NC State comes from behind to beat FSU 19-17 after Devin Leary goes down with injury
N.C. State lost a quarterback but won a big game Saturday.
After Devin Leary left with an injury to his throwing arm in the third quarter, the No. 14 Wolfpack battled its way to a 19-17 victory over Florida State at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Devan Boykin’s interception of a Jordan Travis pass with 38 seconds left in the game ended any last-gasp hope FSU had of winning and gave the Wolfpack a gutsy, hard-earned victory — its 14th in a row at home.
It was a tremendous effort by the Pack (5-1, 1-1 ACC), which was deflated a week ago after a tough loss at Clemson. The Wolfpack trailed 17-3 at halftime against an FSU team smarting after its first loss to Wake Forest.
“It was a heckuva game and an incredible win,” NCSU coach Dave Doeren said. “I’m super proud of our guys in their fight and their resiliency. I told ‘em at halftime we’re going to come back and win this game.
“It’s a great win. It’s great to be 5-1.”
Leary, the ACC preseason player of the year, suffered an injury to his right throwing arm with 4:39 left in the third quarter. Flattened by FSU nose tackle Joshua Farmer, who was called for roughing the passer, Leary needed medical attention on the field before being helped to the locker room for treatment.
Leary had guided the Pack on an 84-yard touchdown drive on the first possession of the second half, whipping a 10-yard touchdown pass to Darryl Jones. That came after a mostly miserable first half for Leary and the offense, which was limited to 133 total yards.
With Leary out, in came Jack Chambers, the graduate transfer from Charleston Southern. The Pack, playing with a lot of fire and energy in the second half, getting some strong running from Jordan Houston, began chipping away at the FSU lead even as Chambers attempted only one pass and ran the ball seven times.
Christopher Dunn made a 40-yard field goal, then a 53-yarder. And when Dunn knocked through a 27-yarder with 6:33 left in the fourth quarter, the Pack claimed a 19-17 lead.
The Pack needed a few more defensive stop. NCSU cornerback Shyheim Battle picked off a JordanTravis pass to end one FSU possession. But Battle was called for targeting — and ejected — on the last FSU possession.
The Seminoles were in field-goal range at the NCSU 22 and placekicker Ryan Fitzgerald had made a 47-yard field goal on the last play of the first half. But the Seminoles went for the touchdown, but Travis’ throw was picked off by Boykin in the left corner of the end zone.
“We kind of knew they weren’t going to leave it up to the kicker, that they were going to try and take a shot at the end zone and try to put us away,” Boykin said. “It just so happened that they had scored earlier on that same route, so I kind of knew they would go back to it and I just made a play on the ball.”
Doeren said defensive adjustments were made at halftime but that the turnaround in the second half was as much about attitude as adjustments.
“More than anything,” Doeren said, “it was looking them in the eye and telling them, ‘This is a gut check. You’re going to be tested right now as competitors. This is your stadium. How do you want to look in it?’ It was about the attitude change and the execution more than anything.”
Dunn’s 53-yarder came after a odd sequence on the first play of the fourth quarter that had FSU punter Alex Mastromanno faking a punt, running with the ball, then kicking it after he was well past the line of scrimmage.
It was a penalty, a loss of down for FSU and a turnover on downs, giving the Pack the ball at the FSU 13.
The Pack went in reverse — a pass by slotback Thayer Thomas to Chambers lost yardage and there were two holding penalties against NCSU. But Dunn’s long field goal made it a one-point game.
Travis was a handful at times for the Pack defense with his elusiveness, ripping off a 71-yard run in the first half that set up FSU’s first TD, a 14-yard throw to Mycah Pittman in the left corner. He passed for 181 yards and rushed for 108.
This story was originally published October 8, 2022 at 11:53 PM with the headline "NC State comes from behind to beat FSU 19-17 after Devin Leary goes down with injury."
