Southern Miss 17, North Carolina State 21

1234T
USM (4-3)707317
NCST (3-4)0071421

Final

12:00 PM ET, October 29, 2005
Carter-Finley Stadium
RALEIGH, NC

Wolfpack overcome late 14-point deficit to win

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Team Stat Comparison
 
1st Downs1320
Total Yards246425
Passing177128
Rushing69297
Penalties5-405-41
3rd Down Conversions3-165-15
4th Down Conversions0-02-4
Turnovers14
Possession27:2832:32
Individual Leaders
Southern Miss Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
Almond15/3517710
North Carolina State Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
Stone10/2612812
Southern Miss Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
Thomas1460121
Hull1041013
Weakley1000
North Carolina State Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
Brown32248261
Davis51908
Stone101406
Southern Miss Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Barnes453121
Nelson351028
Thomas3303
Carter226020
North Carolina State Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Clark325112
Brown231023
Barrett222012
Hill126026
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTERUSMNCST
TD0:52LARRY THOMAS 1 YD RUN (DARREN MCCALEB KICK)
Drive info: 7 plays, 22 yards.
70
THIRD QUARTERUSMNCST
TD8:56JOSH BARNES 16 YD PASS FROM DUSTIN ALMOND (DARREN MCCALEB KICK)
Drive info: 7 plays, 61 yards.
140
TD5:27ANDRE BROWN 8 YD RUN (JOHN DERANEY KICK)
Drive info: 9 plays, 80 yards.
147
FOURTH QUARTERUSMNCST
FG14:08DARREN MCCALEB 24 YD FG
Drive info: 11 plays, 62 yards.
177
TD13:14ANDRE BROWN 61 YD RUN (JOHN DERANEY KICK)
Drive info: 3 plays, 77 yards.
1714
TD5:08BRIAN CLARK 3 YD PASS FROM MARCUS STONE (JOHN DERANEY KICK)
Drive info: 15 plays, 52 yards.
1721

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Freshman Andre Brown ran for 248 yards and two touchdowns, and Marcus Stone threw the go-ahead touchdown pass Saturday to lead North Carolina State past Southern Mississippi 21-17.

Stone connected with Brian Clark with 5:08 left for the Wolfpack (3-4), helping N.C. State rally from a 14-point third-quarter deficit to win its first home game against a Division I-A opponent in more than a year.

Brown carried the ball 32 times and finished with the second-highest rushing total in school history, just 3 yards shy of tying the record set by Ted Brown in 1977.

Larry Thomas ran for 60 yards and a score for the Golden Eagles (4-3), playing the second of four straight road games.

N.C. State's last home win against an I-A opponent came in a 27-21 overtime victory against Wake Forest last October. The Wolfpack's only home win this year was a rout of I-AA Eastern Kentucky.

Coming into the game, much of the attention was on Stone's promotion to starting quarterback after spending the past 1½ seasons backing up Jay Davis. Stone became just the fourth starter for the program in the past nine years, with Davis starting the first 17 games of the post-Philip Rivers era.

But Davis, a fifth-year senior, had battled inconsistency throughout his career, and the Wolfpack's offensive production had dropped significantly in the last four games. Coach Chuck Amato decided to promote Stone after his two-TD day in last week's loss to Wake Forest in hopes of finding an offensive spark.

It turned out that the spark came from the freshman who wasn't listed on the two-deep depth chart at running back and had played only 28 offensive snaps this season.

Brown broke loose for a 41-yard run early in the second quarter, finishing the first half with 96 yards on just 10 carries. Brown capped an 80-yard drive by spinning into the end zone from 8 yards out to make it 14-7 late in the third period.

Two possessions later, Brown bounced off two tacklers near the line of scrimmage and sprinted to the right sideline for a 61-yard touchdown that made it 17-14 with 13:14 left. The carry made Brown the first Wolfpack running back to crack the 200-yard mark in seven years.

All this from a player who had run for 42 yards on 13 carries this season.

Brown's big day allowed the Wolfpack to stay in it despite a horrible start from Stone and his teammates. Stone went 1-for-9 with two interceptions to start the game, and freshman running back Toney Baker fumbled away Stone's 17-yard completion -- the second of four first-half turnovers.

But Stone finally settled down, going 4-for-6 on the Wolfpack's first touchdown drive and finding Brian Clark alone in the end zone for 3-yard score and a 21-17 lead. He finished 10-for-26 for 128 yards.

The Wolfpack defense, however, was stout from the start. Mario Williams had four sacks, just part of N.C. State's constant harassment of Dustin Almond as the quarterback tried to find receivers downfield.

Southern Miss came in averaging nearly 35 points per game, but had to work for every one of its 262 total yards. The Golden Eagles then committed their only turnover when Jasper Faulk muffed a punt with Southern Miss trailing 21-17 with 2:32 left.

College Football Scores

Other Scores:

Thursday, October 27th
Boston College 10 Final
Virginia Tech 30
Saturday, October 29th
Wake Forest 44 Final
Duke 6
Southern Miss 17 Final
North Carolina State 21
North Carolina 16 Final
Miami (FL) 34
Maryland 27 Final
Florida State 35
Clemson 9 Final
Georgia Tech 10