Devin Leary leads NC State to last-minute win over Pitt

N.C. State needed an unlikely drive against a stingy defense and that’s what it got.

The Wolfpack pulled out a 30-29 victory against No. 24 Pittsburgh on Devin Leary’s 13-yard pass to Emeka Emezie with 23 seconds remaining Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

Even that didn’t go precisely as designed.

“That wasn’t even supposed to be the play, really,” Emezie said.

There were no complaints from the Wolfpack.

“It says a lot about the toughness, the grit of these kids,” coach Dave Doeren said. “I think the togetherness of this team. I think a lot of people wanted to throw them in the trash can after last week. … When it counted, they stood up. They made a lot of key plays in key moments.”

After the N.C. State defense couldn’t turn in another goal-line stand in the final two minutes, the Wolfpack came up with the next-best thing.

Trailing 29-23 and beginning at its own 20-yard line, the Wolfpack needed to go 80 yards with 1:38 left without the benefit of a timeout. A fourth-and-9 pass to Thayer Thomas gained 14 yards and moved to the Pittsburgh 23.

“It’s do or die at that point,” Leary said. “You have to make the play. All the eyes are on me. The ball is in my hands. You have to make a play.”

Then a pass interference penalty aided the cause before the winning throw from Leary, who was making his first start of the year.

Because of his preseason quarantine, there was a delay in launching his season until the second half a week earlier at Virginia Tech.

“It has given him time to get back where he needed to be,” Doeren said. “I think you got a good glimpse of what he is.”

Leary was 28-for-44 for 336 yards with four touchdown throws. And now he has a defining moment.

“We knew coming onto the field we didn’t have any timeouts,” Leary said. “It’s just something we practice every single week.”

Emezie, a senior receiver, had difficulty getting untracked this season, but that didn’t matter Saturday as he made two touchdown grabs and finished with 101 yards on seven catches. The last reception came as he was diving on the left side of the end zone, barely staying in bounds.

“I thought I could help the team a little bit more. I felt it wasn’t paying off, all the hard work I did in the offseason,” Emezie said. “When the opportunity came, I was blessed to make the catch.”

Doeren said it was a fitting contribution.

“It was awesome of Emeka,” he said. “I’m really happy for Emeka to make that play. He earned it by continuing to work hard.”

Leary’s 25-yard touchdown strike to tight end Cary Angeline allowed N.C. State to take a 24-23 lead with 8:16 to play. It came three plays after a third-down roughing-the-passer penalty against Pittsburgh prolonged the possession.

The scoring play marked the first second-half touchdown allowed by the Panthers this season — and then the Wolfpack needed one more and got that, too.

Earlier, Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett’s second touchdown run of the game from 1 yard out gave the Panthers the lead at the 1:44 mark.

For the most part, N.C. State (2-1, 2-1 ACC) matched Pittsburgh (3-1, 2-1) in many categories that the Panthers tend to excel. Pittsburgh was attempting to post its first 4-0 start in 20 years.

N.C. State allowed more than 40 points in each of its first two games. Against Pittsburgh, there were long stretches when the defense rose to the occasions.

The Wolfpack defense made 10 tackles for loss, with 11 different players involved in those stops.

“We knew we had to come out and put our brand of football on display,” linebacker Drake Thomas said. “… (This outcome) just proves to us we (can do it).”

Yet there were factors that didn’t line up as a winning formula for the Wolfpack. One of those was N.C. State’s tempered production from its ground attack, producing 62 rushing yards.

The defense came through in key moments. The Panthers moved 80 yards to the N.C. State 1 and were denied on four consecutive plays in the third quarter.

The next time Pittsburgh reached Wolfpack territory it converted the drive into points on Pickett’s 1-yard run with 1:11 to go in the third quarter.

Alex Kessman’s 42-yard field goal stretched Pittsburgh’s lead to 23-17 with 10:52 remaining.

Much of the damage inflicted by Pittsburgh was incurred by receiver DJ Turner, a transfer from Maryland. He racked up 186 receiving yards, many coming after Panthers freshman standout Jordan Addison departed with a first-half injury, on eight catches.

Given some of the first-half developments — the game’s opening possession aside — the Wolfpack could have built a larger advantage based on many of the numbers.

Pittsburgh scored on the game’s second snap, with Addison left alone to haul in what became a 75-yard pass play from Pickett. There wasn’t a defender within 20 yards of Addison when he caught the ball.

N.C. State had a different approach with a matching touchdown on its first possession. A 17-play drive, aided by three Pittsburgh penalties, tested Leary’s command of the playbook with an array of plays called. It ended with his 6-yard pass to Angeline in the center of the end zone.

The Wolfpack took its first lead at 10-7 on Christopher Dunn’s 39-yard field goal later in the first quarter. Leary’s 35-yard pass to Emezie stretched the margin to 17-7.

Nearing the midway mark of the second quarter, Leary had competed 13 passes — spread out among nine teammates as targets — compared to Pickett’s one. The Wolfpack held a 16-2 edge in first downs.

Wolfpack safety Jakeen Harris returned an interception 86 yards for a would-be touchdown that could have provided a 17-point lead. That was wiped out by Josh Pierre-Louis’ targeting penalty (and subsequent ejection) for a hit on Pickett.

Kessman’s 27- and 29-yard field goals in the last five minutes of the half closed the gap to 17-13. The Panthers were hampered by 10 first-half penalties that cost them 90 yards.

This story was originally published October 3, 2020 at 4:01 PM.