2010 NC State Wolfpack Football: NC State @ Maryland

There's life, taxes, Maryland beating North Carolina State, and Tom O'Brien failing to win a division championship. On one very consequential afternoon near the Atlantic seaboard, normalcy remained intact in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The North Carolina State Wolfpack traveled to College Park, Maryland in what was considered one of the biggest games in recent NCSU history. Simply put, a North Carolina State win would have clinched the Atlantic Division championship and enabled the Wolfpack to face Virginia Tech for the conference championship in Charlotte on Dec. 4. A loss would have sent Florida State to North Carolina's burgeoning city as the Atlantic titlist. Wolfpack fans would have been correct if they were wary of a potential bout with that thing called prosperity; North Carolina State has never handled it well in the past, and Maryland has usually been the team that's broken State's heart at the end of an ACC football season.

The reality was no different on an important afternoon at Byrd Stadium.

North Carolina State came out of the gate focused and determined to put its past failure-in-the-face-of-success ways behind it, dominating the Terrapins in the first quarter. The Wolfpack forced a punt and stopped the Terps on downs in Maryland’s first two possessions. Offensively, outstanding N.C. State quarterback Russell Wilson drove the Wolfpack 70 yards in his first possession on 4-of-5 passing and ran the touchdown in himself. On the Wolfpack’s second possession, Wilson was 5-of-6 passing, and all 66 yards of the drive came through the air. Maryland’s normally stout defense was no match for arguably the ACC’s top quarterback in the first quarter, and there was reason to believe that O'Brien - the Wolfpack coach - would finally win an division after coaching for seven seasons in the ACC, three with Boston College and four at State.

Maryland - which had won seven of the last 10 meetings between the two schools - turned the tables on North Carolina State in the second quarter, outscoring the Wolfpack 17-0 to take a 17-14 halftime lead. Wilson, who was so accurate in the first quarter, was only able to mount one sustained drive near the end of the quarter, and that ended with Maryland blocking a field goal attempt. Wilson also threw his only interception of the game in the second quarter.

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Maryland opened up a larger second half lead on the strength of quarterback Danny O’Brien’s outstanding passing effort. His third-quarter touchdown pass to Torrey Smith to open up a 14-point lead was as nice a throw as you’ll see a freshman quarterback make. Rolling left, O’Brien fired a bullet to Smith, who was extremely well covered by two Wolfpack defenders. O’Brien, throwing across his body due to being a right handed passer rolling left, put the ball in a place that allowed Smith, and only Smith, to catch the ball in the back corner of the end zone. O’Brien’s next play from scrimmage was a perfectly placed bomb to Smith, who had his defender beat by a couple steps. O’Brien hit him in stride and Smith was off to the races for a 71 yard touchdown, putting the Terps comfortably ahead 38-17 with about six and a half minutes to go in the game.

Wilson was not done for NCSU, though. The Wolfpack's gifted quarterback put a scare into Florida State fans who thought that a division championship had already been locked up. He responded to lead the Wolfpack on a 65-yard touchdown drive. His only fault was that the drive took 13 plays and ate three and a half minutes of clock time. After recovering the onside kick, State marched downfield again, as Wilson led the Wolfpack to a touchdown, twice overcoming fourth-down situations, to cut the Maryland lead to only seven with 1:16 remaining.

This time, Maryland recovered the onside kick attempt to secure the victory. Make it eight of the past 11 for the Terps against the Pack.

Wilson, a Colorado Rockies draft pick, may have a sore arm after attempting 62 passes, completing 31 of them for 311 yards and four total touchdowns, two rushing and two passing. While some observers call Wilson the best quarterback in the ACC, on this day, he was not the best quarterback on the field. O’Brien - just a freshman - was outstanding, throwing for 417 yards on 33-of-47 passing and four touchdowns with no interceptions. Smith was at the receiving end of all four touchdown passes. The main Maryland man in Coach Ralph Friedgen's receiving corps finished with 14 receptions for 224 yards in a dominant display. Even more remarkable was that the Terps were able to have that kind of passing performance with virtually no rushing support. The Terps’ top running back, Davin Meggett, ran for 11 yards on only four carries. As a team, Maryland ran for minus-nine yards.

But no matter about the meager rushing totals. Maryland beat State... again. Tom O'Brien missed out on a division flag... again. Life is typical in the ACC Atlantic.

NC State Wolfpack @ Maryland Terrapins Football Recap