NC State rolls past rival North Carolina on senior night

The Wolfpack capped a remarkable in-season turnaround with a dominant 39-20 victory over rival UNC on senior night in Raleigh. It was the sixth win in seven games for the Wolfpack (9-3) and its third consecutive win over the Tar Heels (8-4).

"The season that people thought we were going to have after we lost to Duke and then to end how we did, that’s a credit to the culture," NC State star linebacker Payton Wilson said.

Freshman receiver KC Concepcion scored two first-half touchdowns and finished the game with seven catches for 131 yards and 11 carries for 55 yards. NC State scored on it first eight possessions of the game — four touchdowns and four field goals — removing much suspense from the rivalry game and any chance that the Tar Heels would be dancing on the Tuffy logo.

NC State celebrated last season's double-overtime victory by planting a flag at midfield in Chapel Hill, a move referenced throughout the week by Tar Heel players who vowed to do the same if they had the chance.

But the Wolfpack scored the game's first 23 points to end that notion early.

"A statement win," said NC State coach Dave Doeren, who noted that it's been more than 1,400 days since UNC defeated the Wolfpack.

"Everything i asked these kids to do, they did."

UNC coach Mack Brown blamed himself for his team's poor effort.

"You can't play as bad as we did in the first half without the head coach doing a poor job," Brown said. "And I had our team poorly prepared obviously."

NC State graduate transfer quarterback Brennan Armstrong, who lost his starting job earlier in the season before getting it back when starter MJ Morris opted to redshirt, threw for 334 yards and three touchdowns.

"When you looked at who was playing in their secondary compared to who we had at receiver, we thought we could take advantage of that," Doeren said. "And when we saw who was playing, especially against KC at times, let’s go get them. I asked the coaches to be aggressive in this game."

The Tar Heels were without injured defensive back Alijah Huzzie, one of their top defenders in the secondary.

Armstrong did not throw a ball in practice this week, Doeren said, as dealt with injuries.

"He hit everybody," Brown said. "They were all open and he made some great throws. ... It's hard for a kid to get benched and come back and do what he's done. That kid's really a tough kid and a confident kid, and he did a tremendous job."

Graduate transfer Brayden Narveson made all four of his field goal attempts, including a bizarre 24-yard attempt on an untimed down after halftime. He had made a rushed 19-yard attempt right before the half, but officials discovered that NC State had 12 men on the field during the break, so Narveson had to re-kick,

Armstrong and Narveson were among the Wolfpack seniors honored before the game. So, too, was Wilson, who did Payton Wilson things throughout the game.

He had an interception to thwart UNC's last best chance to get back into the game. Wilson, a finalist for awards given to the nation's top linebacker and overall defensive player, had a team-high 14 tackles and a forced fumble. His fourth-quarter sack of UNC star quarterback Drake Maye sent Maye to the bench with a lower leg injury.

Maye returned to the game on the next series, but threw a second interception. Junior safety Devan Boykin, who was honored before the game as part of the senior night festivities, intercepted Maye.

The Tar Heels, whose 6-0 start to the season and No. 10 ranking seem like distant memories, put forth a dismal effort for most of the first half.

"The first half is as bad as I've ever seen us," Brown said. "We were awful on offense."

Maye opened the game 1-for-7 passing for 3 yards. He also lost a fumble.

Maye, a potential early first-round NFL Draft pick, rebounded from the sluggish start, but it was too late. He finished 28-of-38 passing for 254 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Maye also rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown.

UNC played injured wide receiver Nate McCollum.

"Just can't start off bad with a rough start like we did," Maye said. "Tough environment on the road in a big ACC rivalry game, you can't do that if you want to win games."