Wolfpack then regained the lead with 3:41 left in the half when Rivers and Hall worked their magic again, this time from 17 yards out. NC State then survived another Duke scoring bid late in the half by coming up with its best goal line stand of the season. With inside of a minute to play before intermission, the Blue Devils had the ball first and goal from the three, but couldn't get in on four plays. On fourth down, Smith fumbled the snap and was stopped for a 1-yard loss with just five seconds left in the half.
"The goal line stand right before the half was huge," Amato said. "We felt like we had taken their best shot and we were still winning."
Amato credited his defensive staff with making some quick adjustments that helped to hold the Duke offense in check for most of the second half before the final 4th quarter flurry that made it close.
"We had a few new wrinkles and NC State did a nice job of adjusting to them," Roof said. "I thought our play-calling was excellent. That's what a new start gives you... a chance to throw in a new wrinkle or two. We can't just keep the status quo. We've got to continue to change and evolve to give our team a chance to win. That's what we're going to do for the rest of the season."
Those new wrinkles helped Duke rush for 214 yards. Versatile tailback Chris Douglas had 125 of those yards on 25 carries. Overall, the Blue Devils finished with 374 yards of total offense compared to 425 for the Wolfpack. With T.A. McLendon again ailing, Davis made his first start and rushed for 55 yards on 19 tries and his first career touchdown. Derek Morris also got his first start at right offensive tackle for NC State.
In the first half, the Pack lost speedy receiver Richard Washington who was diagnosed with two cracked ribs. Another receiver, senior Jerricho Cotchery, had another big day, making nine grabs for 117 yards. Combined with Hall's big game, it marked the sixth time in school history that two receivers had gone over 100 yards on the same day.
The win was NC State's fifth in its last six games but as usual, it didn't come easy.
"It was a typical Duke - NC State game," Amato said. "None of them are ever easy. We started the day with six ACC teams with two losses and we're one of them. The object is to win. They can say we struggled all they want to, but we won."
They won another tight one over a Duke team that always plays its best against the Wolfpack.
