NC State football left proudly waving, planting the flag after beating No. 18 Tar Heels
Those who were in Kenan Stadium and pull for N.C. State witnessed a game and victory Friday that won’t soon – if ever – fade from their memories.
They’ll remember the Pack’s Devin Carter, Isaiah Moore, Jordan Houston and Derrek Pitts Jr. running about the field with a large NCSU flag, planting it with gusto a few times. Ben Finley, too. He had his turn.
“Just spur of the moment,” Carter said, smiling.
And why not? The Wolfpack had just beaten No. 18 North Carolina 30-27 in double overtime – “A big ol’ Band-Aid on the season,” Finley said – in a victory the Pack celebrated twice.
The Pack believed it had won at the end of regulation when a Drake Maye pass was ruled incomplete in the end zone. That came after a review. The clock showed all zeroes. When the ruling was announced, many of the Wolfpack players began dancing about. Game over.
Or not. The referees also put two seconds back on the clock. Maye passed for a 4-yard touchdown and it was on to overtime.
Christopher Dunn twice connected on field goals for the Pack (8-4, 4-4 ACC) in the two overtimes. UNC’s Noah Burnette made one in the first OT but his missed 35-yarder in the second – after an NCSU timeout – soon had the mad flag-waving underway.
NCSU coach Dave Doeren probably summed up the victory with two words after the game: “Oh, wow.”
Carter, who had six catches for 130 yards and a TD, said he sensed the game was over before Burnette’s kick in the second OT.
“He’s gonna miss. That’s the first thing in my mind,” Carter said.
Why?
“It’s an N.C. State thing. Good things happen to the good guys.”
And after the kick?
“Just joy,” Carter said.
Few of the Wolfpack players seemed overly surprised that Finley, once the fourth-string quarterback, had played so well. He always seemed to throw the ball with some zip as a member of the scout team. According to safety Tanner Ingle, he also has done some chirping as a scout-teamer, showing some bravado.
Finley is loose. He’s a carefree type. He’s also a winner against UNC, joining his older brother, Ryan, in beating the Tar Heels at Kenan Stadium – or “Carter-Finley West” as Ben called it Friday, maybe a takeoff on older bro calling it “Carter-Finley North” in 2018.
“This is the greatest feeling ever,” Finley said. “Five weeks ago being fourth-string quarterback, just kind of messing around on the scout team but still getting better, and then having those guys still trust me when I came up to the starting roster, it just means the world to have the support from the entire team.
“The defense, they played so well. The offensive line, they gave me so much time back there. It was like I was camping back there. ... I don’t even look like I played a game. My jersey is pristine white.”
Finley wears No. 10 for the Pack. Maye wears No. 10 for the Tar Heels. But this day, the Wolfpack’s No. 10 passed for 271 yards and two TDs and UNC’s No. 10 had 233 yards and the one score on that final play of the fourth quarter.
Finley said he was a little nervous before his first career start but settled in quickly and fired a 52-yard completion to Carter early in the game that set up the Pack’s first TD.
Finley later hit freshman Terrell Timmons Jr. , once his “go-to” receiver on the scout team, for a 28-yard score. In the fourth quarter, after a diving interception by Ingle at the UNC 29, he connected with Carter on a 26-yard TD pass. Both were well-thrown passes with touch.
“It’s kind of weird. It’s like I’m playing on an all-star team or something,” Finley said. “I’ve just got ballers everywhere.”
Despite being buried on the depth chart, Finley said he never considered transferring to another school. He said would graduate in December from N.C. State.
“To be able to persevere is the biggest thing in life,” he said. “That’s what our entire team does, just keeps fighting.”
Persevere is what the Wolfpack did Friday. The No. 18 Tar Heels (9-3, 6-2), the Coastal Division champions, made their push. The Pack found a way to win.
It was something worth celebrating – twice.
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This story was originally published November 25, 2022 at 10:10 PM with the headline "NC State football left proudly waving, planting the flag after beating No. 18 Tar Heels."
