Turtled under, NC State drops Duke's Mayo Bowl to Maryland

By Joe Giglio, WRALSportsFan

Maryland Terrapins	16
25NC State Wolfpack	12
Final

Heading into the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, Dave Doeren was reluctant to agree to a celebratory mayonnaise bath.

Turns out the NC State coach had nothing to worry about.

Maryland out-slogged its old ACC rival for a 16-12 win and it was coach Mike Locksley who got doused in mayo instead.

Chris Dunn kicked four field goals but it was the only offense the Wolfpack (8-5) could muster.

The Terrapins (8-5) limited NC State to 27 rushing yards. Backup quarterback Ben Finley couldn’t replicate his magic from NC State’s win in the regular-season finale at UNC.

Finley completed 22 of 48 passes for 269 yards with two interceptions and couldn’t get the offense, which never really found any kind of rhythm, into the end zone.

NC State’s defense tried to save the day, with an early goal-line stand and a pair of interceptions, but couldn’t quite do enough.

Receiver Octavian Smith scored the only touchdown of the game. He caught a 19-yard pass from Maryland quarterback Tualia Tagovailoa at 8:07 in the second quarter for a 10-3 lead.

The rest of Maryland’s points came on three field goals from Chad Ryland.

NC State closes the season with its third straight bowl loss and Doeren falls to 0-2 against the Terps.

Maryland beat Doeren’s first State team, 41-21 in 2013, and then left for the Big Ten the following season.

This was supposed to be a renewal of an old, red ACC rivalry. Instead, it felt more like a spring game at times, with players missing from both sides, and just sloppy execution on offense in general.

Tagovailoa finished 221 passing yards with one touchdown and a pair of interceptions. A pick by safety Rakeim Ashford at 11:13 in the fourth quarter gave the Wolfpack late hope.

Ashford gave the offense the ball back at Maryland’s 35-yard line and trailing 13-9. Doeren opted to kick a field goal on fourth-and-3 from the Maryland 9 instead of going for a touchdown and the lead.

After a Ryland field goal made it 16-12, Doeren made another odd choice to punt, instead of going for it on fourth down, with 4:30 left in the game.

Finley threw his second interception of the game at 2:28 in the fourth quarter to seal the win for the Terps.