In what began as a disaster, the 2006 NC State football season has made an unprecedented turn-around as the Wolfpack pulled off their second straight stunning upset of a of a ranked conference foe behind the guidance of sophomore quarterback Daniel Evans by defeating Florida State 24-20 in Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh Thursday night. On September 23rd NC State defeated then ranked Boston College 17-15 at home in Evans debut. Evans is the third quarterback under NC State head coach and long time former FSU assistant to lead the Wolfpack in victory over the Seminoles.
Evans threw three touchdown passes, one each to receivers Donald Bowens, Geron James and John Dunlap.And for the fourth time in the last six years, Amato got to walk across the field and accept congratulations from FSU head coach Bobby Bowden, Amato’s friend and mentor and the winningest coach in college football history.
The victory came on the heels of last week’s dramatic 17-15 win over then No. 20 Boston College, in which Evans threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to junior John Dunlap with 8.5 seconds remaining for the come-from-behind win.
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On the night, Evans completed 13 of his 22 passes for 190 yards. James had four catches for 91 yards, Dunlap two catches for 24 yards and Bowens two catches for 29 yards, as the Wolfpack offense took advantage of several injuries in the Seminole secondary that put two new starters in at cornerback.
“We knew they had a couple of guys who were injured and we knew we could take some shots if we protected up front,” said Evans, who was sacked only once all night long. “We definitely protected up front, and our receivers are physical specimens out there.” All I had to do was throw up there and let them make plays.”
Evans got some assistance from the tailback duo of Andre Brown and Toney Baker, who worked together to establish a strong rushing attack against a team that had allowed only 72.5 rushing yards per game over the first four weeks of the season.
After State was stopped inside the FSU 1-yard line on it first possession of the second half, the Seminoles went on a 16-play, 99-yard drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown pass from FSU sophomore quarterback Drew Weatherford to tight end Brandon Warren, giving the Seminoles a 20-10 lead with 3:02 remaining in the third quarter. But Evans, given good field position to work with both times, led the Wolfpack offense on back-to-back scoring drives for the 24-20 final advantage.
“It is very satisfying to get this win, but what would be even more satisfying would be to win the ACC,” said defensive lineman Tank Tyler. “We are going to keep concentrating on our next opponent. We will start working on Wake Forest and who ever we play after that.”
Now, the Wolfpack has nine days off before its meeting with surprising Wake Forest, which heads into this weekend’s home game against Clemson as the ACC’s only unbeaten team.
