Glennon-led Wolfpack ravage Cardinals, 31-24

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North Carolina State senior quarterback Mike Glennon came into the Belk Bowl leading the ACC in touchdowns. He played his last in college like any quarterback would want, throwing for 264 yards along with 3 touchdowns and leading the Wolfpack to a win over Louisville, 31-24, and winning the game’s MVP award.

N.C. State head coach Tom O’Brien was highly criticized at  the end of last season for letting his starting quarterback at the time, Russell Wilson, transfer to Wisconsin and give the nod to Glennon, who had never started a collegiate game.

Glennon found senior receiver T.J. Graham twice in the red zone: once in the first quarter with a six yard touchdown pass and the other on a 68 yard bomb thrown up the middle. Graham finished the game with seven receptions and 117 yards.

But Glennon’s finest touchdown went to junior wideout Tobias Palmer, who contorted his body by twisting it fully in midair to make the catch and go 35 yards for the score.

The Wolfpack could not have crossed the goal line as much had it not been for their defense. Cornerback David Amerson led the nation in interceptions, and finished the game with two of N.C. State’s three interceptions on Louisville’s freshman quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater. One was returned 65 yards for a touchdown, putting the Wolfpack up by 21 in the middle of the third quarter. The 6-foot-3 sophomore ended his season by capturing the ACC record for individual interceptions, snagging his 13th pick.

Louisville pulled out all the tricks from their playbook in attempt to make a comeback. When down by 21 in the third, head coach Charlie Strong called for a fake punt handoff, resulting in a 37 yard gain by sophomore running back Dominique Brown. After a Bridgewater touchdown pass to tight end David Nord, Strong continued the trickery with an onside kick, which the Wolfpack recovered.

Bridgewater would narrow the game to 7 points in the fourth quarter with a pass to receiver Josh Bellamy with 3:55 left in the game.

But the Carindals stopped the Wolfpack on four consecutive running plays, resulting in a turnover on downs. Bridgewater attempted to force the game to overtime, but an 11-yard sack on a third-and-long would be too much for the freshman quarterback to handle. His final throw was a pick by Amerson.

Louisville started 10 freshman and Strong addressed his concern for the future of Cardinal Nation.

“North Carolina State is an outstanding football team, but we are nowhere near what we should be,” Strong said in an interview to ESPN post game. “If you look at a team that’s what we have to get to. We have to do a better job of recruiting and we have to be able to go make plays and get playmakers into our offense and also get playmakers into our defense. It was a good learning experience for us.”

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