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N.C. State stops UCF in Bitcoin Bowl at Trop

 
UCF Knights wide receiver Josh Reese (19) kneels to pray after scoring a touchdown during the second quarter of the Bitcoin Bowl at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on Friday December 26th, 2014. At halftime the Wolfpack was up 17 to 10. 

MONICA HERNDON | TIMES
UCF Knights wide receiver Josh Reese (19) kneels to pray after scoring a touchdown during the second quarter of the Bitcoin Bowl at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on Friday December 26th, 2014. At halftime the Wolfpack was up 17 to 10. MONICA HERNDON | TIMES
Published Dec. 27, 2014

ST. PETERSBURG — However North Carolina State's outnumbered partisans paid their admission to Tropicana Field — cash, credit, cryptocurrency — mattered little Friday.

Jacoby Brissett and his backfield were mostly worth the price of it.

Be it outside the pocket or out of the pistol formation, Brissett and the ball-carrying tandem of Shadrach Thornton and Matt Dayes left UCF's seasoned defense mostly stupefied. By the end of the Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl, the trio had helped N.C. State total 487 yards in a 34-27 victory before an announced Trop crowd of 26,675.

Approximately 20,000 wore black and gold, and left dejected, despite two fourth-quarter touchdown catches from fifth-year senior Josh Reese. The loss snapped the Knights' streak of 14 consecutive victories in non-Saturday games.

"It puts a little damper on (the season)," said UCF receiver Breshad Perriman, who hauled in a 51-yard Hail Mary three weeks earlier at East Carolina, giving the Knights (9-4) a share of the American Athletic Conference title.

"That 10th win is huge to get, but we did have a great season. … At the end of the day we still achieved our goal of being champions, but this would've been a great win if we had gotten it done."

Twenty-two nights after that Hail Mary, the only thing being hailed was the Wolfpack's offensive potency. It arrived via gashing runs, gadgetry and the guile of a 6-foot-4 University of Florida transfer.

Brissett completed 11 of his first 13 passes and finished 15-for-26 for 262 yards with 31 yards rushing.

"Jacoby takes everything so personal," Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said moments after Brissett was named bowl MVP. "He's such a competitor. He plays for his teammates, he gives all the credit to them, and he's learned a lot throughout the season. He's a warrior."

After N.C. State (8-5) spotted UCF a 3-0 lead, Brissett led his offense 75 yards in nine plays. He scrambled for two 11-yard runs and completed all three of his passes for 28 before Thornton's 18-yard halfback TD pass to freshman fullback Jaylen Samuels.

Knights sophomore Justin Holman responded, initially transforming this latest bowl in a ballpark into a would-be pitchers' duel.

After the teams traded possessions, Holman went 4-for-5 for 49 yards on the Knights' first drive of the second quarter. Standing in a pocket only a few feet from the Trop's pitcher's mound, he delivered a fastball to Reese (six catches, 75 yards, three TDs) between two converging defenders for a 6-yard scoring strike, giving UCF a 10-7 lead.

Holman (23 for 53, 291 yards) got no crisper until the final quarter. Neither did UCF's veteran secondary, sixth nationally in pass-efficiency defense during the regular season.

On N.C. State's ensuing drive, Brissett found "Z" receiver Johnathan Alston down the left sideline for a 37-yard TD. After the Knights went three and out, he found freshman Bo Hines isolated over the middle for a 33-yard gain on third and 22.

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Two plays after that, Hines again got behind the veteran Knights secondary, which had totaled 144 career starts entering Friday, for a 45-yard reception to the UCF 4. That set up Niklas Sade's 19-yard field goal and a 17-10 lead.

Brissett finished the first half 10 for 12 for 197 yards. His damage might have been more severe had he not been sacked with roughly 10 seconds to play in the half, moments after N.C. State used its final timeout. The flub negated a drive in which UCF was whistled for defensive holding and pass interference.

Atonement arrived briskly. On the opening drive of the second half, Brissett led the Pack 75 yards in nine plays, capped by Dayes' 24-yard TD run that gave N.C. State a 24-10 lead. On two third-and-7 situations, Brissett answered with a 9-yard run and 12-yard completion, respectively.

"The defense was getting very frustrated," Knights coach George O'Leary said. "They'd have him corralled in a phone booth and he kept making one guy miss and then outrun other people."

Dayes' 15-yard TD run with 3:05 to play in the third gave the Wolfpack a 31-13 lead. He finished with 78 rushing yards, 18 fewer than Thornton.

Both are expected to return in 2015. If Brissett does as well, N.C. State, which improved from 3-9 a year ago, will return eight offensive starters.

"This is just the beginning," Doeren shouted to his few thousand fans, seemingly all of whom remained for the on-field trophy presentation. "Go Pack."

Contact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Bulls.