Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Wrap/Observations: NC State Outlasts North Carolina
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CHAPEL HILL, NC -- NC State was not the team they thought they would be in 2022, but a Wolfpack squad no one expected to see this season gutted out a victory that will be remembered for years.
NC State stunned No. 17 North Carolina, 30-27, in double overtime at Kenan Stadium to end its regular season at 8-4 overall, 4-4 in ACC play. The Tar Heels, who will face Clemson next Saturday in Charlotte for the ACC title as Coastal Division champions, dropped to 9-3 and 6-2 in league play.
The victory is the sixth for NCSU in its last eight trips to Chapel Hill. NC State head coach Dave Doeren is 4-1 all-time versus UNC at Kenan Stadium.
Ben Finley, who four years ago was watching from the stands as his brother Ryan led NCSU to victory in Chapel Hill, got the start at quarterback for the Pack and gave Wolfpack fans a performance they will not soon forget.
A fourth-string quarterback just a few weeks ago, Finley completed 27-of-40 passes for 271 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers.
"It’s a heck of a win," Doeren said. "I’m super proud of our players and staff. It was an awesome football game. (UNC head) coach [Mack] Brown and his team battled back, and [UNC quarterback Drake Maye] is a really good football player. Our guys are just resilient.
"They’ve got a lot of grit and heart to just find a way to win, and that’s what we did. I’m thankful to be with these guys. It’s been a hard month. I can’t even put that in words, how hard this month’s been for me. It’s a great way to finish the season."
After stopping the Tar Heels on the opening drive of the game, it did not take NC State long to strike. The Wolfpack led, 7-0, with 13:20 left in the first quarter. Jack Chambers was called into the game to run the ball in from the two-yard line after Finley connected with Devin Carter on a 52-yard bomb on the second play of the drive.
It was just the start for the duo, as Carter was targeted 10 times in the contest and hauled in six passes for 130 yards with a touchdown.
"It’s his first week back in a while, and, to be honest, I haven’t thrown a pass to Devin Carter in probably over a year and a half," Finley said. "It’s like that with Thayer [Thomas] and Darryl [Jones]. I never threw a pass to Darryl until last week at Louisville. It’s just kind of weird. It’s like I’m playing on an all-star team. We’ve just got ballers everywhere."
Devin Carter caught six passes for 130 yards and a touchdown in NC State's win at UNC.
© Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Finley's second touchdown pass came early in the second quarter on a post-corner route from Terrell Timmons Jr. out of the slot. Timmons, who provided heroics in the Wolfpack's comeback victory over Virginia Tech, benefitted from a solid play-action ball fake from Finley.
Things bogged down for the offenses before the Tar Heels broke through and tied the game midway in the fourth quarter. NC State responded with less than four minutes remaining when Finley found Carter for a 26-yard touchdown.
The game then got truly crazy.
North Carolina got the ball on its 25-yard line with 3:54 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Tar Heels would literally need every second they had. After moving the ball inside the five-yard line, it looked like UNC scored a touchdown on the game's final play. Replays overturned the call, sending some oon the NC State sideline into a frenzy, but two seconds was put back on clock.
Maye capped the 15-play drive with a four-yard scoring toss to Antoine Green as time expired. The ensuing extra point sent the game into overtime for the second time in NC State's last three trips to Kenan.
"The guys that were on the far side were celebrating," Doeren said. "(NC State's coaching staff) knew they were going to put time back on the clock, so I was trying to get everybody back together. That was a crazy sequence right there."
In overtime the teams exchanged field goals, with Christopher Dunn responding to an earlier miss that was his first unsuccessful field goal try of the campaign.
Both defenses tightened again in double overtime, and Dunn gave NC State the lead after the first possession of the second extra period.
North Carolina attempted to tie again after the drive stalled at the Wolfpack 18-yard line. Noah Burnette, who was 2-of-3 in field goals in the game prior to the final kick, stepped up to try and level matters once again. His kick fluttered and drifted wide left, and NC State got to celebrate once and for all as the Wolfpack pulled off its 11th win in the last 16 matchups between the rivals.
