In-game: N.C. State at Florida State

Russell Wilson and the N.C. State offense need to produce yet again.

Bert Reed ran 3 yards on an end around for a touchdown with 1:36 remaining to put Florida State back ahead 45-42.

N.C. State leads for the first time this afternoon.

After trailing by 10 points early in the fourth quarter, the Wolfpack leads Florida State 42-38 with 3:50 remaining after Russell Wilson scrambled and found Jarvis Williams for a 5-yard touchdown pass.

It was Williams' third touchdown catch and the fifth touchdown pass for Wilson. Those are career highs for both players. 

The obvious question was, how did he get so wide open?

Tight end George Bryan, N.C. State's leading receiver, didn't have a defender within 10 yards of him as he caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson. The Wolfpack cut Florida State's lead to 38-35 with 8:34 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Earlier. . .

For the first time this afternoon, somebody leads by double digits in Tallahassee.

Chris Thompson's 4-yard touchdown run extended Florida State's lead to 38-28 with 11:52 remaining in the fourth quarter. Despite a rib contusion and several hard hits from N.C. State defenders, Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder has stood in and directed his offense to another high-scoring game.

Earlier. . . 

If holding Florida State to a field goal can be called progress, N.C. State's defense made progress late in the third quarter.

Dustin Hopkins kicked a 24-yard field goal for the Seminoles after a holding penalty wiped out a gain to the N.C. State 1-yard line. Florida State leads 31-28 with one minute remaining in the third quarter.

Earlier. . . 

N.C. State's offense remains hot.

Russell Wilson passed 32 yards to a wide-open Darrell Davis to convert a third-and-11. On the next play, Jarvis Williams caught his second touchdown pass of the game, a 6-yarder.

Florida State and N.C. State are tied 28-28 with 7:42 remaining in the third quarter. 

Earlier. . .

After a, replay review overturned an N.C. State fumble recovery at the Wolfpack 22, Christian Ponder nudged Florida State back into the lead with 10:34 remaining in the third quarter in Tallahassee.

With defensive end Willie Young closing in quickly Ponder tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Rod Owen for a 28-21 advantage.

N.C. State's Earl Wolff had recovered a fumble, but the officials ruled that Ponder was down on the play.

Earlier. . . 

Key halftime stats with N.C. State and Florida State tied 21-21 at halftime:

For N.C. State, Russell Wilson is 9-for-15 with an interception and two touchdown passes and 228 passing yards. Owen Spencer has two catches for 141 yards and a score.

Florida State's Jermaine Thomas carried eight times for 127 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Christian Ponder is 11-for-18 for 136 yards and had his streak of passes without an interception snapped at 254 when Terrell Manning picked him off in the final minute of the second quarter.

Earlier. . .  

After a Terrell Manning interception gave N.C. State the ball at the Florida State 46-yard line, some atrocious clock management by Wolfpack coach Tom O'Brien prevented the Wolfpack from having a chance to tie the game in the closing minute of the second quarter.

Russell Wilson completed an 8-yard pass to Donald Bowens with about 30 seconds remaining in the half and the clock running. Although N.C. State had all three timeouts left, O'Brien didn't call one.

About 20 seconds elapsed off the clock. The Wolfpack was called for an illegal shift. And Wilson threw a desperation pass that was intercepted on the final play of the half.

The score is tied 21-21 at halftime, with Florida State set to get the second-half kickoff. O'Brien (who called a timeout after the illegal shift penalty) never got a chance to use two of his first-half timeouts because of the way he bungled his clock management. 

N.C. State's defense, which had given up three straight touchdown drives, finally held when Christian Ponder threw incomplete behind his receiver.

Russell Wilson immediately hit Owen Spencer for a 61-yard pass to the Florida State 19, and passed 7 yards to Jarvis Williams for a touchdown to tie the score at 21-21 with 1:29 remaining in the second quarter.

Spencer has two catches for 141 yards.

Earlier. . . 

After five straight possessions with touchdowns in the game, Florida State's defense has forced N.C. State to punt.

