The Pack did it. It finally did it.

For the first time in head coach Dave Doeren’s nine-year tenure at NC State, the Wolfpack took down the six-time defending champions of the ACC, Clemson, 27-21 in a thrilling double-overtime classic before a vintage home crowd at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Accomplishing the feat the program has dreamed of for years didn’t come easy. In fact, at times, ghosts of past missed opportunities against the Tigers glared directly into the souls on the Wolfpack sideline.

With two seconds remaining in regulation, NC State junior placekicker Christopher Dunn had a game-winning field goal attempt from 39 yards. He missed it, and his other two field goal attempts of the night, to go 0 for 3 in a game that could have been won in regulation with just one make.

“We didn't flinch,” head coach Dave Doeren said. “We missed three field goals. And those are all hard things. Chris will bounce back. Offensively, if you have the ball that much and don't get as many points as you want, some teams would say 'Oh, here we go again.' Our guys just say keep playing, put the ball down, and next play is the play we're gonna win the game. That's how we approached it.”

The situation was eerily similar to the 2016 meeting between these two schools, in which then-Pack kicker Kyle Bambard booted his game-winning attempt wide right in Death Valley as time in regulation expired.

Just like on Saturday night, the Wolfpack had outplayed Clemson for 60 minutes and deserved the kick to go in to seal the game. And again, on Saturday night, Dunn’s kick whizzed just left of the goal post, sending the game into overtime and the blood pressure of Pack fans into hypertension.

But the 2021 meeting of the Textile Bowl did not have the same result as the 2016 contest. NC State fans will want to remember 2021.

Clemson started with possession to begin overtime and quickly found the end zone. With tension at an all-time high in Carter-Finley Stadium, the Wolfpack quickly returned the favor, sending the match to double overtime.

On the second play of the second overtime, redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary threw a pinpointed laser into the hands of redshirt sophomore receiver Devin Carter in the back right corner of the end zone surrounded by the student section.

Due to the rules of overtime in college football, the Pack had to go for two and failed to convert.

From there, the game was in the defense’s hands. If it could keep Clemson out of the end zone, State would win the game.

And that’s exactly what it did. NC State forced the Tigers to a four-and-out, ending the game and sending the raucous Wolfpack fans onto the field for quickly became a celebratory sea or red Saturday night.

“The curse is broken, NC State fans,” Doeren said. “Finally. Finally! I've been here nine years and seen a lot of crazy stuff. People have talked about it and didn't believe it, but I gotta tell you, I think it was real, and it's not there anymore. So we can move on now and be happy about that.”

To take down the top-10 ranked Tigers, NC State had to have an excellent performance on both sides of the ball.

After holding opponents to just three offensive touchdowns through three games, confidence was high on the Pack’s defense.

But the task wasn’t so easy for the offense considering it had to face Clemson’s defensive front, which is among the best units in the country.

To pull it off, NC State needed a performance to remember from Leary. And the signal-caller delivered.

Leary completed 73 percent of his 44 pass attempts for 238 yards, all of the Pack’s four touchdowns, and no interceptions.

“I thought our quarterback was incredible,” Doeren said. “Just the way he manages the game and how tough he is. He takes care of the football and makes clutch throws.”

“We thought we'd have to RPO them quite a bit,” Doeren continued. “They do a lot on defense. Instead of dropping back and letting those guys blitz, run the ball. And if they don't honor what we're doing on the perimeter, throw it out there and let those kids make plays. That was the game plan. Different plays have different reads, and he did a great job throughout the game.”

Clemson may have found the end zone three times, but the Pack defense sure didn’t make it easy.

For the most part, NC State’s defense looked like the one national analysts should have been talking about of the two teams on the field.

The Tigers were only able to reach 100 yards of total offense with just a few minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The Pack outgained Clemson 386-214 yards. And NC State’s defense did a tremendous job of keeping the Tigers’ offense on the sideline.

Clemson was only able to convert two of its 11 third-down attempts. NC State had 31 first downs compared to just 10 for the Tigers.

And by keeping Clemson off of the field, the Wolfpack controlled time of possession for an astounding 41:48 compared to just 18:12 for the Tigers.

“The defense, time and time again, made stops,” Doeren said.

“Defensively, a couple of sacks we made were incredible plays. Drake's interception. We had to make a couple of special, special plays, and we did.

“We had 96 plays to their 49. I mean, that's pretty incredible.”

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