Holliday: Only one miracle for NC State but it's a big one

By Bob Holliday, WRAL Sports contributor

Needing two miracles to reach the ACC Championship game, NC State produced the first one on its own, with a dramatic, you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it comeback against arch rival North Carolina. But the Wolfpack needed more than that to earn a trip to Charlotte; there was also an imperative of the improbable, a Boston College victory over Wake Forest. And once the flu bug hit Chestnut Hill, nothing short of divine intervention could prevent Wake Forest from winning the Atlantic Division.

So the second miracle never materialized of course, but I suspect everyone wearing red can be content with the once in a lifetime rally that made Black Friday truly black for Mack Browns’s Tar Heels.

There was no hint of the 12th hour dramatics that would be required during the game’s first 27 minutes. NC State blocked UNC’s first punt and carried it in for a touchdown. The Wolfpack later blocked a second punt which the Tar Heels somehow collected and advanced for a first down – something I can’t ever recall seeing before. State promptly shook off that misfortune and stopped the Tar Heels cold on their own 33, essentially collecting two 3 and outs on the same possession.

NC State increased its lead to 14-0 late in the first quarter. Offensive coordinator Tim Beck mixed Ricky Person runs with Devin Leary passes as the Wolfpack moved 64 yards in seven plays. Defensively, State kept UNC bottled up in its own territory, taking away the deep ball by applying so much pressure Sam Howell had time only to throw short flares and screens. Carolina couldn’t run much either until British Brooks broke off a 40 yarder just before the first quarter ended.

The Tar Heels did reach the NC State three, but that drive ended on the first play of the second quarter when the Wolfpack sacked Howell. So Carolina kicked. 14-3.

NC State, in all three phases of the game, appeared to be totally in charge. But over the course of the second quarter the game began to get away from the Pack.

UNC’s mercurial defense managed to get off the field unscathed on two separate occasions, stopping one State drive after six plays and the second after just three. The Tar Heels’ intermittently explosive offense, limited to just 75 yards apart from the long run by Brooks, finally put a drive together. Carolina surged from its own 36 for 64 yards, not even pausing until Howell smashed across the goal line. That made it 14-10.

Still, NC State marched the other way in less than two minutes, getting close enough for a Chris Dunn field goal try. Trouble is, the Wolfpack was out of time outs and had to rush the kicking team onto the field. The Pack had made a “hurry field goal” against Boston College, but the timing of the alignment, snap and kick did not mesh this time and Dunn’s effort fell short and left. Yet there was no clear signal that State was about to lose control of the game. The Pack rushed for over 100 yards in the first half and passed for more than 100 as well.

The beginning of the second half though, led to immediate struggle for the home team. The Wolfpack moved just 14 yards and needed eight plays to accomplish even that. Jeremiah Gemmel forced a Ricky Person fumble. Cedric Gray scooped it up and almost scored. Five players later Howell did score; his second touchdown of the game. Just like that North Carolina seized the lead.

The Wolfpack’s offensive slumber continued. Three plays and a punt. The Tar Heels took off in the other direction. NC State appeared to catch a break when Brooks’ touchdown run was called back because of a hold on wide receiver Justin Olson. But then Olson redeemed himself, catching a touchdown pass. This enabled Howell to continue his remarkable three year streak of throwing a touchdown in every single game at UNC.

NC State’s somnambulant offense then woke up. After five possessions that produced three punts, a missed field goal, and a fumble, the Wolfpack marched 73 yards, mostly on the ground. I mean North Carolina had run off 24 straight points-the game was getting away. State did face a third and nine at the UNC 26, but Leary found Thayer Thomas on a short pass, and the speedster made a bee line for the end zone.

This burst of offense disappeared as quickly as it surfaced however. The Wolfpack went three and out on the next two possessions.

Meanwhile North Carolina kept moving. The Tar Heels piled up a stunning 297 yards rushing against the proud Wolfpack defense that normally give up just about 100. Brooks rushed for 124 yards by himself. Howell, even after deduction of yardage from five sacks, powered his way to 98. Ty Chandler got 59 on just six carries. For the game, UNC averaged more than seven yards per rush.

This running game took the Tar Heels deep into NC State territory midway through the fourth quarter. But with first and goal at the NC State four, UNC suddenly abandoned the rush. Howell, who completed just 14 of 27 on the night, missed on three consecutive goal line passes. The Tar Heels settled for a chip shot field goal. The Heels’ inability to get seven points there would come back to haunt them.

