Wolfpack stuns No. 15 Pirates in OT

Staff photo by Ethan Hyman

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RALEIGH — Take that, Pirates.

N.C. State knocked off No. 15 ECU, 30-24 in overtime on Saturday spoiling ECU's strong start and dreams of a BCS bowl.

Andre Brown's 10-yard touchdown run in overtime capped the Wolfpack's comeback and charged life into a program in need of hope after a poor start to the season.

Shea McKeen sacked ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney and forced a fumble on ECU's only possession of overtime.

Two long runs by Brown and State had its upset in overtime.

Russell Wilson threw three touchdowns passes, the final one with 1:12 left in regulation to give State its second straight win over the Pirates.

Wilson's third touchdown pass, a 5-yarder to tight end George Bryan, tied the game at 24.

N.C. State (2-2) overcome two pivotal turnovers, both by quarterback Harrison Beck.

Wilson hit Bryan over the middle for an apparent touchdown. The umpire ruled the pass incomplete, the line judge ruled it a catch. 

Replay confirmed the line judge's call — Bryan trapped the ball against his knee, not the ground — to give State the touchdown.

ECUs first touchdown came on a 23-yard interception return by Van Eskridge off a pass from Beck.

Patrick Pinkney's 39-yard touchdown pass to Davon Drew was the Pirates' first offensive score. Norman Whitley's 42-yard touchdown run put ECU back in front, 21-14.

A 41-yard field goay by Josh Czajkowski cut ECU's lead to 21-17 at 1:10 in the third. 

ECU had a chance to extend its lead with first-and-goal from the 4-yard line. State's defense held on four tries, the last, a big hit by Robbie Leonard on ECU running back Brandon Simmons.

Curious decision by ECU coach Skip Holtz with a four-point lead to go for the TD, instead of the short field goal and a seven-point lead.

With a second chance, Holtz went for the short field goal, a  21-yarder by Ben Ryan at 4:27 to give ECU a 24-17 lead.

State's offense showed life for the first time this season under Wilson. His four-yard touchdown pass to Andre Brown tied the game at 7 at 14:53 in the second quarter.

But O'Brien turned to Beck early in the game in passing situations. Beck, who led State to its only win of the season, on third down on the first two possessions of the game.

On the second possession, Beck threw the ball behind Jay Smith and it tipped off Smith's hands to Eskridge, who returned it 23 yards.

Wilson led State's scoring drive, set up by a bad punt, with
completions to the returning Jamelle Eugene, and a scramble on fourth down to keep the drive alive.

After a muffed exchange between Wilson and Brown on first down, State got on the board with Wilson avoiding ECU's rush and hitting Brown in the back of the end zone.

State's offense had gone 227 snaps without scoring a touchdown against a Division I-A opponent.

Beck returned on the final possession of the half, leading the
offense down to ECU's 15-yard line but fumbled on a fourth-and-1 run. Beck's keeper got the first down with 39 seconds left in the half but he fumbled after his second effort.

Beck finished 3 of 8 for 47 yards with the interception and fumble. Wilson was 21 of 31 for 209 yards with three touchdowns and 27 yards on the ground.

Contrary to popular pre-grame opinion, red still ruled at Carter-Finley Stadium. There were pockets of purple, notably in the end zone underneath the Murphy Center, but it was not the fan takeover that was expected.