The Sports Xchange
Sep 30, 2017
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Nyheim Hines ran for 115 yards and a touchdown as North Carolina State won its fourth game in a row by defeating Syracuse 33-25 in Atlantic Coast Conference football Saturday afternoon at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Hines scored on a 1-yard run with 9:52 remaining to thwart Syracuse's momentum as the Wolfpack (4-1, 2-0 ACC) won their conference home opener.
Hines did his damage on 19 carries as the junior posted a career-high rushing total.
The Wolfpack followed their road upset of Florida State by improving to 2-0 in ACC play for the first time since 2006. It also was N.C. State's 200th all-time victory (200-112-6) in the stadium, which opened in 1966.
N.C. State quarterback Ryan Finley completed 20 of 33 passes for 186 yards. His quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1 with 2:50 remaining helped clinch the outcome.
Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey was 30 of 47 for 385 yards, including a 10-yard pass to Steve Ishmael that enabled the Orange to close within 33-25 with 4:39 left. Dungey scored on a 7- and 1-yard runs and a two-point conversion dive.
The Orange (2-3, 0-1) have given up at least 30 points in each of their losses.
Syracuse scored the only 10 points of the third quarter, pulling within 26-17 on backup kicker Sterling Hofrichter's 37-yard field goal. By then, the game had become chippy with players squaring off after the whistles several times.
A 15-play drive to open the game resulted in Carson Wise's 26-yard field goal for N.C. State. Then on Syracuse's second snap, Johnathan Alston intercepted Dungey's pass. That resulted in Wise's 48-yard field goal.
Syracuse's Cole Murphy missed a 48-yarder before Finley's 20-yard touchdown pass to Stephen Louis with 25 seconds left in the first quarter capped a 70-yard drive.
The Wolfpack's lead grew to 26-7 by halftime on Reggie Gallaspy's 10-yard run and Jaylen Samuels' 16-yard run.
Samuels added 74 rushing yards and 37 receiving yards as N.C. State improved to 10-1 all-time against Syracuse.