N.C. State defeats Wake Forrest in OT, 27-21

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Posted 8:39PM on Saturday, October 2, 2004

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) Down and seemingly out at halftime, North Carolina State bounced back with one superb quarter. T.A. McLendon made sure the comeback wasn't wasted. He capped a rally from a 14-point deficit by running for an 8-yard touchdown in overtime, giving North Carolina State a 27-21 victory over Wake Forest on Saturday. ``Our team put together a great effort and we played all together as one unit,'' Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato said. ``We can take wins like this, all that matters is that we leave with a win.'' After Matt Wisnosky missed a 34-yard field goal in the extra period for the Demon Deacons, McLendon ran three straight plays up the middle to move the Wolfpack to the 8. Amato decided against going for a field goal on third down John Deraney already had missed two and McLendon powered into the end zone. McLendon finished with 139 yards on the ground and two TDs. ``T.A. was great,'' Amato said. ``He was not going to be denied on that last play. We need to continue to get him the ball, because he is such an integral part of our offense.'' The Wolfpack (3-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed 14-0 at the half, their top-ranked defense shredded for 180 yards to that point nearly 20 more than its average through three games. A 1-yard touchdown by Micah Andrews and Marcus McGruder's 22-yard interception return gave Wake Forest its two-TD lead. But after three quarters, the Demon Deacons still were stuck on 180 yards, held to three consecutive three-and-outs. Meanwhile, N.C. State finally found some offense with quarterback Jay Davis. ``I think that everyone, including the fans, heard the alarm clock at halftime,'' Amato said. ``We woke up and began to play.'' Booed during pregame introductions and again after every incompletion in the first half, Davis might have finally silenced his critics with a brilliant final 30 minutes. He threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Hicks to make it 14-7 barely 90 seconds into the third quarter. Davis led his receiver perfectly over the middle, and Hicks raced passed McGruder and Patrick Ghee to get into the end zone. ``Really, it was an easy throw, it wasn't that hard,'' Davis said of his TD pass. ``He made the play with the run. That set the tone for the offense.'' He added a 58-yard pass to Tramain Hall on the next possession to set up McLendon's 3-yard score to tie it, and finally, Bobby Washington ended a 66-yard drive with the first touchdown of his college career, and N.C. State led 21-14. ``N.C. State got two long plays in the third quarter, and that got the home crowd back into the game,'' Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said. ``It's disappointing because we had a really good chance at beating a good team on their home field.'' Mercifully for the Demon Deacons (3-2, 0-2), the quarter finally ended, and they started the fourth with an 80-yard drive. Andrews bulled in from the 1 for his second TD, making it 21-21. ``I'm half-disappointed in the loss, the but half-pleased because of the effort, especially battling back in the fourth quarter,'' Grobe said. Behind Davis and McLendon, the Wolfpack then moved all the way to the Wake Forest 10. Davis' pass for Hall was high on third down, and Deraney pushed a 27-yard field goal to the right with less than three minutes left. In overtime, the Deacons couldn't get a first down and were forced to rely on Wisnosky's leg, but he banged his kick off the left upright to give the edge to N.C. State. McLendon made it pay off. ``That shows what kid of team we have, that our offense can score points and that our defense can shut down the other team,'' McLendon said. Davis finished 16-for-21 for 228 yards, and Wake Forest had 202 of its 263 yards on the ground. ``They had a good defense, they're not ranked No. 1 in the country for no reason,'' Deacons quarterback Cory Randolph said. ``We saw some things on tape that, if we executed, they would help us move the ball.''