Start with the plaudits. Down 24-21 and on 4th and inches, Tom O’Brien called time out, called back his field goal unit, and went for the go-ahead score with 2:44 left in the game. Russell Wilson threw at TD to George Bryan, NC State took the lead, and then set up the drama of the final two minutes by insisting on making Florida State score a TD to win. “Who dares wins” is proven again by NC State.
Christian Ponder’s Fumble Seals 28-24 Victory For NC State
Now to the demerits. NC State’s combustible secondary went up in flames as Ponder and the Seminole offense drove from the FSU 29 to the NC State 3 in just a minute and forty seconds. This would have mattered if Christian Ponder hadn’t made the single biggest mental error we’ve seen a quarterback make under pressure this year, a fumble at the three that the Wolfpack recovered to run out the clock. Agony doesn’t begin to describe Ponder afterwards, but this picture starts to come close.
NC State now gets a game up in the Atlantic division standings on Florida State, and claims the best conference position of the Tom O’Brien era.
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