Pack Falls at Wake Forest in Shootout

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In the highest-scoring game in the 115 all-time match-ups in the series, #12 Wake Forest held on for a 45-42 win over the visiting Wolfpack.

QB Devin Leary threw for a career-high 408 yards with four TD passes, while WRs Emeka Emezie (133) and Devin Carter (132) both went over 100 yards and both had a pair of TD grabs.

After the Pack defense forced a Wake three-and-out on the opening possession, the Pack went 67 yards and Christopher Dunn's 28-yard field goal was the first score of the game. The highlight of the drive was a Leary to Carter 54-yard pass down the sideline.

Wake struck with the first TD of the game, from 24 yards out midway through the first quarter.

A 47-yard field goal made the score 7-6 after the first quarter.

On the second play of the second quarter, Wake added a 1-yard TD rush. The Demon Deacons struck again after taking over at the Pack five-yard line after a fumble recovery to push the lead to 21-6.

On the ensuing kickoff, Zonovan Knight returned the kickoff 72 yards to set up the Pack deep in Wake territory. On the very next play, Leary found Emezie from 28 yards out.

Just 1:19 later, the Pack struck again with a late drive. With no timeouts, the Pack went 58 yards in five plays as Leary found Devin Carter from 21 yards out.

A 45-yard Wake field goal as the half expired gave the Demon Deacons a 24-20 halftime lead.

On the opening kickoff of the second half, Knight took the ball out from his own end zone and went 100 yards for a special teams score to give the Pack its first lead since its opening drive, 27-24.

The lead didn't last long, as Wake had a five yard TD run to retake the lead.

The 31-27 score line led the teams into the fourth quarter.

Wake added another score early in the fourth with a four-yard TD pass.

The Pack made it a one-score game midway through the fourth quarter, as Leary found Emezie from 13 yards out. After a two-point conversion, the lead was trimmed to 38-35 with 8:07 left.

A 4-yard Wake TD pushed the game back to a two-score game, but NC State once again answered with a second Leary to Carter TD to make it 45-42 with 45 seconds left, but the Pack could not recover the onside kick.

STAT LEADERS
QB Devin Leary
37-of-59 for 408 yards, 4 TDs

WR Emeka Emezie
10 catches for 133 yards, 2 TDs

WR Devin Carter
7 catches for 132 yards, 2 TDs

RB Zonovan Knight
3 kickoff returns for 194 yards, 1 TD

NOTABLES
• Zonovan Knight's 100-yard kickoff return for a score ties as the longest KOR in school history. It was the sixth time the Pack had a 100 yard return in school history, and Knight's second such (his vs. Miami last season was also the Pack's last).

• Knight's 194 yards on his three kickoff returns is the third-most in a single game in NC State history (Tobais Palmer 277 vs. Clemson in 2012 and T.J. Graham 202 vs. Duke in 2009).

• NC State's three interceptions tied a season-high (USF).

• The Pack had a pair of receivers with over 100 yards receiving (Emezie 10 for 133 and Carter 7 for 132) in the same game for the first time since vs. Wake Forest in 2018 (Jakobi Meyers and Kelvin Harmon).

• QB Devin Leary went over 300 yards passing for the fourth straight game, the longest streak for a Pack QB since Russell Wilson had five straight games in 2010.

• Leary also threw for a career-best 408 yards, the first Pack QB to have over 400 yards in a game since Ryan Finley in the regular season finale vs. ECU in 2018.

UP NEXT
The Pack will return to Carter-Finley Stadium for the final two regular season contests. Up first, Syracuse visits next weekend.

Players Mentioned

Devin Carter

Christopher Dunn

Emeka Emezie

Zonovan Knight

Devin Leary

Players Mentioned

Devin Carter

Christopher Dunn

Emeka Emezie

Zonovan Knight

Devin Leary