RALEIGH, N.C. — N.C. State lost a quarterback but won a big game Saturday.
After Devin Leary left with an injury to his throwing arm in the third quarter, the No. 14 Wolfpack battled its way to a 19-17 victory over Florida State at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Devan Boykin’s interception of a Jordan Travis pass with 38 seconds left in the game ended any last-gasp hope FSU had of winning and gave the Wolfpack a gutsy, hard-earned victory, their 14th in a row at home.
It was a tremendous effort by the Pack (5-1 overall, 1-1 ACC), which was deflated a week ago after a tough loss at Clemson. The Wolfpack trailed 17-3 at halftime against an FSU smarting after its first loss, to Wake Forest
Leary, the ACC preseason player of the year, suffered an injury to his right, throwing arm with 4:39 left in the third quarter. Flattened by FSU nose tackle Joshua Cooper, who was called for roughing the passer, Leary needed medical attention on the field before being helped to the locker room for treatment.
Leary had guided the Pack to an 84-yard touchdown on the first possession of the second half, whipping a 10-yard touchdown pass to Darryl Jones. That came after a mostly miserable first half for Leary and the offense, which was limited to 133 total yards..
With Leary out, in came Jack Chambers, the graduate transfer from Charleston Southern. The Pack, playing with a lot of fire and energy in the second half, began chipping away at the FSU lead.
Christopher Dunn made a 40-yard field goal. Then a 53-yarder. And when Dunn knocked through a 27-yarder with 6:33 left in the fourth quarter, the Pack had a 19-17 lead.
The Pack needed one more defensive stop. NCSU cornerback Shyheim Battle, who earlier in the fourth quarter picked off a Jordan Travis pass, was called for targeting — and ejected — as the Seminoles moved into field-goal range.
But Boykin came up with his pick in the left corner of the end zone.
Dunn’s 53-yarder came after an unusual play that had FSU punter Alex Mastromanno faking a punt, running with the ball, then kicking it.
But Mastromanno’s kick was past the line of scrimmage. It was a loss of down for FSU, turnover on downs and gave the Pack the ball at the FSU 13.
The Pack went in reverse — a pass by slotback Thayer Thomas to Chambers lost yardage and there were two holding penalties against NCSU. But Dunn’s long field goal made it a one-point game.
Travis was a handful at times for the Pack defense, ripping off a 71-yard run in the first half that set up FSU’s first TD. He passed for 181 yards and rushed for 108.
