NC State defeats Georgia Tech to complete a remarkable turnaround
N.C. State sure does like to make things interesting.
The Wolfpack won its fourth-straight game but kept fans on the edge of their seats as they beat Georgia Tech, 23-13, to end the 2020 regular season.
With the win, N.C. State finishes a unique 2020 season with eight wins, seven of those against ACC opponents.
Georgia Tech (3-6, 3-5) hadn’t dropped a game in Raleigh since the 2000 season and almost rushed their way to a sixth straight win in Carter-Finley Stadium. The Wolfpack defense, though, came up with a stop on fourth down, the third of the game, to secure a win on Senior Day.
Junior kicker Christopher Dunn connected on three field goals, breaking the school record for made field goals (56). His fourth-quarter field goal from 39-yards away (the record breaker) were the first points of the second half for N.C. State.
Georgia Tech scored six unanswered points on kicker Gavin Stewart’s field goals to make it a one-score game, 20-13, with 11:32 remaining. But the Pack killed enough time and ended the game-clinching drive with Dunn’s third kick of the day, securing a winning season after 2019’s forgettable 4-8 finish.
Redshirt junior quarterback Bailey Hockman completed 23 of 35 passes for 309 yards and redshirt sophomore linebacker Payton Wilson led the defense with 11 tackles as the Wolfpack now awaits their bowl game destination.
N.C. State went scoreless in the third quarter and Georgia Tech pulled to within 10 thanks to a pair of Stewart field goals, one in the third from 26-yards out and a second from 22 on the first drive of the fourth.
Georgia Tech became the first team to rush for more than 200 yards against the Wolfpack since their 48-21 loss to UNC on Oct. 24. The Yellow Jackets came into the game averaging 193.6 yards on the ground, fifth in the ACC. N.C. State came into the game 0-2 against two of those teams (Virginia Tech, UNC) in the top five.
A touchdown each from junior running back Ricky Person and sophomore running back Bam Knight, plus a pair of Dunn field goals gave the Wolfpack a 20-7 lead at the half. The defense deserves credit for twice coming up with stops on fourth down in the second quarter.
The first stop led to a score. Wilson and junior safety Tanner Ingle stopped Yellow Jackets’ running back Jordan Mason for no gain on fourth and two from the Wolfpack 34.
N.C. State answered with an eight-play, 62 yard drive that ended Dunn’s second field goal of the night, this one covering 20 yards. The drive looked like it had the potential to end with a touchdown thanks to Hockman’s 36-yard strike to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Devin Carter. Georgia Tech’s defense kept the Wolfpack out of the end zone, but not from getting any points.
The Yellow Jackets looked like they were threatening to cut into the lead, using chunk plays to move into N.C. State territory, but on fourth and six from the 17, Jeff Sims found tight end Dylan Deveney but was short of the goal line.
The Wolfpack jumped ahead 3-0 after Dunn’s 40-yard field goal, the lone score of the first quarter. N.C. State scored on its first play of the second quarter, a 20-yard run by Person and answered a 34-yard touchdown run by Sims, with a Knight touchdown run from five yards out to go up 17-7.
This story was originally published December 5, 2020 at 4:10 PM.
