North Carolina State 19, Florida State 17
(AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. - Devan Boykin picked off Jordan Travis' pass in the end zone with 38 seconds left and No. 14 North Carolina State rallied past Florida State 19-17 despite losing quarterback Devin Leary to injury.
Boykin's clean catch in the end zone was the clinching play on a big - and gritty - performance by the Wolfpack's veteran defense after halftime. N.C. State (5-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) held Florida State (4-2, 2-2) to 93 yards after the break, helping the Wolfpack rally from a 17-3 halftime deficit.
Christopher Dunn also kicked four field goals, including a 53-yarder early in the fourth and the go-ahead 27-yard score with 6:33 left.
The Wolfpack needed every bit of it, too, considering how daunting things looked when Leary - the preseason league player of the year - went down late in the third. He was hit while trying to throw and suffered an injury to his right arm or shoulder, returning later to the sideline with his arm in a sling. That forced backup Jack Chambers into duty for an offense that was fighting for most of its gains even with Leary in the game.
Travis and the Seminoles found success before halftime with multiple chunk gains against the Wolfpack's touted defense, including a 71-yard keeper by Travis that set up a quick touchdown drive. But Travis threw interceptions on each of the Seminoles' last two drives, one into traffic near midfield with about 6 1/2 minutes left and the other when he lofted the ball for Mycah Pittman after the Seminoles had driven to the 23 needing a field goal for the lead.
THE TAKEAWAY
FSU: The Seminoles had managed their first 4-0 start since 2015 before falling at home to No. 15 Wake Forest last weekend. They looked ready to come back with an impressive win by pushing out to the 17-3 lead, only to sputter after halftime with their share of mistakes - including a bizarre one when punter Alex Mastromanno carried the ball past the line of scrimmage and kicked it away for a penalty that led to a spot turnover and set up one of Dunn's field goals.
N.C. State: A season of high expectations hit its first bump with last week's loss to No. 5 Clemson, which put the Wolfpack in catch-up mode in the Atlantic Division race behind the preseason ACC favorite. Losing Leary for any time won't help the Wolfpack's immediate goals to push for a 10-win season, though it was an impressive show of resilience to find a way to win this one.
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
FlaSt | NCSU |
| NCSU |
FG |
3:06 |
Christopher Dunn 38 yard field goal |
0 |
3 |
| Second Quarter |
FlaSt | NCSU |
| FlaSt |
TD |
11:29 |
Mycah Pittman 14 yard TD pass from Jordan Travis (Ryan Fitzgerald Extra Point) |
7 |
3 |
| FlaSt |
TD |
0:48 |
Lawrance Toafili 12 yard TD run (Ryan Fitzgerald Extra Point) |
14 |
3 |
| FlaSt |
FG |
0:00 |
Ryan Fitzgerald 47 yard field goal |
17 |
3 |
| Third Quarter |
FlaSt | NCSU |
| NCSU |
TD |
9:49 |
Darryl Jones 10 yard TD pass from Devin Leary (Christopher Dunn Extra Point) |
17 |
10 |
| NCSU |
FG |
0:57 |
Christopher Dunn 40 yard field goal |
17 |
13 |
| Fourth Quarter |
FlaSt | NCSU |
| NCSU |
FG |
12:07 |
Christopher Dunn 53 yard field goal |
17 |
16 |
| NCSU |
FG |
6:33 |
Christopher Dunn 27 yard field goal |
17 |
19 |
| Team Stats |
| |
Florida State |
North Carolina State |
| First downs |
15 |
16 |
| Rushing |
8 |
10 |
| Passing |
6 |
5 |
| Penalty |
1 |
1 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
5-13, 38% |
2-13, 15% |
| 4th down efficiency |
0-1, 0% |
0-1, 0% |
| Rushes-Yards |
28-206 |
46-182 |
| Passing Yards |
181 |
125 |
| Return Yards |
64 |
36 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
15-30-2 |
11-23-1 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
1-10 |
1-7 |
| Punts |
6 |
6 |
| Fumbles Lost |
0-0 |
0-0 |
| Penalties - Yards |
8-80 |
8-60 |
| Florida State Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| J. Travis |
15 |
30 |
181 |
1 |
2 |
| North Carolina State Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| D. Leary |
10 |
21 |
130 |
1 |
1 |
| J. Chambers |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| T. Thomas |
1 |
1 |
-5 |
0 |
0 |
| Florida State Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| J. Travis |
7 |
108 |
15.4 |
0 |
| T. Ward |
5 |
51 |
10.2 |
0 |
| T. Benson |
6 |
25 |
4.2 |
0 |
| L. Toafili |
10 |
22 |
2.2 |
1 |
| North Carolina State Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| J. Houston |
24 |
90 |
3.8 |
0 |
| J. Chambers |
7 |
39 |
5.6 |
0 |
| D. Sumo-Karngbaye |
8 |
37 |
4.6 |
0 |
| D. Mimms III |
3 |
21 |
7.0 |
0 |
| D. Jones II |
1 |
1 |
1.0 |
0 |
| D. Leary |
2 |
-1 |
-0.5 |
0 |
| Florida State Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| J. Wilson |
2 |
60 |
30.0 |
0 |
| O. Wilson |
4 |
57 |
14.3 |
0 |
| M. Pittman |
4 |
34 |
8.5 |
1 |
| L. Toafili |
3 |
24 |
8.0 |
0 |
| T. Benson |
2 |
6 |
3.0 |
0 |
| North Carolina State Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| J. Houston |
2 |
41 |
20.5 |
0 |
| K. Lesane |
1 |
25 |
25.0 |
0 |
| D. Carter |
1 |
23 |
23.0 |
0 |
| D. Jones |
2 |
19 |
9.5 |
1 |
| D. Sumo-Karngbaye |
3 |
18 |
6.0 |
0 |
| C. Seabrough |
1 |
4 |
4.0 |
0 |
| J. Chambers |
1 |
-5 |
-5.0 |
0 |
| Florida State Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| J. Robinson |
1 |
0 |
| North Carolina State Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| S. Battle |
1 |
5 |
| D. Boykin |
1 |
0 |
| Florida State Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| A. Mastromanno |
6 |
226 |
37.7 |
| North Carolina State Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| S. McDonough |
6 |
254 |
42.3 |
| Florida State Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| O. Wilson |
1 |
51 |
51.0 |
| North Carolina State Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| T. Thomas |
2 |
15 |
7.5 |
| Florida State Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| M. Pittman |
1 |
13 |
13.0 |
| North Carolina State Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| J. Gray |
1 |
16 |
16.0 |
| Florida State Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| North Carolina State Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
