NC State concluded its regular season with a memorable 30-27 double-overtime victory against North Carolina on Friday at Kenan Memorial Stadium.
The Wolfpack finished 8-4 in the regular season and 4-4 in the ACC. NC State is ranked No. 27 in The Associated Press poll and No. 28 in the USA Today/Coaches poll, giving the program a shot at getting ranked in both with a bowl victory.
Most important play
There were so many important plays, but NC State senior safety Tanner Ingle making an impressive interception at the UNC 29-yard line with 4:46 left in the game was a game-changer. Sophomore defensive end Davin Vann was credited with the tip.
The score was tied 17-17 and the Wolfpack scored a touchdown three plays later when redshirt freshman quarterback Ben Finley threw a beautiful back-shoulder ball to redshirt junior Devin Carter for a 26-yard touchdown.
Three game balls
1. Safety Tanner Ingle
Ingle finished with nine tackles, half a tackle for loss and a huge interception. Ingle entered the game with two interceptions in his career, and a few near-misses. He showed great body control and hands in getting his interception, which led to a NC State touchdown and 24-17 lead. He blew up running backs and cut down on his missed tackles.
2. Outside linebacker Drake Thomas
Thomas was in the blitzing role, and it's even more fun when UNC didn't even block him a couple of plays. Thomas finished second on the team with 10 tackles, one behind fellow outside linebacker Payton Wilson, and had one sack, three quarterback hurries and two tackles for loss.
3. Quarterback Ben Finley
Finley went from fourth string to being a hero, and then he became a legend in his post-game press conference. He went 27-of-40 passing for 271 yards and two touchdowns, but most importantly, he made no glaring mistakes. He had one pass that UNC dropped, but proved to be accurate, had good arm strength and his timing was much improved after shaking off the rust against Louisville.
Key statistic advantage
NC State senior kicker Christopher Dunn went 3 of 4 on field goals and North Carolina sophomore kicker Noah Burnette missed two of his four attempts — missing a 27-yarder in the fourth quarter and 35-yarder in overtime.
North Carolina went 5 of 20 on third-down conversions, to go along with making three on fourth downs. The Tar Heels still had a 89-66 play advantage, even with the stops on third down.
NC State's defense also had nine tackles for loss and two sacks, and North Carolina had one sack and three tackles for loss.
What NC State did well
The NC State defense proved that an opposing team might have a talented and skilled quarterback, but it won't add up on the scoreboard if the players around the quarterback get slowed down.
Maye played a strong game, but the statistics won't show it. He went 29-of-49 for 233 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and he rushed 14 times for 32 yards and a score. The story of the game was how many times Maye kept probing and buying time in the pocket or scrambling, and few things broke open.
The NC State secondary did its part, even with Derrek Pitts playing nickel due to four nickel's unavailable due to injury or suspension. The blitzing pass rush did it's part. They rarely let Maye get into a passing rhythm.
NC State defensive coordinator and linebacker coach Tony Gibson showed in the Wake Forest game against Sam Hartman and again against Maye how to make talented players look uncomfortable.
Besides the running plays with Maye, he got pressured 11 times. The lasting picture of the game was how many times Maye kept rolling out and waiting until the last possible moment to make a pass, only to have the Wolfpack defense play until the whistle.
NC State quarterback Ben Finley did just enough to help the offense get three touchdowns in regulation, two of them on beautiful throws to Carter and freshman wide receiver Terrell Timmons. In particular, the touchdown to 28-yard toss to Timmons gave NC State a 14-3 lead and put UNC on its heels.
Most importantly, Finley didn't do anything wrong to put his defense in a bad spot. The lone turnover was on Jack Chambers running play.
What needs improvement
NC State's running game just never got untracked during the second half of the season, and even against a weak North Carolina run defense, it struggled at times.
NC State finished rushing 25 times for 59 yards and a Jack Chambers two-yard touchdown run. The reshuffled line again had redshirt sophomore Dylan McMahon at center and redshirt junior Derrick Eason at right guard. The pass protection was impressive and UNC is not known for getting many sacks or blitzing, so Finley was kept clean.
McMahon had an errant snap and Eason had a costly penalty, but otherwise, the Wolfpack didn't have many self-inflicted wounds.
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