Raleigh, N.C. ? For once, North Carolina State’s porous defense upstaged Philip Rivers.
Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay scored on a fumble and then returned an interception 56 yards with five seconds left for the game-winning score as the Wolfpack edged Connecticut 31-24 on Saturday.
The Wolfpack came in ranked 97th in the nation in total defense and 116th in pass defense, but came up with the two biggest plays of the game on that side of the ball as Rivers admitted to having his worst performance this season.
“The defense proved it today,” star tailback T.A. McLendon said. “Call them what you want. Call them a bad defense, call them terrible, but they were the best defense in the world today in my book when you make a great play like that.”
The Huskies drove 84 and 79 yards in the final 8:22 to tie it as quarterback Dan Orlovsky capped both drives with TD passes.
But Orlovsky would like to have his final pass back. It was intercepted over the middle by the Wolfpack linebacker, who weaved his way through a group of players and dived into the end zone before Orlovsky could make a game-saving tackle.
“I did something I was not supposed to do and I paid for it,” Orlovsky said.
Aughtry-Lindsay, a former prep running back, said he never looked at the clock to see if time may be running out as he made his way toward the goal line.
“I was just trying to make a play,” the linebacker said. “I did not want to go into overtime.”
“Find a way, find a way to win,” added N.C. State coach Chuck Amato. “We must have been in the right spot.”
The score was tied at the half before Aughtry-Lindsay picked up a fumble and went 48 yards with 9:49 left in the third quarter as the Wolfpack (4-3) took the lead.
Pat Thomas caused the turnover by Orlovsky, who lost the ball as he was being sacked.
Rivers, who threw for 234 yards, then found T.J. Williams with a 25-yard pass 17 seconds before the end of the period to give N.C. State some breathing room as the Wolfpack offense managed just 261 yards through three quarters.
“We weren’t very good and I wasn’t very good,” Rivers said about an offense that gained just 323 yards. “And you could tell they were ready to play this game. They took away what we like to do best.”
The Huskies (4-3) refused to go away after N.C. State got up two scores and pulled within seven with 5:57 left as a pass interference penalty kept an 84-yard drive alive.
Orlovsky then shocked the Wolfpack with his third TD pass with 1:29 left to tie it at 24-all before N.C. State’s game-winning play on defense.
“I had to go down there and face those kids. It was tough,” UConn coach Randy Edsall said. “We didn’t come down here to earn respect.”
McLendon returned after missing last week’s loss at Georgia Tech with a hamstring injury. However, he was mostly ineffective, carrying 12 times for 32 yards.
Connecticut had much more success on the ground as Chris Bellamy, making his first start this season, rushed for a career-best 166 yards on 29 carries.
Rivers was intercepted for the first time in 124 passes midway through the first quarter in the end zone, halting the Wolfpack’s first scoring opportunity.
Cotra Jackson made a juggling catch to give N.C. State a 7-0 lead early in the second period.
Rivers was hit from behind as he released the ball low to Jackson, who was falling on his back in the end zone. The ball hit Jackson’s foot two times as he was on the turf before he caught it for a 3-yard scoring play.
The Huskies countered two minutes later, getting a 43-yard completion from Orlovsky to Keron Henry before Orlovsky’s 4-yard scoring pass extended his streak to 19 straight games with at least one TD pass.
