Zips Zap Wolfpack

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Source Link HEREThere are many more stories to read here.Zips zap WolfpackThe 1-yard touchdown run by the Zips' Dennis Kennedy completes a wild finish at Carter-Finley Stadium. The lack of a review on the final play leaves Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato at a loss Chip Alexander, Staff WriterRALEIGH - In many ways, it was one of the wildest, wackiest games played at Carter-Finley Stadium in many a year, a game filled with big plays and bonehead plays, savage defensive hits and careless defensive gaffes, mindless penalties and clutch touchdowns.It ended with Akron scoring on the last play to upset N.C. State 20-17 on Saturday, with the winning Zips joyously streaming up one tunnel to their locker room while Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato raced up another after the game officials.Amato said he wasn't mad at the referees. He just wanted an official explanation.The Zips, trailing 17-14, reached the NCSU 1 with a last-gasp drive after the Pack had taken the lead with 1:07 to play on Marcus Stone's 11-yard pass to freshman Jamelle Eugene. Just 3.5 seconds were left when Akron used its last timeout.Time for one play. Go for a chip-shot field goal and force overtime or go for the win?Akron went for the win, and running back Dennis Kennedy, who already had scored two TDs on short runs, was called on again. Kennedy was hit short of the 1-yard line but bulled forward and stretched the ball over the goal line as the ACC crew of officials signaled a touchdown.The officials the ran off the field as a shocked crowd of 56,103 began to boo when replays of the run were shown on the video boards.Did Kennedy's elbow first touch the turf before the ball crossed the goal line? Was the play being reviewed? That's what Amato wanted to know.Amato could not challenge the call because NCSU was out of timeouts. If the play is to be reviewed by an ACC official in the press box, a buzzer is used to notify the referees on the field."I was told there was not a buzzer," Amato said.Most of the Pack players insisted it shouldn't have come down to a review. State (1-1) twice grabbed the lead in the fourth quarter, only to have the Zips (1-1), the Mid-American Conference champions last year, stream down the field for rapid-fire touchdowns."We can't complain about it," linebacker Pat Lowery said. "We should have stopped 'em on the last play of the game. That would have solved everything."Stone, who passed for 36 yards in the opener against Appalachian State, was wildly erratic in the first three quarters against the Zips. The junior then did a Peyton Manning impersonation in the fourth, hitting nine of 10 passes for 135 yards and two TDs."That's just the nature of the game," Stone said. "Sometimes, you [don't] come out on fire and you have to build that rhythm."Akron's Luke Getsy also was inconsistent much of the day. But the senior guided the Zips 96 yards on six plays for one fourth-quarter score, fueled by a 63-yard pass to freshman receiver David Harvey, then had two completions and runs of 14 and 10 yards in the last TD march."That quarterback ... is one of the most composed I've seen," said Lowery, a fifth-year senior.Getsy, sacked four times and chased many other times, was 12-of-31 for 243 yards. An intentional-grounding penalty against Getsy did cost the Zips 29 yards in the third quarter. That set up good field position for State to get its first points on John Deraney's 42-yard field goal.Trailing 7-3, the Pack took its first lead on Stone's 20-yard scoring pass to Darrell Blackman with 10:46 left. A poor center snap on the first play of the possession resulted in a 22-yard loss, but Stone later hit flanker John Dunlap for 21 yards on a third-and-17 play.State then partially blocked an Akron punt -- the second time its punt-rush team got a piece of a John Stec kick. The Wolfpack moved to the Akron 4 and faced fourth-and-1 with 7:41 to play.At that point, State's defense seemingly was in control. The Zips had negative offensive yardage in the third period as the Pack shut down Kennedy's running -- the sophomore had 94 of his 117 yards in the first half -- and continued to pressure Getsy.After a timeout, Stone ran an option play to his left, only to have linebacker Kevin Grant stop him inches short of the first down."They made a heckuva play," Stone said. "I felt like I had it, but the spot was short."Amato refused to second-guess his decision. No gamble, he said."If I had to do the fourth-and-1 over again, I'd do the same thing," he said. "In my wildest dreams, I never would have thought they could have gone 96 [yards]. And they did."But the Pack responded again. A scrambling Stone flipped a short pass to tailback Toney Baker, who turned it into a 26-yard gain. Then, on fourth-and-5 from the 11, Stone first looked over the middle, then hit Eugene with a swing pass for the TD.State was called for a 15-yard celebration penalty after the score -- an undisciplined mistake. After the kickoff, Akron had the ball at its 33. Getsy quickly passed for 31 yards, and the Zips were on their way to victory."Some game," Amato said. "Our kids are hurting. But you know what? I think we have a good football team, I really do."Staff writer Chip Alexander can be reached at 829-8945 or chipa@newsobserver.com.