ANNAPOLIS, Md. — You didn’t have to see the field to know how the game was going for NC State . Instead, the noises that emitted from the Wolfpack’s coaches box on the press level of Navy-Marine Corps Stadium told the story of the Military Bowl fourth quarter.
Clapping erupted out of the small room to the right of the main working space after senior safety Bishop Fitzgerald logged a tackle for a loss to force the Pirates’ first punt of the game. Hollering, including excited expletives, rang out when the Wolfpack ran a double reverse that ended with a 33-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman running back Hollywood Smothers midway through the period — the go-ahead score and NC State’s first lead of the night.
And when ECU, which had 3rd-and-10 from its own 14, broke off an 86-yard touchdown run n the legs of running back Rahjai Harris ? A loud thud, likely from banging the blue wooden tabletop against the glass, sounded.
That dash, which came with 1:33 to play, was the nail in the coffin for NC State, which dropped its sixth straight bowl game in a 26-21 loss to ECU on Saturday evening.