2010 Florida State Seminoles Football: Florida State @ NC State

What began as an overwhelming lead for Florida State came down to less than a minute, four yards, and a matter of inches in deciding who would emerge with a commanding lead of the ACC's Atlantic Division and who would be stuck in second place.

NC State came out strong on the Thursday night match-up at Carter-Finley Stadium, scoring on its first drive and grabbing a 7–0 lead. But the Noles weren't worried. After all, Miami had no problem driving on the FSU defense in their first drive before being held to 17 points the rest of the game.

NCSU held a 7–0 lead into the second half of the second quarter before the FSU offense came alive, evening the score. Then, the FSU defense took its turn at contributing by forcing a Dean Haynes (RB) fumble that FSU linebacker Kendall Smith recovered at the NCSU 18 yard line. Five plays later, Christian Ponder rushed two yards for the score, putting FSU up 14–7. Yet even though less than five minutes remained in the half, FSU wasn't done scoring. After forcing NCSU to punt with roughly three minutes left, the Noles drove 72 yards to pull ahead 21–7 at the half.

FSU had reason to be happy—the Noles held a two-score lead on the road during a Thursday night game (which have historically been troublesome for the Noles). But that joy was short lived.

NCSU received the ball first in the second half and took five minutes to drive for a touchdown and pull within 21–14, still a narrow Noles lead. FSU fans were hopeful their offensive momentum from the end of the first half would carry over to their first drive of the second half, but two plays into the drive, Ponder fumbled and NCSU's J.R. Sweezy recovered. After the fumble recovery, the Wolfpack needed just three plays to tie the score on a Russell Wilson (NCSU quarterback) 20-yard touchdown run. 21–21.

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The Seminole defense seemed to have lost all adjustments made during the first half. The run defense was leaving gaping holes in the middle of the field that NCSU players were hitting for big gains. What once was a defensive show for the Noles turned into a defensive nightmare. FSU couldn't stop the Wolfpack.

The fourth quarter began with what seemed to be a sure-scoring drive by the 'Pack, but ended when FSU cornerback Xavier Rhodes intercepted Wilson on the FSU five yard line. FSU regained the lead on a long drive, but it ended in just three points, not seven, after a Dustin Hopkins' field goal.

NCSU wasted little time in driving 70 yards to take the lead, 28–24, and left FSU with just 2:40 to win the game. FSU's otherwise shaky offense put on a show as Ponder completed passes of 29 and 16 yards to put the Noles on the 4 yard line with under a minute left and three downs to get into the end zone and win the game. FSU called a timeout to set up the winning play. As the teams came out and the ball was snapped, Ponder faked a hand-off to running back Ty Jones, but something horrible went wrong. The ball neither made it to Jones nor stayed with Ponder. It was loose—a fumble. NCSU recovered and ran out the clock to seal the victory.

The heartbreaker for the Noles could be explained many different ways but perhaps none better than the explanation from FSU coach Jimbo Fisher: "It was two quarterbacks making plays, and they made one more than we did at the end."

Technically, NCSU now holds a lead in the Atlantic Division of the ACC, but if the Wolfpack loses another conference game, the Noles (provided they win out) will be the division champions. The race got a lot tighter because of one dropped ball, and now each team will have to fight to win the race. That fight for FSU begins next weekend at home (on Homecoming Weekend) against NCSU's rivals, the UNC Tar Heels.

Florida State Seminoles @ NC State Wolfpack Football Recap