The dry spell that ended with the rains on Friday night wasn’t the only drought that was broken this weekend. N.C. State, which entered Saturday night’s contest with Wofford carrying nine straight losses, finally broke its losing streak with a 38-17 victory against Wofford.
After the first win of his career with the Wolfpack, first-year coach Tom O’Brien said the team and the program were relieved to finally win their first game.
“They’re excited, and they’re happy. They got the 800-pound gorilla off their back,” O’Brien said. “I don’t even know if they knew how to celebrate once we got in the locker room.”
For the first time this season, State scored on its opening drive of the game. After receiving the opening kickoff, the Pack took 3:46 to march 74 yards down the field in a drive that culminated with a two-yard, Andre-Brown touchdown run.
Harrison Beck, who was 4-for-4 on the opening drive, said State came out with a different energy than it had in past weeks.
“The first drive worked well. They were giving us a good look on defense that we thought we could attack,” Beck said. “We completed some passes, and we ran the football well. We came out with energy; we came out with some life. We weren’t coming out in a coma. We came out and moved the football.”
While Beck completed 16 passes on 32 attempts for 113 yards, junior running back Andre Brown stole the spotlight as he rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 6.3 yards per carry. Fellow running back Jamelle Eugene said Brown’s performance was one of the best he’s seen.
State was also able to correct its turnover woes against the Terriers this weekend. The Pack entered the Wofford game next-to-last in the nation for turnover margin, averaging four more turnovers than its opponents on the season. Saturday, however, State didn’t have a single turnover until late in the fourth quarter, while it recovered three Wofford fumbles.
Beck, who threw five interceptions Sept. 8 against Boston College, said it was encouraging how the team was able to keep possession of the football.
“Obviously you just want to play smart football,” Beck said. “You want to cut down on the turnovers and some of the bad decisions, and I think that was accomplished tonight.”
