As the Seminoles stormed onto the field amidst fireworks and Chief Osceola’s flaming spear, a late-arriving Doak Campbell Stadium crowd barely had time to acknowledge the Pack as they quietly ran out of a small, narrow tunnel in the corner of the east end zone.

It wouldn’t be the last time State went virtually unnoticed.

Failing to score during a conference road game for the first time since a 31-0 defeat at Virginia in Oct. of 1990, N.C. State (4-4, 1-3) was obliterated by Florida State (5-3, 3-2 ACC), 34-0, on Saturday afternoon. Out of the Wolfpack’s 13 offensive possessions, seven did not include a single first down.

FSU led 24-0 at half time on the strength of two rushing touchdowns, an E.J. Manuel touchdown pass to Kenny Shaw and a Dustin Hopkins field goal. Manuel tacked on a second half touchdown pass shortly after Hopkins hit his second field goal of the day.

Due mostly to a combined 65 rushing attempts and a lop-sided score for the majority of play, the contest was one of the first games to finish up during a hectic afternoon of college football.

For coach Tom O’Brien, the shutout loss comes one week before State hosts UNC for a 12:30 p.m. rivalry game at Carter-Finley Stadium. NCSU must win three out of the remaining four games to reach a postseason bowl.

“We didn’t play very well today,” O’Brien said. “And when you don’t play well against a team of this caliber, it ends up the way it ended up today. Certainly we have to learn from this and get back on the practice field and get ready to play the month of