Dave Doeren, Brennan Armstrong break down NC State's winning drive
NC State led for the overwhelming majority of Friday night’s ACC opener but, for 36 seconds of game time, Virginia knotted the scoreat 21.
Kicker Brayden Narveson won the game on a 33-yard field goal. Six snaps earlier, UVA committed its second personal foul in two plays.
The Cavaliers had just tied the game up on a two-point try, but the refs flagged freshman quarterback Anthony Colandrea on a 15-yard penalty after the play that set the ensuing kickoff back to the 20-yard line.
Wolfpack kick returner Julian Gray was waiting at the other end of the field, ready to make a game changing play with 36 seconds left after an otherwise pretty quiet night for the electric specialist.
When Virginia gave him a returnable ball, the Pack executed a field return called by special teams coordinator Todd Goebbel, and the redshirt sophomore carried the ball to the UVA 48 yard line.
“That penalty helped us on that play, obviously, it gave us a lot more field to work with, and Julian’s pretty fast,” head coach Dave Doeren said after the game. “The kicker gave him a ball that he could do something with. Sometimes, that doesn’t happen.”
Doeren said “everything” came together for the Pack on that 35-yard return with the game in the balance.
With the ball already in Virginia territory, quarterback Brennan Armstrong was determined to create an opportunity to win the game. Narveson made a field goal from 60 yards kicking in that direction during warmups, so the Pack had a pretty defined target during its final drive of the game.
“We were trying to go for it, right?” Armstrong said. “We got good field position, Julian made a great return. We know Brayden can kick from about 35, he can hit some bombs now.”
NC State called a passing play, but Armstrong noticed UVA’s tight coverage and took off for 8 yards down to the Cavalier 40 yard line. The Pack called a timeout with 19 seconds left, and, standing on the far edge of field goal range, the staff put the ball in its quarterback’s hands once again.
“After that, we were going to be pretty smart with the ball and not risk turning it over,” Doeren said
Armstrong, who led NC State in rushing Friday night with 64 yards, took off again for a gain of 8, reaching the 32 yard line. He then spiked the ball to stop the clock before running the ball once more for 2 yards.
“We kind of ran, ran, did a little bit of quarterback ISO and just tried to center the ball up,” Armstrong said.
“If you looked at what they were doing defensively, we thought we could get a few more yards up the middle there on that last play,” Doeren said.
That set up a 48-yard kick for Narveson with 1 second remaining. The Cavaliers blocked the kick but another 15 yard penalty extended the game. UVA linebacker James Jackson leapt over the Wolfpack line to disrupt the attempt, but he made contact with NC State on the jump, triggering the personal foul.
Narveson did not let the first kick rattle him. He lined up again and drilled the 33 yard attempt.
“I’m very proud of our kicker, first of all, for making that kick,” Doeren said. “The psyche you have as a kicker, when you have one blocked, even though it was a penalty, to be able to step back in there and knock that through in the rain, I thought that was a great moment for Brayden.”
