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Raleigh, North Carolina — North Carolina State’s offense floundered, then lost the preseason Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year award while facing a second-half deficit.
For Devan Boykin, that meant the defense would have to carry the Wolf Pack in 14th place upon his return on Saturday night.
“After halftime,” he said, “we knew the game was going to be ours.”
boykin intercepted jordan travis’s pass in the end zone with 38 seconds remaining, lifting n.c. outscored Florida State 19-17 despite losing quarterback Devin Leary to injury.
Boykin’s clean catch in the end zone was the decisive play in a big, gutsy performance by the Wolf Pack’s veteran defense after halftime. North Carolina. The state held Florida State (4-2, 2-2) to 93 yards after the break, helping the Wolf Pack rally from a 17-3 halftime deficit.
Christopher Dunn also kicked four field goals, including a 53-yarder early in the quarter and the go-ahead 27-yarder with 6:33 remaining.
The wolf pack needed it all too, considering how intimidating things looked when Leary went down at the bottom of the third. he was hit while trying to throw and suffered an injury to his right arm or shoulder, later returning to the sideline with his arm in a sling. That forced Jack Chambers to work for an offense that was struggling for most of his winnings, even with Leary in the game.
“This team is not giving up,” Wolf Pack coach Dave Doeren said. “they don’t flinch”.
Travis and the Seminoles hit it big before halftime with multiple wins, including a 71-yard keeper from Travis who set up a touchdown drive.
but travis threw interceptions on each of the seminoles last two drives, one into traffic near midfield with about 6 1/2 minutes remaining and the other when he passed the ball to mycah pittman after the seminoles had reached the 23-yard line needing a field goal for the leader.
“we made a lot of mistakes in the second half that we have to be able to overcome,” florida state coach mike norvell said. “And it’s everyone. I just told the team: that result is 100% mine.”
the food to take away
Florida State: The Seminoles made their first 4-0 start since 2015 before falling at home to world no. 15 forest wake last weekend. They seemed poised to rally with a 17-3 lead, only to babble after halftime with their share of errors, including a rare one when punter Alex Mastromanno carried the ball past the line of scrimmage and kicked it for a penalty that led to a turnover and one of Dunn’s field goals.
norvell said he thought mastromanno lost track of where he was after avoiding a race to start his career.
“That was all that could really go wrong in the second half,” Norvell said.
n.c. status: A season of high expectations hit its first bump with last week’s loss to world no. 5 Clemson, who put the wolf pack in catch-up mode in the Atlantic division race behind the preseason favorite. losing leary at any point won’t help the wolf pack’s immediate goals of fueling a 10-win season, though it was an impressive display of resilience nonetheless.
implications of the survey
n.c. the state dropped four places from no. 10 after the clemson loss. It’s unclear how this performance, or Leary’s possible absence, will affect the wolf pack’s standing in Sunday’s upcoming Top 25 poll.
package injuries
Doeren said X-rays did not reveal any fractures in Leary and that he will have an MRI for further evaluation on Sunday. North Carolina. The state also lost catcher Devin Carter and running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye to injuries in this one as well.
bonus points
travis threw for 181 yards and a touchdown in the first half along with his two interceptions for fsu. … leary completed 10 of 21 passes for 130 yards with a touchdown and an interception. … Chambers rushed seven times for 39 yards and did not complete his only pass. … Florida State kicker Ryan Fitzgerald made a 47-yard field goal just before halftime. he had missed four of five going in. …n.a. the battle of shyheim state defensive back was ejected for targeting the final advance of the seminoles.
low light
launch was slightly delayed due to a lighting issue before the game.
The game was scheduled to start around 8:10 p.m. m. But as the sun set, the stadium lights at Carter-Finley Stadium remained off, leaving only the tape and scoreboard lights to illuminate the dimly lit field.
The school said the game wouldn’t start for 47 minutes once the lights came on, though that ultimately amounted to a delay of just a few minutes past the scheduled TV start time.
next
state of florida: the seminoles house no. 5 Clemson next Saturday.
n.c. status: syracuse hosts the wolf pack next saturday.
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