Third-ranked Florida State spent the first half looking every bit like the team picked to win the Atlantic Coast Conference, from a dominating defense to a running game that kept moving the chains to silencing a hostile crowd in Raleigh, N.C.
Then North Carolina State figured out a way to shake up the race for both the conference and national championship.
Mike Glennon found Bryan Underwood for a 2-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 16 seconds left, helping the Wolfpack rally to beat the Seminoles, 17-16, on Saturday night.
On a night when Florida State (5-1, 2-1 ACC) appeared poised to strengthen its grip on the division, the Seminoles instead found themselves struggling to figure out how N.C. State (4-2, 1-1) had turned the game around and possibly ended FSU’s hopes of a BCS title.
“We still control our own destiny in the ACC,” FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. “We have to refocus and not let this loss become two in a row. We let this one slip away from us.”
Florida State – carrying its highest ranking since 2003 – led 16-0 at halftime, but couldn’t stop Wolfpack quarterback Glennon in the fourth quarter and watched this one slip away in stunning fashion.
Glennon marched the Wolfpack down the field and completed three fourth-down passes, including two inside the 15. The drive ended when he found Underwood alone over the middle – a step or two into the end zone – to tie the game, allowing the Wolfpack to take the lead on the ensuing point-after kick.
Not bad for a team that committed 14 penalties, coughed up six turnovers and gave up the go-ahead touchdown pass in a 44-37 loss at Miami last weekend.
“It was a dream come true to be honest,” Underwood said. “We’d been working hard all week after last week. We just wanted to come out and fight. We just hung in there and played as a team, that’s all it was.”
EXTRA POINTS
Temple defensive tackle Kamal Johnson was arrested on charges stemming from an alleged assault on his girlfriend. Bail was set at $25,000. … Missouri quarterback James Franklin left the Tigers’ game against Vanderbilt with a left knee sprain. … Connecticut tailback Lyle McCombs was arrested for allegedly yelling, pushing and spitting at his girlfriend, police said.
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