NC State lost the battle of Atlantic attrition in a division showdown at Wake Forest
The last lingering flickers of hope died slowly, extinguished not in a blaze of glory but through grim, unstoppable attrition.
At the end of a game overflowing with strange turnovers, frequent injuries and all kinds of oddness, N.C. State’s chances to win the Atlantic Division were all but snuffed out, not by a turnover or some cruel twist of fate but in the most mundane manner possible, by a game-killing Wake Forest drive that lasted more than six minutes and was capped by the game-sealing touchdown.
And N.C. State’s inability to stop the Demon Deacons in that moment with the season hanging in the balance had a lot to do with a defense that was already without two of its best players and continues to get thinner, always a factor in college football 11 weeks into the season but one that has hit the Wolfpack where it really hurts this fall.
Wake Forest is having the dream season the Wolfpack thought lay before it when it finally surmounted the Clemson hurdle that has stood between N.C. State and the Atlantic title for so long. It’s the Deacons’ division to lose now, and while there’s still an unlikely scenario that offers N.C. State a back door to Charlotte, the front door slammed shut with a 45-42 loss Saturday night.
“It’s tough,” N.C. State quarterback Devin Leary said. “We knew what was at stake. We knew what we could accomplish. We just go back to work now. Not really much to it. We can’t go back and change anything, as much as we would like to. At this point we just have to control what we control. We’ve still got two games left. We just have to win these two and see where we land.”
This was the biggest game between N.C. State and Wake Forest in decades and the biggest N.C. State had played against anyone since 2010. The stakes were even higher that night at the end of the season in Maryland, chilly and breezy not unlike this one, with a trip to the title game guaranteed with a win.
Torrey Smith took care of Russell Wilson and the Wolfpack in that one 11 years ago. There was no such individual culprit Saturday; the Wake Forest offense was a comedy of errors at times, far below its usual high-octane standard. Sam Hartman was a subpar 20-for-47 passing and no Wake Forest back ran for more than 56 yards, but it was good enough to beat an N.C. State team that took 14 penalties and couldn’t get off the field on third down.
For all that, the Wolfpack was still mere feet away from having a chance to win or tie in the final minute. N.C. State answered Wake Forest’s marathon drive with a quick strike of its own, capped by Devin Carter’s second touchdown of the night. The Wolfpack recovered the onside kick, but it never traveled the full 10 yards.
So oceans rise, empires fall and N.C. State still can’t win in Winston-Salem, no matter what the stakes are. The Wolfpack has won only one of its past nine at Wake Forest, and this one will sting more than any of them.
“Winning the Atlantic is out of our control now,” N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said. “Some things can go in our favor, Wake losing some games, but all we can control is our next two home games. We still have a lot to play for but right now we’ve got some disappointed and upset coaches and players. It’s OK to feel that way, to feel that pain and that hurt tonight. We’ll get back to it tomorrow.”
Last week’s nonconference loss at North Carolina may have kicked the Deacons off the national stage but they remain very much in control in the ACC, now with the cushion to lose at Clemson or Boston College, if not both. N.C. State wins a three-way tiebreaker with Clemson and Wake Forest at 6-2, but that’s the Wolfpack’s only hope.
Clemson’s fall back to the pack left an opening for someone to break the Tigers’ six-year stranglehold on the division. Wake Forest went storming through it Saturday night, leaving N.C. State in the dark with what’s left of the hopes it once had.