With 6:22 remaining in the second quarter, the Seminoles have the ball and a 21-14 lead. That's not good for a Wolfpack defense that's struggling.

Earlier. . . 

Less than a minute after N.C. State tied the game, its defense gave the lead back to Florida State.

Jermaine Thomas raced 54 yards for a Florida State touchdown; he has seven carries for 105 yards and two touchdowns. The teams have combined for five TDs in 6:06.

Florida State leads 21-14 with 9:48 remaining in the second quarter.  

Earlier...

Woody Hayes, he of the three yards and a cloud of dust, would be physically ill watching this game.

It's entertaining, though, if you like lots of offense. A 27-yard Russell Wilson pass to Donald Bowens sparked N.C. State on a 76-yard touchdown drive. Jamelle Eugene scored on a 3-yard run to tie the score at 14-14 with 10:33 remaining in the second quarter.

Earlier. . . 

Christian Ponder and Florida State's offense are making it look like it's easy to score against N.C. State's defense.

Which, looking back at the Wolfpack's last three ACC games, it probably is. After N.C. State tied the score with an 80-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to Owen Spencer, Ponder zipped a 47-yard pass to Taiwan Easterling.

Three plays later, Chris Thompson scored on a 6-yard run. If you're keeping score at home, that's two Florida State touchdowns (and another by N.C. State) in 88 seconds.

Seminoles lead, 14-7, with 14:27 remaining int he second quarter. 

It took N.C. State just 14 seconds to equal Florida State's opening touchdown.

Russell Wilson threw 80 yards to Owen Spencer on a career-long play for both players as the Wolfpack tied the score at 7-7 with 40 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Scoring quickly is obviously a good thing for the Wolfpack, except for the fact that it will put the defense right back on the field.

Earlier. . .

Florida State went 98 yards against North Carolina in one play last week.

This afternoon, the Seminoles capped a 98-yard drive that took almost six minutes with a 4-yard touchdown run by Jermaine Thomas. Florida State leads 7-0 with 54 seconds remaining in the first quarter. 

Earlier. . . 

Midway through the first quarter, the high-scoring game some predicted at Florida State hasn't materialized.

N.C. State has failed to score on its first two drives, as a sack of Russell Wilson by Everett Dawkins drove the Wolfpack out of field goal range on its second drive. But Florida State also was forced to punt on its opening drive.

With 6;42 left in the first quarter, there's no score and the Seminoles are pinned on their own 2-yard line. But don't forget, they threw a 98-yard touchdown pass in their last game to spark a comeback win over North Carolina. 

Update on offensive guard R.J. Mattes. He's out for the game with a knee sprain. 

Earlier. . . 

N.C. State got off to a rough start on its first drive.

Clem Johnson, who's returning kickoffs because of an injury to T.J. Graham, brought the ball out of the end zone when he shouldn't have and returned just 13 yards.

Donald Bowens dropped a third-down pass that forced a punt, and offensive guard R.J. Mattes left the field with an injury.

Earlier... 

Coach Tom O'Brien and defensive coordinator Mike Archer haven't stopped tinkering with an N.C. State defense that has given up a total of 131 points in its three ACC losses.

The Wolfpack emerged from last week's open date with personnel changes in the secondary and at linebacker. Bobby Floyd has moved from safety to the backup position behind Audie Cole at field linebacker for today's game at Florida State.

Freshman Brandan Bishop is back in the starting lineup at field safety. And freshman Jarvis Byrd, a highly recruited cornerback who had been eligible for a redshirt, comes out of the open date likely to play with five games remaining.

Byrd is a backup to C.J. Wilson at boundary cornerback, the position where freshman starter Rashard Smith was lost for the season after suffering a knee injury in the Wolfpack's last game, at Boston College.

As announced previously, N.C. State also has a new starter at middle linebacker because senior Ray Michel is out with an injury. Dwayne Maddox moves from boundary linebacker to the middle, and Terrell Manning will start on the boundary.

Earlier... 

The showers that were in the forecast have held off so far in Tallahassee, Fla., as N.C. State prepares to play Florida State under mostly cloudy skies.

Stay tuned to ACCNow for in-game updates.