I was pretty surprised to find I was the only one of my esteemed clownblogging colleagues that picked this one to be somewhat close. It’s tough winning on the road in the ACC—just ask Clemson—but Jaylen Samuels wasn’t going to let me gloat about being right, breaking off a late 40-yard TD to make the final margin 35-17. In the end, not so close after all, but this game was scarier than I thought it was going to be even though the final margin was wider than I expected.
NC State’s offense was totally non-existent outside of one Nyheim Hines run in the first half, and Pittsburgh had the momentum and the ball to start the second half, but the Wolfpack defense dominated after the break, allowing the offense to finally put it away on Samuels’ second rushing touchdown of the half.