North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Upends Division-Leading Virginia, 29-24
10/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Updated: 11:01 p.m., 10/27/2007 to add photo album, player and coaches quotes.
BY TIM PEELER
“Play a gr8 game, and tell the rcvrs to play gr8 too,” it said.
And so they did.
Bowens, making the second start of his career, caught a career-high 11 passes for 202 yards, the fifth highest receiving total in school history and the most since Jerricho Cotchery had 217 yards against
“Donald had a phenomenal game,” first-year Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien said. “He started to show that a couple of weeks ago. He has been in the rotation as a third wide receiver. Unfortunately, John couldn’t go tonight.
“But one man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity, and he took advantage of his opportunity tonight.”
The victory snapped a nine-game ACC losing streak for the Wolfpack (3-5 overall, 1-3 ACC) and ended No. 21 Virginia’s winning streak at seven, which dates back to a season-opening loss against
The Wolfpack, relying primarily on its passing game, led by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, when both teams went on a scoring frenzy, combining for 27 points. Seventeen of those points came in the final three minutes of the first half, capped by a Cary Koch touchdown reception from
Scoring was hard to come by in the second half, as the Wolfpack missed on a prime touchdown opportunity early in the third quarter when tailback Jamelle Eugene fell down just short of the end zone after breaking a long run. The Wolfpack had to settle for a 23-yard Stephen Hauschka field goal, his third of the game to stretch its lead to 23-17. Hauschka has five field goals in the Wolfpack’s last two games and is a perfect 10-for-10 on the season.
But State’s defense ruled the second half, allowing the Cavaliers only seven points and one third-down conversion in nine opportunities, after allowing six of 10 in the first half. The defense also had six quarterback sacks, including three fourth-quarter sacks of freshman Peter Lalich, who came in late in the game after Sewell was knocked out of the game with severe cramps.
The defense also intercepted two passes, both of which the offense converted into points.
Evans, who was replaced as the starter at quarterback earlier this season, played well for the second game in a row. He completed 26 of 46 passes for 347 yards and three touchdown passes. He has nearly 700 yards passing and six touchdowns in the Wolfpack’s last two games, both wins.
“We pass-protected well enough to allow Daniel to get the ball off,” O’Brien said. “Daniel made some great throws, and there were also some great catches made out there.
“He’s doing a great job, but you have to do the three phases of it. Guys are also running great routes and we are giving him good protection. He’s delivering it on time and making those throws. It’s all a compilation of things.”
Evans was sacked three times on the night, but for most of the night he had time to throw the ball. Virginia All-America candidate Chris Long, third in the nation in sacks, was limited to one sack on the night, as the Wolfpack offensive line spent much of the evening blocking him with double teams. Long finished the game with five tackles.
Evans did throw one interception on the night, but the Wolfpack’s defense created two turnovers, the second time this season that State won the turnover battle.
The two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the Wolfpack with a five-point lead over the final seven minutes of the game.
On the possession following the Wolfpack’s go-ahead touchdown, Sewell was knocked out of the contest while scrambling from pressure by the NC State defensive front, leaving the Cavalier offense in the hands Lalich. The Wolfpack defense squelched any further progress by the Cavaliers the rest of the game, sacking Lalich three times as he tried to lead
Senior defensive end Willie Young led the Wolfpack charge with 2.5 sacks on the night, while junior safety DaJuan Morgan led the team with 12 tackles. More importantly, Morgan set up the Wolfpack’s first score of the game by intercepting Sewell on the third play of the game.
Not much went right for the division-leading Cavs on that first possession. On the first play from scrimmage,
The Wolfpack scored the game’s first touchdown just three plays later, when Evans connected with Bowens on a 40-yard touchdown pass, just two and a half minutes into the game.
The Wolfpack answered that with Hauschka field goals of 30 and 42 yards to take a 13-3 lead with 5:14 left in the first half. The second of those 3-pointers came after cornerback Jeremy Gray made his second interception of the season, picking off a Jameel Sewell pass at the NC State 7-yard line to end a deep Cavalier threat.
The Cavaliers score their first touchdown of the day when Sewell flipped the ball to Mikell Simpson for a 13-yard scoring pass with 3:04 remaining in the first half, closing the gap to 13-10.
But Evans led the Wolfpack straight down the field in less than two minutes, hitting Bowens on a 35-yard pass took the Wolfpack over mid-field. Evans then threw his second touchdown pass of the day, a 25-yard reception to sophomore receiver Koyal George with 1:31 remaining in the half to push the lead back to 10 points. It was the first catch of George’s career.
But, for the second game in a row, the Wolfpack withstood a comeback attempt and kept its poise. It’s a team that is playing with much more confidence after taking a week off following its 1-5 start.
“We are just executing,” Evans said. “We are doing the right things. People are taking the right steps and making the right blocks and doing the things we need to do to win ball games.”
The Wolfpack returns to action next weekend in a noon game at
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
