Thursday night lights shine at Carter-Finley

Preparing for a mid-week game can be a pain, but the electric atmosphere makes it worth the trouble

Rob Kinnan/USAToday sports

Thursday night football games at Carter-Finley Stadium are always a special occasion.

The lights just seem to be brighter, the crowd seems louder and the games are almost always memorable. That's why members of the NC State football are looking forward to Thursday's nationally televised showdown with ACC Atlantic rival Syracuse with such anticipation.

"It’s awesome," junior wide receiver Emeka Emezie said Tuesday. "The fans are awesome. It’s a night game. Just a cool short week and getting out there."

Playing a mid-week contest might be "cool" for Emezie and his Wolfpack teammates, but for coach Dave Doeren and his staff, preparing for such a game is more of a headache.

"It's electric here on Thursday nights," Doeren said. "That part of it is a huge plus. The tough part of it is if you're the home team your Wednesday is different than if you're the traveling team. Like our players have class that they do go to. So Wednesday we don't just take our guys to the hotel like we would on Friday when we don't have classes.

"You have a different routine before the game. Then you play at night and you wake up and some of the guys have class on Friday morning. They don't get home after an 8 o'clock game against a team that throws the ball, it could be 1 or 2 in the morning. It's not ideal for the players, particularly in a short-week game. But that's part of the deal.

"It's something we talk about with our captains in the preseason and show them how all this stuff is going to lay out, let them marinate on it so when we get to it there's no 'Coach, I didn't know it was going to be like this."

For those of you who don't know what it's like, here are some examples of the most memorable Thursday night games played at Carter-Finley:

Sept 21, 2000: State 30, Georgia Tech 23 (OT) -- Philip Rivers introduced himself to a national television audience by throwing for three touchdowns to wide receiver Koren Robinson in leading the Wolfpack back from a 13-0 halftime deficit. The freshman gave a crowd of 49,857 of what was to come by throwing for 262 yards and hitting Robinson with a 23-yard game-winner in overtime to give State its fourth straight win to start the season.

October 5, 2006: State 24, Florida State 20 -- Making only his second career start, Dainel Evans threw three touchdown passes -- including the game-winner to John Dunlap early in the fourth quarter -- to secure what would be Chuck Amato's last win with the Wolfpack. Evans was elevated to the starting job after consecutive losses to Akron and Southern Mississippi with Marcus Stone at the helm. With a crowd of 57,437 already juiced after an appearance by the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, with the Cup, Evans gave it even more to cheer about with a 12-yard toss to Dunlap in the corner of the end zone helped rally State from a 10-point third quarter deficit.

October 28, 2010: State 28, Florida State 24 -- Russell Wilson put the Wolfpack ahead with a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end George Bryan on a fourth down play with 2:40 remaining. Still, it appeared as though State would fall short on a perfect fall evening with a sellout crowd on hand. But with the Seminoles driving inside the Wolfpack 10 and in position for at least the tying field goal, quarterback Christian Ponder botched a handoff , allowing linebacker Nate Irving to fall on the ball and preserve the victory.

Sept 20, 2013: Clemson 24, State 16 -- The "Bryan Underwood Game." With the Wolfpack trailing 13-7 with 7:43 remaining in the third quarter, Underwood took a handoff from quarterback Pete Thomas on a jet sweep toward the near side of the field. Underwood got a great block from his tight end, turned the corner raced 83 yards for what appeared to be the go-ahead touchdown. he play was called back, however, because an official trailing the play ruled that the speedy wide receiver had stepped out of bounds near midfield. Despite replays that clearly showed Underwood staying in bounds the entire way, the play couldn't be reviewed because the official blew his whistle, automatically stopping play. State didn't score on the possession. Clemson did on it next series and the Wolfpack never recovered.

October 26, 2017: State 39, Louisville 25 -- The Cardinals had Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson, but he was overshadowed on this night by the Wolfpack's Bradley Chubb, who terrorized Jackson all night to the delight of the 56,107 in attendance. Quarterback Ryan Finley also had a big game, throwing for 367 yards and a touchdown to lead State to an upset of the nation's 17th-ranked team. Linebacker Germaine Pratt put the cherry on top of a festive night by intercepting a Jackson pass and returning it 25 yards for the clinching score with just under three minutes remaining.