NC State Falls To Maryland, 26-20

By Tony Haynes

College Park, MD. Last week, NC State’s chances for victory against Wake Forest were sabotaged by a bizarre sequence over the last two minutes of the first half. On Saturday, the Wolfpack was done in by two costly turnovers to start the second half.

The result was a 26-20 loss at Maryland (5-2, 2-1), the Wolfpack’s second defeat in as many ACC games.

Trailing 6-0 at the half, the Pack came out of the locker room looking to score on its first possession. But on NC State’s opening play from scrimmage, Andre Brown was stripped of the football following a 14-yard run. Strong safety Marcus Wimbushe’s recovery set the stage for a short touchdown drive of 31 yards that ended with a four-yard scoring pass from Sam Hollenbach to running back Josh Allen.

With the score 13-0, the Wolfpack turned the ball over again on its very next play from scrimmage. Following the kick off, quarterback Daniel Evans was intercepted by linebacker by Erin Henderson at the NC State 31-yard line. Maryland again capitalized, scoring three plays later on Lance Ball’s two-yard run.

Two turnovers, two short drives and two touchdowns eventually proved to be too much for NC State (3-4, 2-2) to overcome.

“We felt awfully good about coming out and moving the football after making some adjustments,” Pack head coach Chuck Amato said. “It’s a one-score game and we had talked about protecting the ball. But then there are two plays consecutively that we turned the ball over. They scored on 31 and 24-yard touchdown drives. That makes things a lot easier. Those are the things that hurt.”

It was a mistake-filled afternoon for NC State, which also finished with nine penalties for 80 yards. Two holding penalties cost the Wolfpack huge chunks of yardage in the second half. One came after a 22-yard run by Toney Baker in the third quarter. Then late in the game when the Pack was trailing 23-13, a 17-yard completion from Evans to tight end Anthony Hill was wiped out by another holding violation. Two plays later, on 3^rd and 30, Evans was intercepted by safety J.J. Justice, a turnover that allowed Maryland to run precious time off the clock before kicking a short field goal.

“We grade penalties in practice and we grade them in the game,” said Amato. “They get hit with it from every angle every day of the week.”

After the Terrapins built a 20-0 lead early in the third quarter, NC State tried to make it interesting. An 80-yard, 14-play march ended with Andre Brown’s two-yard touchdown run with 4:06 left in the third. The ensuing extra-point, however, was partially blocked, ending kicker John Deraney’s streak of 76 consecutive successful conversions.

After a Dan Ennis field goal with two seconds left in the third put Maryland up 23-6, the Pack stayed alive when Darrell Blackman returned a punt 65-yards for a score midway through the fourth period. Seconds later on the Wolfpack kick off, Maryland return man Josh Wilson coughed up the football, a fumble that was recovered by Deraney at the NC State 44.

It was then that the Wolfpack’s attempt to get even closer was snuffed out by the holding penalty on the pass play from Evans to Hill.

Still, NC State had one last shot in the final minutes. Toney Baker’s one-yard run got the Pack within six with 58 seconds left. But the miracle comeback was laid to rest when Maryland recovered the onside kick.

“Really a good win,” said Terps coach Ralph Friedgen. “I thought that we played our best game to date. It would have been a shame for us to lose that game with how we played for three quarters and eight minutes. I thought our defense played very, very well until we gave up some passes at the end.”

Friedgen and his defensive coaches certainly gave NC State a different look, especially in the first half. Blitzing linebackers, corners and safeties, the Terps were able to take the Wolfpack offense out of its comfort zone. Maryland, which had only nine quarterback sacks coming into the game, finished with four sacks and a number of pressures.

Evans rarely had time to set his feet and throw in the opening half as the Terrapins blitzed on nine of the first 12 plays.

“They really did blitz a lot in the half and some of it was to take away the run I believe,” Amato said. “We didn’t do a very good job of protecting the quarterback today.”

Something that was a departure from what had happen in the first six games since the Wolfpack had allowed only seven sacks coming into Saturday’s contest.  

Both teams finished with less than 300 yards of total offense as NC State outgained Maryland 299 to 280. Relying mostly on their running game, the Terrapins asked Hollenbach to throw only nine passes, seven of which were completions.

Evans finished 15-of-26 for 145 yards and two interceptions.

Looking for answers and more consistency, NC State will hit the road once again next week when it visits Charlottesville for a meeting with Virginia.

“It’s frustrating, but I’ve been here for three years and we always bounce back from situations like this,” Evans said. “I’m not worried about our morale or anything like that. I know we’ll come back to work on Monday and get ready to play Virginia next Saturday.

North Carolina State University Athletics

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