Wolfpack start off on the right foot
No. 13 NC State escapes after EC misses extra point, late FG
GREENVILLE, N.C. — North Carolina State coach Dave Doeren watched from the sideline as the late field goal that could have topped his 13th-ranked team sailed wide of the uprights, then offered a fist pump that was far more restrained than jubilant.
The Wolfpack had survived — and that was about as positive as anyone clad in red could be about Saturday’s 21-20 win at East Carolina that featured the Pirates missing two critical late kicks.
“I think they’re probably more mad than I’m going to be at them right now,” Doeren said of his players.
N.C. State went from up 14 in the third quarter to barely hanging on thanks to a pair of plays that weren’t even in its control. The Pirates were in position to hand the Wolfpack a surprising loss when they got the ball back late down one, not to mention offer Owen Daffer a shot at redemption after he pulled a tying extra point wide left after Rahjai Harris’ short touchdown run with 2:58 left. Holton Ahlers’ keeper set up a 41-yard field goal in the final seconds for Daffer in the season opener for each school. But he missed this one wide right with 5 seconds left, prompting many of the fans in the once-rowdy crowd to put their hands on their heads in disbelief.
Shyheim Battle emphatically waved that the kick was no good as Doeren offered that fist pump for the Wolfpack, yet the moment quickly looked more like relief after another bumpy trip to Greenville.
This time, at least, it all came in a win.
“It obviously wasn’t pretty,” Wolfpack quarterback Devin Leary said. “It wasn’t the way we expected it to be. It wasn’t what we’re capable of doing.”
Leary, the preseason Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year, threw for 211 yards and a touchdown, but he had a costly interception with about 5 minutes left that set up East Carolina’s late touchdown drive. The Wolfpack also came up empty on six goal-line plays in the fourth quarter. In fact, the difference — Daffer’s misses aside — came on a blocked punt by Jasiah Provillon deep in ECU’s end that Sean Brown recovered in the end zone late in the first quarter.
“I know nobody outside of Greenville gave us much of a chance but those kids never doubted,” ECU coach Mike Houston said. “We should’ve won the ballgame.”