CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina -- North Carolina State
hasn't been this good since Chuck Amato was a player.
T.A. McLendon rushed for 164 yards and two touchdowns as the
11th-ranked Wolfpack exploded in the second half and matched
their best start in 35 years with a 34-17 Atlantic Coast
Conference victory over intrastate rival North Carolina.
Sparked by their freshman running back, who was wearing a cast
on his right wrist, the Wolfpack (7-0, 2-0 ACC) are off to their
best start since also winning their first seven games in 1967.
Wolfpack coach Amato was a player on that squad.
"Every time you guys write anything good or bad about NC State
we love it," Amato said. "We absolutely love it to death because
that means we are appealing to you."
The Wolfpack had to work to reamain unbeaten as they trailed
17-7 early in the third quarter before reeling off the game's
final 27 points.
"The first half we did not make plays," Amato said. "We couldn't
put them down. There were times where we would intercept
passes, we dropped a touchdown pass and underthrew another
possible touchdown pass. We went in a looked at the halftime
stats and said that this is last year's team all over again.
"In the second half we had to make plays, and we kicked the ball
off and they went right down the field to go up 17-7. Then we
got cranked up defensively."
Philip Rivers scored on a one-yard run with 7:33 left in the
third and, after a turnover, McLendon scored on a four-yard rush
24 seconds later to give North Carolina State the lead for
good.
Phillip Rivers completed 16-of-25 passes for 170 yards.
Darian Durant passed for two touchdowns for North Carolina (2-4,
0-2), which still leads the all-time series, 60-26-6.
"It was a tale of two halves," North Carolina coach John Bunting
said. "We really missed out on a great opportunity here. You
have to give State credit, they came back and played a great
second half and we did not."
Trying to hand their rivals their first loss, the Tar Heels
looked to be on their way when Durant threw a five-yard
touchdown pass to James Faison with 10:04 left in the third
quarter for a 17-7 lead.
But behind the nation's top-rated passer, the Wolfpack began to
rally. Phillip Rivers quickly led a six-play, 70-yard drive that he
capped with a one-yard TD run with 7:33 left, pulling the
Wolfpack within 17-13. The extra point was blocked.
On the ensuing possession, NC State showed it could play some
defense when Durant lost a fumble deep inside his own territory.
McLendon ran around right end for a one-yard TD on the next
play, giving the Wolfpack a 20-17 lead with 7:09 left in the
third quarter.
Phillip Rivers provided some more breathing room early fourth as he led
a 10-play, 79-yard drive. He found Bryan Peterson in the right
flat for a 12-yard touchdown less than two minutes into the
fourth.
Joshn Brown scored on a 10-yard run with 4:43 to play to give
the Wolfpack the final margin.
other North Carolina State Wolfpack NCAA college football DVDs
other North Carolina Tar Heels NCAA college football DVDs
NFL football DVDs /
NCAA college football DVDs /
NBA basketball DVDs /
Major League Baseball DVDs /
NFL Europe DVDs /
XFL football DVDs /
Super Bowl DVDs /
NFL draft DVDs /
Canadian football CFL DVDs /
USFL football DVDs /
Arena football AFL DVDs /
World Leage WLAF football DVDs /
Japanese baseball DVDs /
NCAA college basketball DVDs /
NHL hockey DVDs /
Olympics hockey DVDs /
other DVDs /
contact
the sale of sports telecasts is illegal and not condoned