RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Justin Joly had a clinching fourth-down touchdown catch with 1:47 left — coming after Florida State committed turnovers on back-to-back late punt returns — to help N.C. State hang for a 21-11 win Friday night and become bowl eligible.
It marks the 11th time that N.C. State reached bowl eligiblility under 13th-year coach Dave Doeren, coming a week after an ugly loss at No. 14 Miami.
“There’s no quit here,” Doeren said. “Hopefully by now you guys know that. My teams don’t do that.”
The Wolfpack (6-5, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) grinded to this win behind a defense that allowed one TD and got a huge showing from cornerback Devon Marshall with two interceptions and five pass breakups for an injury-hit secondary. The offense did its best work on a 15-play drive lasting nearly 9 minutes, ending with Will Wilson plowing through the left side for a 1-yard keeper and a 14-3 third-quarter lead.
But it was the special-teams miscues by the Seminoles (5-6, 2-6) that stood out most in what coach Mike Norvell called “catastrophic.”
Trailing 14-11, they forced the Wolfpack to punt near midfield, only for Caden Noonkester’s short kick to hit the helmet of FSU blocker K.J. Kirkland — then bounce about 25 yards back to Noonkester, who dove on the ball near the original line of scrimmage with 3:53 left.
“Football’s that way,” Doeren said. “There’s all kinds of bounces in games. Sometimes they go your way, sometimes they don’t. And that’s football.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” FSU quarterback Tommy Castellanos said.
FSU again forced a punt, only to see Squirrel White muff the catch and have it bounce right to N.C. State’s Tra Thomas with 2:21 left. C.J. Bailey followed with his second TD throw on the 12-yarder to Joly for the 21-11 lead.
Duce Robinson had a 9-yard TD catch from Castellanos midway through the fourth for FSU’s lone touchdown.
The takeaway
FSU: That caps another rough year in league play. FSU is 3-13 in ACC play since the start of last year.
“No, we have not lived up to expectations,” Norvell said. “We’re a fully capable football team. That’s not good enough. And it’s not been good enough for the six losses that we have.”
N.C. State: The Wolfpack went from handing No. 15 Georgia Tech its lone loss on Nov. 1 to the Miami loss, only to regroup for a fourth straight win against FSU.
Postgame worry
FSU had a brief scare when Norvell said a player “went down” as the team came off the field. Wolfpack cheerleaders near the tunnel took a knee as trainers and medical staff crowded around with a cart near the tunnel, but Norvell said the player was eventually able to get back up and walk back for further evaluation.
He said it
“Lucky is when a ball bounces off a guy, back to us and your punter recovers it. That was lucky. And that’s God’s blessing, is what that is.” — Doeren
Up next
FSU: The Seminoles visit instate rival Florida on Nov. 29.
N.C. State: Rival North Carolina visits the Wolfpack on Nov. 29.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer
