COLLEGE PARK -- What a waste.
Maryland squandered a brilliant performance from junior quarterback Scott Milanovich and its best opportunity for recognition in four years, as North Carolina State beat the Terps, 47-45, on Steve Videtich's field goal with six seconds left at Byrd Stadium last night.
Maryland was on the verge of a landmark victory when sophomore Mancel Johnson turned an outside screen into an 11-yard touchdown play and another record-setting pass for Milanovich with 2:19 to go, but a feeling of dread hung over the Terps and most in the crowd of 27,126.
The N.C. State offense never punted, never turned the ball over and never came off the field without a point. The Wolfpack finished with five touchdowns and four Videtich field goals and ,, the clincher came after N.C. State had picked up the final 47 of its 560 yards total offense.
"This hurts worse than any loss I've been associated with here at the University of Maryland," said defensive tackle Jamie Bragg, one of nine senior starters who were denied a victory in their final game at Byrd Stadium. "We just didn't step up and make the plays we needed to."
Maryland (4-5, 2-5) was attempting to win three straight for the first time since 1986, and move above .500 this late in the year for the first time since 1990, the Terps' only winning season in the past eight.
N.C. State (6-2, 4-1) beat the Terps for the fourth straight year, and kept alive its quest for a seventh straight bowl game.
Videtich's field goal was the eighth lead change in one of the wildest affairs ever at Byrd Stadium, as both teams returned a third-quarter kickoff for a touchdown and the offenses combined for 1,030 yards.
Milanovich completed his first 18 passes, and finished 32 of 37 for 332 yards and five touchdowns, raising his career total to 43 and eclipsing the Maryland record set by Boomer Esiason from 1981-83. Senior superback Allen Williams had 88 yards rushing and 75 receiving.
"We [the offense] played better today than at any time that I've been here," said Milanovich, who has thrown 148 pases without an interception. "Late in the third quarter we told ourselves we have to score on every drive."
The Terps were outdone by the Wolfpack, however, as the Maryland defense reverted to last year's form, when it set an NCAA record for yards allowed.
"They're a good football team," coach Mark Duffner said. "They couldn't stop us, but we couldn't stop them."
Following Maryland's last touchdown, N.C. State began on its own 35-yard line with 2:19 to go and all three of its timeouts. The Wolfpack took 11 plays to move to the Terps' 18-yard line. Along the way they lost their best player, wide receiver Eddie Goines, to a knee ligament injury, and got a big break when Maryland freshman defensive lineman Pat Ward was called for a face-mask penalty.
In the end, Videtich was good on his 35-yarder from the right hashmark. His fourth field goal atoned for a rare mistake by last year's all-ACC kicker, who missed a point-after that allowed the Terps to take their final lead.
"I had tremendous confidence in Videtich," N.C. State coach Mike O'Cain said about the winning field goal. "He wasn't going to miss two in a row, I promise you that."
Maryland was down 44-38 heading into the final eight minutes, but the Terps regained the lead at 45-44 by converting two
fourth downs and moving 65 yards for a their sixth touchdown of the game. Milanovich threw 17 yards to Johnson on fourth-and-10 at the N.C. State 31-yard line, and two plays later, Johnson got the Terps' sixth touchdown.
N.C. State had gone ahead, 44-38, with 8:10 remaining, when Carlos King went over from the 1 at the end of a 72-yard drive, but Videtich was wide right on the extra point.
The night's madness reached a peak in the third quarter, when both teams returned a kickoff for a touchdown and the lead changed hands three times in 2:28.
Maryland's second attempt at a trick play on a kickoff worked, as Geroy Simon took a reverse handoff from Jermaine Stewart to start the second half, got a huge block from Angel Guerra, and rambled 94 yards to give the Terps a 28-21 lead.
N.C. State promptly moved 78 yards for a touchdown and another tie. Maryland came back with a 34-yard field goal by Joe O'Donnell, and then made the mistake of putting the ball in Alvis Whitted's hands.
Whitted used his world-class speed -- 10.13 seconds for 100 meters -- on a 97-yard kickoff return that put the Wolfpack back on top, 35-31.
Maryland came right back with a seven-play, 68-yard drive that featured Williams and ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Simon and a 38-35 lead for the Terps.
Videtich's 22-yard field goal knotted it at 38, and the N.C. State defense then delivered a rare and crucial stop, as Maryland was forced to punt on its first possession of the fourth quarter.
The defenses were just as ineffective in the first half, when Milanovich threw for touchdowns to Jermaine Lewis, Johnson and Lewis again. The second touchdown pass to Lewis came with six seconds left in the half, and capped a four-play, 52-yard drive.
N.C. State got only the kickoff before the half ended, the clock being the only thing that stopped its option attack. The Wolfpack got 233 yards passing from Terry Harvey, and Tremayne Stephens and Rod Brown combined for 256 yards rushing.
" Sometimes you have to win with offense, sometimes you have to win with defense, sometimes you have to win with special teams," O'Cain said. "We won with offense tonight."
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Towson 36, Kutztown 31
Samford 40, Morgan 34
Navy 17, Tulane 15
Nebraska 45, Kansas 17
Penn State 35, Indiana 29
Auburn 38, East Carolina 21
Florida 55, S. Mississippi 17
Miami 27, Syracuse 6
Alabama 35, LSU 17
Florida St. 41, Ga. Tech 10
Texas A&M; 34, Texas 10
Duke 28, Virginia 25
Clemson 28, N. Carolina 17
Coverage: 6-11C