NC State
8-3 , 5-2
Syracuse - Military Appreciation Day
5-6 , 2-5
Pack Scores a TD in All Three Phases for 41-17 Win Over Syracuse
11/20/2021 7:37:00 PM | Football
NC State scores 28 points in final six minutes of second quarter
Neither team moved the ball much in the first quarter, as the teams combined for just 68 yards and neither team scored. The game was scoreless over the first 24 minutes, then the two teams combined for 35 points over the final six minutes of the first half.
The scoring opened up late in the second quarter with a total of five touchdowns. The Pack got a pair of offensive TDs and also one defensive and then special teams TD to grab a 28-7 halftime lead.
NC State started the scoring with a Ricky Person, Jr. 15-yard TD run midway through the quater. Only two plays later, MLB Drake Thomas picked off a Syracuse pass and returned it 38 yards for the score, the Pack's first defensive TD of the season.
Pack defense gets in on the scoring!@DrakeT32 with a PICK-SIX for the defensive score, 49 seconds after the Pack offense scores.
— NC State Football (@PackFootball) November 20, 2021
📺: @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/yUiyJlINNx
On the ensuing kickoff, Zonovan Knight took the kickoff back 97 yards, the second straight week Knight has returned a kickoff for a touchdown. The Pack struck again just eight seconds before halftime, going 80 yards in just five plays capped by a Devin Leary to Christopher Toudle 14-yard score.
BAM!!! 🎆
— NC State Football (@PackFootball) November 20, 2021
#⃣7⃣ goes for 9⃣7⃣ and returns a kickoff of a touchdown for the 2nd straight week! Special teams ace @knight_zonovan! pic.twitter.com/GtiZ2UkPvi
A second Thomas brother scored a TD, this on the offensive end, as Thayer Thomas caught an 8-yard pass to put the Pack up 38-10 going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, Syracuse added another long rushing TD (48 yards) and Dunn connected on a 21-yard field goal for his second of the game.
STAT LEADERS
• QB Devin Leary
17-of-24 for 303 yards, 2 TDs
• Ricky Person, Jr.
12 rushes for 50 yards, 1 TD
• WR Thayer Thomas
5 catches for 80 yards, 1 TD
• LB Drake Thomas
8 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 INT returned for a TD
NOTABLES
• NC State won its ninth straight game at Carter-Finley Stadium dating back to last season.
• NC State scored an offensive, defensive and special teams touchdown all in the same game for the first time since against Vanderbilt in the 2016 Independence Bowl.
• Zonovan Knight is the first Pack player with a pair of kickoff returns to go for a touchdown in the same season since Tobais Palmer also had two in 2012. Knight is also the 1st player in school history with three career kickoff returns for a TD.
• Drake (INT return) and Thayer (reception) Thomas both had TDs today, they are the first pair of brothers to both score a TD in the same season since Dave and Don Buckey in 1975.
• QB Devin Leary had over 300 yards passing for the fifth straight game, the most in a single season since Russell Wilson also had five straight in 2010.
UP NEXT
The Pack will close out the regular season next Friday, hosting North Carolina at 7 p.m.
Team Stats
SYR 0, NCS 7
NCS - Person,Ricky 15 yd run (Dunn,Christopher kick), 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:05
SYR 0, NCS 14
NCS - Thomas,Drake 38 yd interception (Dunn,Christopher kick)
SYR 7, NCS 14
SYR - Tucker,Sean 55 yd run (Szmyt,Andre kick), 4 plays, 65 yards, TOP 02:09
SYR 7, NCS 21
NCS - Knight,Zonovan 97 yd kickoff return (Dunn,Christopher kick)
SYR 7, NCS 28
NCS - Toudle,Christopher 14 yd pass from Leary,Devin (Dunn,Christopher kick) 5 plays, 80 yards, TOP 00:56
SYR 7, NCS 31
NCS - Dunn,Christopher 37 yd field goal 5 plays, 27 yards, TOP 03:15
SYR 10, NCS 31
SYR - Szmyt,Andre 45 yd field goal 7 plays, 43 yards, TOP 03:58
SYR 10, NCS 38
NCS - Thomas,Thayer 8 yd pass from Leary,Devin (Dunn,Christopher kick) 8 plays, 65 yards, TOP 04:26
SYR 17, NCS 38
SYR - Shrader,Garrett 48 yd run (Szmyt,Andre kick), 2 plays, 48 yards, TOP 00:19
SYR 17, NCS 41
NCS - Dunn,Christopher 21 yd field goal 9 plays, 66 yards, TOP 05:00
