It wasn’t an ideal start for NC State, but the Wolfpack found a way to advance to 4-1 with a 31-20 victory over Duke in Carter-Finley Stadium Saturday.

After two first downs on the Pack’s first offensive drive of the contest, NC State elected to punt on fourth down and 11 from the Duke 44-yard line and surrendered a blocked punt, which was returned for a Blue Devils touchdown just over five minutes into the opening quarter.

Duke then started its second offensive possession of the game inside the red zone following a fumble by redshirt sophomore running back Zonovan Knight on the NC State 18-yard line with 9:02 remaining in the first quarter.

Three plays later, the Blue Devils faced a third and nine from the Wolfpack 14-yard line with an opportunity to take a two-possession lead six-and-a-half minutes into the game.

That’s when redshirt sophomore linebacker Payton Wilson came up with a much-needed spark for the Pack, an interception off of Duke quarterback Chase Brice to maintain a one-possession deficit.

It was the first of two interceptions for Wilson Saturday, who became the first NC State linebacker to haul in multiple picks in a single game since Jerod Fernandez did it against No. 1 Florida State in 2014.

Wilson’s second interception came at the 5:13 mark in the third quarter. Sophomore linebacker Drake Thomas laid a big hit on Brice in the middle of the quarterback’s release which sent the ball several feet into the air and allowed Wilson to play it like a center fielder catching a pop fly.

"I made sure to let [Thomas] know like right after the play, 'Appreciate it, you know you're the only reason I got the pick,'" Wilson said

One minute later, redshirt sophomore quarterback Devin Leary found fifth-year senior tight end Cary Angeline in the end zone for a four-yard touchdown that put the Pack ahead 21-20 late in the third quarter and gave it its first lead of the afternoon.

Wilson also led the team with 19 tackles, the most since Earl Wolff’s 19-tackle performance at No. 11 Clemson in 2012.

NC State may have found a way to win Saturday, but it lost its starting quarterback for the foreseeable future.

In the final minutes of the third quarter, Leary, a redshirt sophomore, was on the receiving end of a targeting penalty against Duke safety Lummie Young IV. What first appeared to be a potential head issue after a four-yard rush attempt turned out to be an ankle injury.

Leary was put in an air cast and was carted off of the field but did return to the sideline in fourth quarter on crutches and in a boot.

“He loves his teammates, he's a great young man,” NC State head coach Dave Doeren said. “I feel for him. He's worked really hard and he's playing really well.

"When I saw the targeting hit, I thought he was concussed. When I went down there, it was his ankle that he was worried about. They'll have to do the X-rays to figure out what it is but I knew he'd be back on the field if he could be to watch.

“He said, 'Tell these guys to finish.' He's got a lot of guts. He's a tough young man.”

Leary's teammates answered the call. The Wolfpack outscored the Blue Devils 10-0 in the fourth quarter to seal the victory with redshirt junior quarterback Bailey Hockman under center.

“That's my brother,” Wolfpack junior running back Ricky Person Jr. said of Leary. “I've known Devin since my senior year of high school and to see that happen, I was just heartbroken. I was frustrated, I was mad at the play, at what happened.

“He's just a fighter. It took a lot of courage to come back on the sideline, motivate his teammates, keep his teammates pumped up the whole time. Prayers go out to him.”

Leary finished the game completing 14 of 24 passes for 194 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also ran for three yards on seven carries.

Hockman played the final 17 minutes of the contest to lead the Pack to victory. He finished the game completing four of seven passes for 43 yards and one touchdown with no turnovers.

"Probably won't have Devin for a while," Doeren said. "I don't know the exact injury, a lower leg injury, but it doesn't look like we'll have him for a while. Once I know, probably Monday, I'll be able to give you the specifics.

"He's a tough kid and I hate it for him just to get injured like that because I know how much this game means to him, this team means to him. So next man up, Bailey, Ben Finley and Ty Evans will have to get ready to roll for us at quarterback."

For the second time this season, Person finished the game with over 100 all-purpose yards.

The junior running back didn’t find the end zone but accounted for 103 of the Pack’s 355 total yards of offense. He rushed for a team-high 84 yards on 15 carries and reeled in three receptions for 19 yards.

“Going into halftime, we were just frustrated with what was going on because we were hurting ourselves,” Person said. “We went into the locker room, just kept telling each other like, 'We got to fix this, we can only beat ourselves.’

“We went to halftime with a 0-0 attitude, and we just came out and did what we normally do.”

Knight was the second leading rusher on the team with 44 yards on 10 carries. He added two receptions for 24 yards to finish the contest with 68 all-purpose yards.

Combined, the two running backs accounted for 48.2 percent of NC State’s total offense.

Sophomore running back Jordan Houston was the only one of the position group to find the end zone. He finished the afternoon with six yards on two carries including one score. He added two receptions that netted for loss.

“It's critical to be able to stay on the field and finish a game like that,” Doeren said. “Those kids are hungry, they're hungry. I think that running back room has a lot of character. They're competing, cheering for each other, but competing against each other, and want to outdo each other in the game. And they want the ball, they want that football.

“Our offensive line takes a lot of pride in how hard they run, so it's a good group. Jordan gets left out of that group, but Jordan does some good things for us too there. We missed Trent Pennix tonight, Trent's a guy that's been coming on in practice.”

“Our confidence is really high,” Doeren continued. “I think we handle adversity well. There isn't any flinch, guys understand that they can come back and they've done that multiple ways, as you mentioned.

"It's a very confident group. I know they'll be excited for what's coming up this week against another in-state opponent. We need to get healthy. That's my concern right now we got a lot of guys beat up.”

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