N.C. State holds on to stun No. 18 UNC, 30-27, in 2 OT
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Ben Finley threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start, and North Carolina State held on to beat Drake Maye and No. 18 North Carolina, 30-27, on Friday when Noah Burnette duckhooked a 35-yard field goal try in the second overtime.
Maye connected with Antoine Green from 4 yards out on the final play of regulation to tie the game at 24-all, but N.C. State (8-4, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) kept the ACC Coastal Division champion Tar Heels (9-3, 6-2) out of the end zone in the first overtime.
Burnette — who also missed from 27 yards in the fourth quarter — made a 26-yarder in the first OT and the Wolfpack tied it on Christopher Dunn’s 31-yarder. Dunn was good from 21 yards in the second overtime and N.C. State, which never trailed, held on to hand North Carolina its second straight loss.
Devin Carter had six receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown for the Wolfpack, who snapped a two-game skid and pulled out a thrilling victory over their in-state rival for the second straight year.
Carter caught Finley’s back-shoulder pass just outside the end zone and backed in for a 26-yard touchdown with 3:54 remaining in regulation for the Wolfpack’s first points of the second half.
Finley became N.C. State’s fourth starting quarterback in a seven-game span. He completed 27 of 40 passes.
Maye finished 29 of 49 for 233 yards, one interception and the tying TD toss on fourth-andgoal to Green, which followed an apparent touchdown catch by John Copenhaver that was overturned on a replay review.
NO. 17 UCLA 35, CALIFORNIA 28
BERKELEY, Calif. — Dorian Thompson-Robinson ran for two touchdowns and passed for another as UCLA rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat California.
The Bruins (9-3, 6-3 Pac-12, No. 16 CFP) racked up 541 yards of offense, including 352 on the ground, and rebounded from a narrow defeat to USC the previous week that eliminated them from league title contention.
Thompson-Robinson passed for 189 yards and gained another 88 on the ground. Zach Charbonnet rushed for 119 yards and a score, and he converted a fourth-and-2 run in Cal territory late in the game that chewed up valuable time. TJ Harden added 89 yards rushing on 12 carries for the Bruins.
The Bears (4-8, 2-7) got a fourth-down stop that gave them the ball back trailing 35-28 with 1:58 remaining. But Jaydn Ott fumbled after a fourth-down reception that would have converted a first down, and Carl Jones Jr. recovered to ice the game for UCLA.
Cal’s Jack Plummer threw for 294 yards and four touchdowns. Jeremiah Hunter had eight catches for 153 yards and two scores.
NO. 19 TULANE 27, NO. 24 CINCINNATI 24
CINCINNATI — Michael Pratt found Shae Wyatt with a 30-yard touchdown pass with 5 minutes left to lead Tulane past Cincinnati, making the Green Wave the hosts for the upcoming American Conference Championship game.
Tyjae Spears rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns for Tulane (10-2, 7-1 AAC), which beat Cincinnati (9-3, 6-2) for the first time in five tries. Tulane also snapped the Bearcats’ 32-game home winning streak.
Pratt went 13-for-22 passing for 162 yards and the decisive touchdown. He also rushed for 30 yards on nine carries.
Redshirt sophomore Evan Prater started at quarterback for Cincinnati in place of injured Ben Bryant. Prater was 10-for-26 for 102 yards and rushed for 83 yards on 18 carries.