But it sure didn’t look that way in the closing minutes when Howell ripped off a 24 yard run with his team up 27-21. That set UNC up at the NC State 40. Just over three minutes remained and Dave Doeren began calling time outs to preserve clock time. Brooks gained two. Howell gained five. But State stoned Brooks on third and three keeping hope alive.

Grayson Atkins then kicked a 50 yard field goal as Mack Brown showed trust in his veteran kicker. A miss there would have given the Wolfpack great field position at its own 33. As it turned out, State got even better field position when Tyler Houston returned the ensuing kickoff to the 44 yard line on just a horrific night for UNC’s special teams. Two plays later Leary and Emeka Emezie took advantage of a Tar Heel coverage breakdown for a 64 yard touchdown that electrified those fans still in their seats at Carter-Finley Stadium. 30-28.

Then Christopher Dunn recovered his own onside kick! When does that happen? UNC’s Trey Morrison could have made a dive for the ball before it traveled the 10 yards required for NC State to touch the ball, but he passed on the opportunity. Did I mention that it was a horrific night for UNC special teams?

The Tar Heel defense, which had played penalty free for most of the game, suddenly became undisciplined. The Heels jumped offside, roughed the passer, and committed pass interference at the UNC 39. NC State needed to move 54 yards. 35 of those yards came gift wrapped via UNC penalties.

Leary and Emezie then connected for another touchdown. Can anyone in the ACC truly cover Emezie? NC State tried a two point conversion that failed. Still, State’s comeback was complete at 34-30.

2:12 remained when Carolina kicked off after Atkins’ field goal. The clock read 1:09 after Emezie’s second touchdown. NC State scored 13 points in exactly one minute and three seconds! That to me is what’s so amazing about the NC State comeback/UNC meltdown; Sam Howell still had more than a minute to try to take back the game.

But here’s where the four points UNC left at the NC State four yard line some seven minutes earlier impacted the game. Had the Tar Heels scored a touchdown there, they would have had 34 points. And so when Howell and company reached the NC State 30 in the closing seconds, Atkins would have been kicking a field goal for the win. Instead Howell had to throw a Hail Mary. Derrek Pitts intercepted.

Two different postseasons

Even though NC State’s dramatic win wasn’t enough to land the Wolfpack in the ACC Championship game, it changes both the postseason and the offseason. At 9-3, NC State will get one of the ACC’s Tier One Bowl bids.

The Pitt-Wake Forest winner will get the ACC’s automatic bid to the New Year’s Six Bowls. This year, with the Orange hosting a semi-final in the College Football Playoffs, the ACC will likely land in the Peach Bowl. The ACC will miss the CFP for the first time; it also would appear that Notre Dame will just miss the playoffs. Notre Dame then becomes eligible for a top ACC bowl bid. However, the Irish will qualify on their own for one of the New Year’s Six Bowl slots, so presumably ND will not be competing for the ACC’s Tier One Bowls, which has happened in some of the lesser years of outgoing coach Brian Kelly.

Anyway, NC State with its record should also get top consideration, along with Clemson and the Pitt-Wake loser. My colleague Joe Giglio has written that NC State is likely headed to the Cheez-it Bowl in Orlando with Clemson playing in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. That sounds about right, although today I have read some accounts putting Clemson in Orlando and NC State in Jacksonville. And CBS projects that the Wolfpack will get the western most of the ACC’s Tier One Bowls, the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. We will find out for sure Sunday, but NC State has earned one of those three bids-all exciting trips to warm places with good opponents. The comeback against Carolina made this possible.

So now NC State has a chance for a rare 10-win season. A bowl victory on top of the epic win against the arch rival should really help on the recruiting trail.

Mack Brown has brought in tons of talent on the strength of two straight lopsided wins against State as well as the Tar Heels’ trip to a New Year’s Six Bowl last season. Now Dave Doeren will have those advantages to sell to prospects in the talent rich state of North Carolina.

As for UNC, Brown said after Friday night’s loss that “somebody’s going to get a good bowl team.” He’s right that this UNC squad can be really good. However, it can then be just as quickly not good. We saw that inconsistency on full display in the final two minutes at Carter-Finley Stadium.

UNC will have a postseason, perhaps in New York’s Pin Stripe Bowl against the Big Ten or Charlotte’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl against the SEC; something like the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa is apparently also a possibility. But will the Tar Heels avenge their late collapse in west Raleigh or continue their run of “good play, bad play” football, sowing seeds of doubt about the direction of the program?

For sure, every NC State fan – even those who left early – will always remember where they were the night of Nov. 26, 2021. And every North Carolina fan can only hope to forget.