N.C. State 21, Southern Mississippi 17

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Posted 6:03PM on Saturday, October 29, 2005

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) North Carolina State made Marcus Stone its starting quarterback in hopes of bolstering its struggling offense Saturday. But that spark came from someone else. Freshman Andre Brown ran for 248 yards and two touchdowns while Stone threw the go-ahead touchdown pass to lead the Wolfpack past Southern Mississippi 21-17, giving N.C. State its first home win against a Division I-A opponent in more than a year. Stone connected with Brian Clark with 5:08 left for the Wolfpack (3-4), helping N.C. State rally from a 14-point third-quarter deficit against the Golden Eagles (4-3). Brown came in as the third-string running back with just 28 offensive plays to his credit, but left Carter-Finley Stadium with the second-highest rushing total in school history. He finished just 3 yards shy of tying the record set by Ted Brown in 1977. ``I told him he's got three years to get it,'' coach Chuck Amato said. Brown carried the ball 32 times and became the first Wolfpack player to crack the 200-yard mark in seven years when he had a 61-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. All this from a player who had run for 42 yards on 13 carries this season behind Darrell Blackman and fellow freshman Toney Baker, who were listed 1-2 on the Wolfpack's crowded backfield depth chart. ``The coaches were just saying, 'Be patient, be patient,''' said Brown, who was The Associated Press state prep player of the year in 2003 after running for nearly 3,500 yards and 47 touchdowns as a senior at Rose High School in Greenville. ``We're all good backs. It just happened to be my turn this time.'' Brown broke loose for a 41-yard run early in the second quarter, finishing the first half with 96 yards on just 10 carries. He capped an 80-yard drive by spinning into the end zone from 8 yards out to make it 14-7 late in the third period. Two possessions later, Brown bounced off two tacklers near the line of scrimmage and sprinted to the right sideline for the 61-yard score that made it 17-14 with 13:14 left. ``That back of theirs was great, and we couldn't tackle him at all,'' Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower said. Still, Brown refused to make too much out of his big day, including when he was asked where he now stood on the depth chart. ``Probably still third,'' Brown said. ``I'm going to stay humble about it.'' Brown's performance and a stellar defensive effort helped offset a shaky debut for Stone and gave the Wolfpack its first home win against a I-A opponent since a 27-21 overtime victory against Wake Forest last October. The Wolfpack's only home win this year was a rout of I-AA Eastern Kentucky. Coming into the game, much of the attention was on Stone's promotion to starting quarterback after spending the past 1.5 seasons backing up Jay Davis. Stone became just the fourth starter for the program in the past nine years, with Davis starting the first 17 games of the post-Philip Rivers era. But Davis, a fifth-year senior, had battled inconsistency throughout his career, and the Wolfpack's offensive production had dropped significantly in the last four games. Amato decided to promote Stone after his two-TD day in last week's loss to Wake Forest. Stone went 1-for-9 with two interceptions to start the game, and Baker fumbled away Stone's 17-yard completion the second of four first-half turnovers. But Stone settled down, going 4-for-6 on the Wolfpack's first touchdown drive and finding Clark alone in the end zone for 3-yard go-ahead score. He finished 10-for-26 for 128 yards. ``The coaches made it clear to me that I wasn't going to have to look over my shoulder no matter what, so I went out there with that attitude and just kept playing,'' Stone said. Behind Brown and Stone, the Wolfpack finished with 425 total yards, its highest total since its 475-yard day against Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 17. The Wolfpack defense, however, was stout from the start. Mario Williams had four sacks, just part of N.C. State's constant harassment of Dustin Almond as the quarterback tried to find receivers downfield. Southern Miss came in averaging nearly 35 points per game, but had to work for every one of its 262 total yards. The Golden Eagles then committed their only turnover when Jasper Faulk muffed a punt with Southern Miss trailing 21-17 with 2:32 left. Larry Thomas ran for 60 yards and a score for the Golden Eagles, playing the second of four straight road games. (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)