KC Concepcion caught two touchdown passes and Payton Wilson returned an interception for a touchdown as host North Carolina State beat Clemson for the second time in three years, 24-17 on Saturday in Raleigh, N.C.
MJ Morris threw both touchdown passes, going 11-for-20 for 138 yards in the air. NC State upset the 9.5-point favorites to improve to 2-1 since Morris was named the starting quarterback in place of Brennan Armstrong.
Wilson’s 15-yard interception return came during a momentum-building third quarter for the Wolfpack (5-3, 2-2 ACC). Concepcion added a 72-yard touchdown play as NC State went up 24-7 heading into the fourth period.
Wilson’s interception came on Clemson’s first snap following a Wolfpack punt. Devon Betty deflected the pass and Wilson was there for the pick. He dove into the end zone along the left sideline.
Phil Mafah scored on two 1-yard runs for Clemson (4-4, 2-4), which has lost two games in a row. Quarterback Cade Klubnik completed 33 of 50 passes for 263 yards and two interceptions.
Mafah’s touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter made it 24-14. Jonathan Weitz kicked a 19-yard field goal with 6:57 to play, pulling the Tigers within 24-17.
Clemson got to the NC State 48-yard-line in the final minute before a sack and an incomplete pass on fourth down.
Clemson’s second possession ended on Devan Boykin’s interception of Klubnik. On the next play, Concepcion ran 50 yards to the Clemson 10-yard line, setting up his first TD reception.
The Tigers punted three times in the first quarter.
The Wolfpack went up 10-0 on Brandon Narveson’s 41-yard field goal with 12:11 to play in the second quarter.
The Tigers got on the board on Mafah’s first TD run to cap a nine-play, 75-yard drive in the second quarter.
Clemson’s bid to pull even was squashed when Weitz was wide right from 43 yards out on the final play of the first half.
Tigers rushing leader Will Shipley left with a second quarter injury and didn’t return.
–Field Level Media
