The Wolfpacker

January 2013

The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports

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Forest game Nov. 10 in Raleigh. He took the opening kickoff of the second half with both feet in the end zone and raced the entire length of the field for a touchdown, giving NCSU a 24-6 lead before many of the Wolfpack faithful had returned from their halftime tailgating. Best Team Performance: With NC State coming off back-to-back losses to lose control of its destiny in the ACC Atlantic Division race, morale could have been understandably low going into the Wake Forest game. Instead, NCSU delivered its most complete performance of the season. The Pack outgained the Deacons 428-185 and had decisive advantages in first downs (26-9), rushing yards (170-16) and time of possession (36:14-23:46). Best Performance By An Opponent, Offense: Boyd, who was voted the ACC Player of the Year at the end of the regular season, showed against NC State why many considered him to be the top performer in the league. He completed 30 of 44 passes for 493 yards with five touchdowns and two picks, and ran 18 times for 103 yards and three scores. That's eight touchdowns for Boyd in just one game. Best Performance By An Opponent, Defense: To say that NC State struggled to block Connecticut senior defensive end Trevardo Williams when the two teams met Sept. 8 in East Hartford, Conn., is an understatement. Williams finished the game with five stops, three tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, and had countless quarterback hurries as well during a defensive struggle that NC State won 10-7. Williams finished the 2012 season with 11.5 sacks for the year and 30.5 hits on the quarterbacks for his career, which is a Connecticut record and would best Mario Williams' NC State record for career sacks by five. Best Performance By An Opponent, Special Teams: By and large NC State did an effective job covering kicks all season, but there was one glaring omission that will forever live in the lore of the Tar HeelsWolfpack rivalry. With the game tied 35-35, UNC redshirt sophomore tailback Giovani Bernard fielded NC State sophomore Wil Baumann's punt at the UNC 26, raced to his right, turned the corner and sprinted down the sideline for an improbable gamewinning punt return for a touchdown with 13 seconds left in the contest. Most Disappointing Team Performance: Perhaps it was the hangover of the emotional loss to North Carolina the week before or the noon kickoff start time or maybe something else. Whatever the reason, NCSU did not show up when the squad hosted Virginia for homecoming Nov. 3. In what was the Pack's first home game in al- The Wolfpack's uniforms for the UNC game (shown here as worn by redshirt sophomore running back Tony Creecy) may have been the team's sharpest look of the season. photo by ken martin most a full month, the Pack was outgained 446-216 in total yards and fell 33-6 for the most lopsided loss of the year, falling to a team that would finish the season just 5-7 overall and 2-6 in the ACC. Luckiest Break: The reason that Sade was able to claim the game winner against Maryland was because Terrapins freshman kicker Brad Craddock could not. The Terps drove to the NCSU 25 to set up a 33-yard field goal with two seconds left. That kick from Craddock, though, started going left as it approached the goal posts, careened off the left upright and fell harmlessly no good, preserving NC State's 20-18 win. Unluckiest Break: Against Miami, seemingly nothing could stop NC State's offense, except its own mistakes. It happened that way with the score tied 37-37 and 48 seconds left when Glennon and Palmer had a miscommunication at the most inopportune time. Palmer cut off the route just when Glennon was letting a long pass fly. The result was almost a punt-like throw that was picked off by Miami sophomore defensive back Tim Finnie, setting up the Canes' game-winning 62-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Stephen Morris to sophomore wide receiver Philip Dorsett with just 19 seconds left. Best Uniform Combination: NC State joined the collegiate trend of diversifying its uniforms throughout the seasons, even breaking out black pants for the Virginia contest. The best combination, however, was probably for the rivalry game at UNC. NC State, for the first time since reintroducing the red helmet last year, went with the red helmets, white jerseys and red pants. ■ 38  ■  the wolfpacker 34,36,38.FB Year In Review.indd 38 12/11/12 2:37 PM

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