CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Devin Carter and two teammates took a North Carolina State flag and planted it at rival North Carolina‘s midfield logo amid a wild celebration.
The Wolfpack spiked weeks of frustration with a signature road win to end the regular season.
“It was just spur of the moment,” Carter said. “It was amazing to go out there like that. It’s joy.”
Ben Finley threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start, and NC State beat Drake Maye and No. 17 North Carolina 30-27 on Friday when Noah Burnette duck-hooked a 35-yard field goal try in the second overtime.
Maye connected with Antoine Green from 4 yards out on the final play of regulation to tie the game at 24-all, but NC State (8-4, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) kept the ACC Coastal Division champion Tar Heels (9-3, 6-2) out of the end zone in the first overtime.
Burnette — who also missed from 27 yards in the fourth quarter — made a 26-yarder in the first OT and the Wolfpack tied it on Christopher Dunn‘s 31-yarder. Dunn was good from 21 yards in the second overtime and NC State, which never trailed in regulation, handed North Carolina its second straight loss.
“I was running around trying to hug everyone,” Finley said. Finley’s older brother, former NC State QB Ryan Finley, orchestrated two wins in North Carolina’s Kenan Stadium.
“It’s nice to keep the Finleys undefeated here,” coach Dave Doeren said.
Carter had six receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown for the Wolfpack, who snapped a two-game skid and pulled out a thrilling victory over their in-state rival for the second straight year.
“I loved the way our kids played. They fought their guts out,” North Carolina coach Mack Brown said. “They didn’t play great in the first half, but they were really good on defense, maybe the best defense we’ve had this year.”
Carter caught Finley’s back-shoulder pass just outside the end zone and backed in for a 26-yard touchdown with 3:54 remaining in regulation for the Wolfpack’s first points of the second half. Finley was so far down the depth chart that he estimated he hadn’t thrown a pass to Carter in a year and a half.
As a fourth stringer, Finley didn’t imagine ending up in this situation.
“Just kind of messing around on the scout team and still getting better,” he said.
Finley became NC State’s fourth starting quarterback in a seven-game span. He completed 27 of 40 passes.
The Tar Heels and freshman sensation Maye closed the regular season with dispiriting one-score losses to Georgia Tech and the Wolfpack ahead of the ACC title game clash with No. 8 Clemson next Saturday.
Maye finished 29 of 49 for 233 yards, one interception and the tying TD toss on fourth-and-goal to Green, which followed an apparent touchdown catch by John Copenhaver that was overturned on a replay review.
“They missed one field goal, and we missed two and that’s what the game came down to,” Brown said. “I thought about going for it on the fourth-and-3 at the end [in the second overtime], but we were playing really good on defense.”
Maye’s 14-yard, third-down scramble with 7:53 to play allowed the Tar Heels to pull even for the first time since early in the first quarter.
NC State got off to a strong start. After forcing a North Carolina punt, the Wolfpack needed three plays to score on Jack Chambers‘ 2-yard quarterback keeper.
Finley hooked up with a diving Terrell Timmons Jr. in the end zone from 28 yards out, giving Timmons his first career touchdown early in the second quarter.
Elijah Green‘s 9-yard run gave the Tar Heels a boost with 5:03 left in the half. Dunn’s 29-yard field goal on the last play of the half pushed NC State’s edge to 17-10.
Dunn broke the ACC scoring record in the first half with his second extra point. In the second half, his 43-yard field goal attempt was wide left, his first miss in 23 chances this season.
NC State beat in-state foes East Carolina, Wake Forest and North Carolina by a combined 13 points.
“It’s awesome to have that,” Doeren said.
The Wolfpack and Tar Heels had split two previous overtime games.
DUBLIN — Rocco Becht passed for two touchdowns and ran for another score, helping No. 22 Iowa State beat No. 17 Kansas State24-21 in the Aer Lingus Classic on Saturday.
Becht was 14-for-28 for 183 yards. He found Dominic Overby for a 23-yard TD in the first quarter and passed to Brett Eskildsen for a 24-yard score in the third quarter.
With 2:26 to go, Iowa State went for it on fourth-and-3 at the Kansas State 16-yard line. Becht found Carson Hansen for 15 yards and iced the game.
“He called a great play, he gave me two plays and let me decide and I knew we were going to have a chance to get it,” Becht said “We’ve worked on it in practice and it’s been working for us and we’re confident with it and I have trust in my guys.”
The Cyclones (1-0, 1-0 Big 12) opened a 24-14 lead in the fourth quarter after a turnover on downs by Kansas State at its own 30-yard line. Becht finished the short drive with a 7-yard touchdown run with 6:38 left.
