Second-half surge leads Louisville past NC State
N.C. State played its best half of the ACC season on Saturday night.
The Wolfpack took a modest lead over Louisville into the locker room and probably wishes it could have stayed there.
Louisville popped two big pass plays in the third quarter to overcome a slow start in a 34-20 road win over the Wolfpack.
Quarterback Micale Cunningham finished with four touchdown passes, three in the second half, to make the surprising Cardinals (6-4, 4-3 ACC) bowl eligible. The kicker also threw a touchdown pass, on a fake field goal in the fourth quarter, for good measure.
N.C. State (4-6, 1-5) will have to win its final two games (at Georgia Tech, North Carolina) to extend its bowl streak to six years. After three straight lopsided losses, the Wolfpack defense bowed up in the first half and limited Louisville to seven points and 136 yards.
“I thought we battled our butts off in the in first half,” N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said. “The third quarter was really bad and the fourth quarter was OK. The third quarter killed us.”
A 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Devin Leary to receiver Emeka Emezie and a 28-yard field goal from Chris Dunn gave the Wolfpack a 10-7 lead at the break. After trailing 21-0 and 28-0 after the first quarter in the past two weeks, respectively, the strong start defensively marked significant progress.
But it all unraveled in the third quarter. Cunningham hit a 74-yard touchdown pass to speed merchant Tutu Atwell on its first possession of the second half to take a 14-10 lead.
Then freshman receiver Keyon Lesane fumbled on N.C. State’s first possession of the third quarter and Cunningham dialed up a 42-yarder to tight end Marshon Ford for a 20-10 lead.
Cunningham’s 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ean Pfeifer at 4:44 in the third quarter gave the Cards a 27-10 advantage.
“We gave up some sacks early and just settled down in the second half,” Louisville coach Scott Satterfield said.
First down
Senior safety Jarius Morehead had a sack in the first half and finished with six tackles for N.C. State.
Touchdown
N.C. State led at the half for the first time since the Syracuse game (13-0) on Oct. 10.
Offsides
Turnovers are killing N.C. State. The Cardinals had three takeaways and N.C. State didn’t have any. N.C. State hasn’t caused a turnover in six ACC games and has a minus-14 turnover margin in league play.
“We can’t turn the ball over the way we are and have any hope of winning,” Doeren said.
ICYMI
Running back Ricky Person returned after missing four games with a foot injury. He caught a 16-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
Linebacker Payton Wilson (shoulder) did not dress but has not been ruled out for the season. Linebacker Louis Acceus missed his second straight game with a concussion.
Making sense of the numbers
2 Career touchdown catches for Louisville tight end Marshon Ford, a redshirt sophomore, before Saturday. He doubled his career total on Saturday.
This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 10:52 PM.
