Florida State’s hopes of competing for a national championship came to a shocking end Saturday.
North Carolina State made an improbable turnaround, outscoring the No. 3 Seminoles by 17 points in the second half to pull out a 17-16 victory before an electric crowd of 54,962 at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Mike Glennon hit Bryan Underwood from 3 yards out on fourth down with 16 second to play to complete the comeback. The winning drive started when Cason Beatty’s punt on fourth down from the FSU 33 was blocked and rolled out of bounds at the Seminoles’ 43.
“We let one slip away from us,” FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. “Games like that, it’s always shoulda, coulda, woulda. They are inches and you have to execute. We had plenty of chances to win the ballgame. We did not get it done. I take the blame right here. We got to fix it. We got to move on.”
Glennon completed two previous fourth-down passes on the drive, converting a fourth-and-2 from 35 and a fourth-and-10 from the 14. Glennon was just 3-of-10 on the series, all three coming on fourth down. He finished the game 30 of 55 for 259 yards and two touchdowns.
“They started getting what they can on us and started driving the ball down the field,” FSU linebacker Christian Jones said about the second half. “It was hard seeing them convert those fourth downs.”
The Wolfpack totaled 325 yards, 257 in the second half.
The comeback featured several big plays for the Wolfpack but the most disturbing for Fisher was the second blocked punt in as many weeks against FSU.
“Nobody gets punts blocked anymore,” Fisher said. “We have got to get that fixed.”
The loss drops Florida State to 5-1 overall, 2-1 in the ACC, marking the fourth time FSU has won its first five games and dropped its sixth since the 1999 season. FSU is used to heartbreaking losses at North Carolina State. The Seminoles are 3-5 in their last eight games in Raleigh.
The Seminoles could drop out of the top 10 in the polls.
“I’ve been through this before,” quarterback EJ Manuel said. “I understand it happens. You can’t allow it to become a snowball effect, one loss turns into two, two losses into three. You got to stop it.”
Florida State appeared in control, leading 16-0 at halftime before North Carolina State (4-2, 1-1) suddenly resembled the team many believed it would be at the start of the season.
The Wolfpack rebounded one week after a demoralizing 44-37 loss at Miami.
Florida State had the ball six times in the second half, including the final four plays that ended with Manuel’s desperation heave on the game’s final play.
The first five series ended with four punts and a Manuel interception, which came one play after he missed a wide-open Nick O’Leary, the tight end from Dwyer High.
Manuel finished 17 of 29 for 218 yards, one touchdown to O’Leary, and an interception. He was sacked four times.
Although the Seminoles had the lead at the half, they had to settle for three field goals, including one when they had a first down on the 6.
The most damaging sack came early in the fourth quarter when Manuel was dropped for a 15-yard loss to the 34, taking FSU out of field-goal position.
Fisher opted to punt instead of attempt a 52-yard field goal that could have meant the different.
“It would have been a 52-yarder, that’s why I didn’t,” Fisher said. “I felt if we punted them down and pinned them, we could hold them and get it back. I didn’t think it was a risk.”
Fisher said in hindsight he should have run the ball on third-and-2 from the 19.
The short-yardage offense continues to be a concern. Aside from stalling inside the 10 in the first half, FSU failed to extend its first drive of the second half after having a second-and-1.
The Seminoles ended with 343 yards one week after Miami gashed NC State for 651 yards.
O’Leary’s 4-yard grab that gave FSU a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter was his first touchdown of the season and second of his career.
Florida State relied heavily on Chris Thompson who was the only running back to carry the ball in the first half. He had 141 yards on 25 carries, 115 coming in the first half.
NC State’s offense came alive in the second half. After a 27-yard Niklas Sade field goal capped its first series of the half, Glennon hit Shadrach Thornton for a 24 yard touchdown with 13:47 to play to in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to 16-10.
Glennon had success in the second half by going underneath to move the chains. He threw for just 41 yards in the first half.
“They switched it up,” defensive tackle Everett Dawkins said. “They ran the ball less, started him with crossing routes, quick passes.”
NC State had six possessions in the first half (not including the final play of the half). The Wolfpack punted five times and Terrance Brooks picked off Glennon on the other.
The Wolfpack’s deepest penetration in the half was to the 44, a drive that ended with Brooks’ interception.
FSU got on the board with 6:34 remaining in the first quarter on Dustin Hopkins’ season-long 49 yard field goal, a drive that stalled when Manuel threw behind a wide open Kelvin Benjamin.
The Seminoles then put together an 11-play drive that concluded with O’Leary’s touchdown. The drive, though, featured Thompson, who had 48 yards rushing and a 25-yard reception on the drive.
Florida State, though, could not find any consistency. Manuel was sacked twice and guard Josue Matias was called for holding as FSU went a three-and-out and the Seminoles had to settle for two more Hopkins field goals on its next two series to take a 16-0 lead into the locker room.
On the first drive, FSU once again stalled in the red zone after a first-and-goal from the 6. FSU got to the 2 before settling for the field goal.
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