Avery Johnson passed for 273 yards and two touchdowns for Kansas State (0-1, 0-1). He also had a 10-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
“I mean that’s the thing, regardless of the outcome we have 11 games to play,” Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said. “We have our back against the wall, but now we’ve got to reset and regroup and get ready to play.”
Johnson threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Jerand Bradley with 6:23 remaining, but the Wildcats never got the ball back.
Both teams struggled to deal with wet conditions in the first half. Kansas State had two turnovers and a turnover on downs, and Iowa State committed two turnovers in the first 30 minutes.
“We just made some great adjustments,” Campbell said. “We saw some things different in the first game and the opportunity to make some adjustments and to have the ability to do that, to have the staff that’s been together for so long that we have the confidence to make those adjustments.”
The Cyclones grabbed a 14-7 lead when Becht found Eskildsen in the corner of the end zone with 1:07 left in the third quarter.
Johnson responded with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Jayce Brown, tying it at 14 with 14:09 remaining in the game.
Hansen led Iowa State with 71 yards rushing on 16 carries. Joe Jackson had 51 yards on 12 carries for Kansas State.
“I thought that the (offensive line) did a really great job in the second half,” Campbell said. “Our tight ends and o-line did a great job of execution and man Carson is a really great player so we’re really proud of him.”
Iowa State has beat Kansas State in five of the past six seasons.
“I think those are great wins, any time you can beat quality opponents that’s awesome,” Campbell said. “We got a long way to go, it’s only game one and there’s a lot of football left and we’re going to have to see if we’re tough enough as a program and team to go home and get ready for a good South Dakota team next week.”
Kansas State running back Dylan Edwards was injured in the first quarter on a punt that he muffed. He didn’t return to the game.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The FCS Kickoff game between UC Davis and Mercer was declared a no contest after a weather delay of about 1 1/2 hours Saturday night.
UC Davis, ranked No. 7 in the FCS coaches poll, had a 23-17 lead over No. 11 Mercer when play was stopped with about 7 1/2 minutes left.
“Tonight’s 11th Annual FCS Kickoff has been declared a ‘No Contest’ due to rain and intermittent lightning that has continued to move through central Alabama,” Mercer said on social media. “All statistics from tonight’s game have been voided.”
UC Davis posted: “Mother Nature wins the day as tonight’s game in Montgomery has been called a no contest.”
LAS VEGAS — Running back Jai’Den Thomas scored three touchdowns, the UNLV defense had four interceptions, and the heavily favored Rebels held off Idaho State38-31 on Saturday in the debut of Dan Mullen as their coach.
After winning 11 games in 2024, UNLV is starting over with only two returning starters and a new coach. Mullen, 103-61 in 13 seasons at Mississippi State and Florida before becoming a college football analyst on ESPN, picked up the 12th season-opening win of his career.
“Great job by these guys, great way to come out and get a win,” Mullen said. “Obviously, it’s so hard to win, there are so many new faces on the field for us.”
Thomas gained 147 yards on 10 carries and Virginia transfer Anthony Colandrea threw for 195 yards to go with 93 yards rushing.
The Rebels trailed 31-24 in the fourth quarter and struggled to put the game away even after their defense intercepted Idaho State’s Jordan Cooke on back-to-back drives in the fourth.
After Colandrea’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Daejon Reynolds tied it at 31, UNLV cashed in one interception with Michigan transfer quarterback Alex Orji‘s 11-yard scramble for a score on a fourth-and-1 play. Now leading 38-31, the Rebels intercepted Cooke again, but Ramon Villela missed a 41-yard field goal attempt.
Idaho State drove to the UNLV 32 but Cooke was called for intentional grounding while he was being sacked for a loss of 11 yards. On fourth-and-22, Quandarius Keyes broke up a pass to seal the win for the Rebels, who closed as favorites of more than four touchdowns just before kickoff.
“The great thing is: Find a way to win,” Mullen said. “It could have been very easy for us to find a way to lose today. … And you know what? We’re going to enjoy that.”
Cooke finished 30-for-50 passing for 380 yards with one touchdown but he threw three of Idaho State’s four interceptions.
Thomas, one of the two returning starters for the Rebels (the other is linebacker Marsel McDuffie), erased a 10-0 deficit with second-quarter touchdown runs of 39 and 70 yards, but Idaho State led 17-14 at halftime after Dason Brooks scored on a 27-yard run with two minutes left in the half.
“If you’re not jumping up and down and celebrating, you’re playing the wrong game,” Mullen said, wrapping up his closer-than-expected debut. “Because our team won.”