"It’s a 365-day you-know-what sandwich that the other school gets to eat, and we didn’t want to eat it," Doeren said. "We wanted to have that, and we wanted to finish with that pride. That’s what happens during rivalry week. One team gets to feel good for a year, and the other one doesn’t. It’s a great job by our guys finishing it."
OBSERVATIONS
Here are some observations and random thoughts from the game.
Visitors Welcome
NC State had confidence coming out of the tunnel prior to the game. It is hard to explain why or put a finger on what causes it, but it seems that over the past 15 years it has typically been the visitor that brings the energy. NC State is 6-2 at Kenan Stadium since 2008. North Carolina is 3-3 at Carter-Finley Stadium since 2013.
Carter-Finley Stadium
NC State picked up fourth win in five trips to Kenan Stadium to continue its recent run of success in Chapel Hill. Ironnically, in making Kenan feel like Carter-Finley Stadium, it was Devin Carter and Ben Finley who led the Wolfpack offense.
Carter used his size to great effect against UNC, shielding the opposing corners -- particularly on his two biggest ctahces, a 52-yarder on the second play of the game and a 26-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter.
Finley's start was the third time a member of his family has opened the game at quarterback for NCSU against the Tar Heels. Like his brother Ryan did twice before, Ben left Chapel Hill a winner. He displayed a poise that belied his lack of college experience and his previous position on the depth chart.
When you help NC State beat UNC, you become a legend within Wolfpack Nation. That is how this rivalry works. Carter and Finley will not soon be forgotten by NCSU fans for turning Kenan into "Carter-Finley Stadium."
Defying The Numbers
NC State consistently put pressure on Drake Maye despite using an odd front and typically only adding one blitzer to the mix. North Carolina, with five offensive lineman and, and times, a tight end and/or a running back kept back in support, had the advantage numerically at the line. Yet, it was the Wolfpack who won those battles.
Maye is not the runner that Sam Howell was, so when the back-seven or back-six defended the pass well, the quarterback did not have the ability to make the plays that Howell used to for the Tar Heels -- although Maye did run for a pivotal touchdown in the second half.
Because UNC blocked well over the past three seasons, Howell often burned NC State with runs to avoid coverage sacks. Howell could mix it up, take the hits, and had durability. That is why the Tar Heels won twice during that span, and should have defeated the Wolfpack all three times.
Maye is a different type of quarterback. Against a team that does not bring massive numbers to the party at the line of scrimmage, he has to get better protection that he did Friday against NC State. The defensive front of NCSU cannot get enough credit for its performance.
Meanwhile, the Tar Heels seldom brought enough pressure to fluster Finley, and this is despite the quarterback's lack of experience and NC State's inability to run the ball well. UNC will have to look at why it did not try or could not rattle a guy that was a month removed from being a fourth-stringer. If the Wolfpack offensive line, which is dealing with injury issues also, was the main culprit, that makes North Carolina's lack of defensive pressure even more galling.
STATS OF THE GAME
Time of Possession -- NC State: 25:48 UNC: 34:12
Plays -- NC State: 66 UNC: 89
Sacks -- NC State: 2 UNC: 1
TFL (Defensive Yards) -- NC State: 9 (25) UNC: 3 (11)
(NC State) Ben Finley: 27-of-40, 271 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT, 140.9 RTG
(UNC) Drake Maye: 29-of-49, 233 yards, TD, INT, 101.8 RTG
QUOTE OF THE GAME
"I think it’s a great lesson for people out there that you don’t give up. You keep working. Ben could’ve easily been one of those quarterbacks who jumped in the portal when he didn’t get what he thought he was going to get.
"Instead, he was a great teammate. He went down and serviced the defense, and I bet those 10 weeks down there made him the player you’re looking at right now. Going against that defense day in and day out has helped him see the game a little bit better. You know our defense does a lot and presents a lot of things, and he has to see that everyday as the scout team quarterback.
"I’m super proud of him. I can’t say enough about him stepping in, taking care of the football, and doing a lot of good things for us." -- NC State head coach Dave Doeren on quarterback Ben Finley
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