Devin Leary threw three touchdown passes and No. 22 North Carolina State pulled away in the third quarter in a 33-7 victory against host Boston College on Saturday night in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
The Wolfpack scored 21 points in a span of less than eight minutes of the third quarter.
Leary finished 16-for-24 for 251 yards without an interception as NC State (5-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its first road game in two tries this season.
NC State's big burst began with a special teams play. Devan Boykin returned a fumbled snap by Boston College, which was in punt formation, 34 yards for a score.
Then Leary hit Dylan Parham for a 4-yard touchdown. The next time the Wolfpack had the ball, they took just two plays to score because Thayer Thomas broke free on a 79-yard pass play.
Boston College quarterback Dennis Grosel completed 21 of 39 passes for 194 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Eagles (4-2, 0-2), who've lost two games in a row, were held to 97 rushing yards.
The final points came on a safety in the fourth quarter.
NC State led 10-7 at halftime, with both teams compiling 172 yards of total offense.
Both teams scored on their first possessions with 75-yard drives.
Leary hit Devin Carter on a 40-yard scoring pass on a ball that Carter grabbed off the shoulder of Boston College cornerback Elijah Jones. Grosel connected with Trae Barry on an 8-yard touchdown play.
The teams then combined to punt on five consecutive possessions before Boston College's Connor Lytton missed on a 32-yard field-goal attempt.
Christopher Dunn's 27-yarder for the Wolfpack came on the last play of the first half to conclude a 16-play possession that covered 70 yards.
--Field Level Media
NC State | Boston College | |
Jordan Houston | Player | Pat Garwo III |
8 | Attempts | 11 |
43 | Yards | 50 |
5.4 | Avg Yards | 4.5 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
0 | Long | 0 |
NC State | Boston College | |
Thayer Thomas | Player | Jaelen Gill |
4 | Receptions | 5 |
122 | Yards | 71 |
30.5 | Avg Yards | 14.2 |
1 | Touchdowns | 0 |
0 | Long | 0 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
NC State | 381 | 130 | 251 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3.0 | 0 |
Boston College | 291 | 97 | 194 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 |