Pack routs Heels, 41-10

Staff photo by Ethan Hyman

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CHAPEL HILL — Where's John Bunting when you need him?

Butch Davis has brought UNC back to a bowl and into the national rankings but the second-year coach is 0-2 against rival N.C. State after Saturday's 41-10 romp by the Wolfpack.

N.C. State forced six turnovers and scored two touchdowns in a 14-second span in the third quarter to break the game open and claim what former UNC coach Mack Brown called the "state championship" with a clean sweep of UNC, ECU, Duke and Wake Forest.

Bunting owned N.C. State, winning his last three games against the Wolfpack, but the series has changed with Tom O'Brien at N.C. State.

O'Brien's 6-1 against in-state opponents and is the first N.C. State coach to win his first two games against the Tar Heels (7-4).

"We're the best football program in the state," O'Brien said. "Without question. We are the state university and we expect to be here."

With three straight wins, State (5-6) is one win away from a bowl game after a 2-6 start.

The game turned at the end of the third quarter. 

After Andre Brown's 2-yard touchdown at 1:28 in the third quarter, J.C. Neal stripped UNC's Robert Quinn on the ensuing kickoff and the Wolfpack got the ball on its own 21.

Russell Wilson's second touchdown pass, a 21-yarder to Owen Spencer — who had dropped two potential touchdowns — caught this one on a precise post route through the guts of UNC's defense.

UNC briefly pushed back at N.C. State with Ryan Houston fulfilling his role as the touchdown vulture, punching it in from 5-yard out for the Heels' first TD of the game and make it 17-10.

But six turnovers, three in each half, halted UNC's charge to the Coastal Division title. The loss eliminates the Heels from the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 6.

UNC turned the ball over three times in the first half, which State could only turn into three points.

Yates making his first start since Sept. 20 was rusty in the first
half, throwing a late pick to defensive end Willie Young on a screen pass. Yates went 6 of 13 for 71 yards in the first half.

A drop in the end zone by Spencer, on the first play after Young's interception, was State's best chance to score before the end of the half.

Normally reliable running back Shaun Draughn fumbled on each of UNC's first two possessions.

Josh Czajkowski's 39-yard field goal at 8:12 in the first quarter put the Wolfpack in front of the 25th-ranked Tar Heels.

Draughn fumbled at State's 47-yard line on the first possession but Czajkowski missed a 39-yard field goal.

Draughn fumbled again, at UNC's 23, but State's offense couldn't find the end zone. Its best chance came on first down but Wilson underthrew Jamelle Eugene at the goal line.

State led 10-0 after it manufactured a 97-yard touchdown drive, with 55 coming on a pass from Russell Wilson to Jarvis Williams.

Wilson's 17-yard pass to Bryan capped the drive for the game's first touchdown.

Casey Barth kicked a 37-yard field goal at 8:47 in the second quarter to get the Heels on the scoreboard.

Jamelle Eugene's 1-yard touchdown run extended State's halftime lead to to 17-3 at 9:53 in the third quarter.

T.J. Yates 27-yard pass to Greg Little moved UNC into Wolfpack territory and answered State's previous scoring drive.

That was the bright spot for Yates, who had missed five games with a broken bone in his right ankle. He was pulled in the fourth quarter for Cam Sexton, who had started the previous six game before Davis made the switch after last week's 17-15 loss to Maryland.

The ending was a stark contrast to State's last trip to Chapel Hill in 2006. After UNC's 23-9 win, in what turned out to be the last between Bunting and Chuck Amato, Bunting got a Gatorade bath and big kiss from Barrington Edwards.

Kenan Stadium emptied, for all but the pockets of red that filled the stadium with chants of "Wolf" and "Pack."