D’Eriq King was challenged by the NC State defense to beat them with his arm.
Not only did King rise to the challenge, he succeeded through the air and on the ground.
King accounted for 535 yards and five touchdowns, including a go-ahead 54-yard touchdown pass to Mike Harley in the closing minutes, to lift No. 11 Miami to a 44-41 win over NC State on Friday night.
“I was just super, super confident in our team,” King said. “I honestly had no doubts that we were going to win that game. I just wanted a chance at the end to go down there and score.”
An interception by DJ Ivey on the ensuing possession helped seal the win for the Hurricanes (6-1, 5-1) who overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
“Wow, what a game, what a great win,” head coach Manny Diaz said. “Credit to NC State, they gave us all that we could handle.”
King threw for a season-high 430 yards on 31-of-41 passing and tossed touchdown passes to Will Mallory, Dee Wiggins, Mark Pope, and two to Harley, who finished with eight receptions for 153 yards. King also rushed for 105 yards on 15 carries.
“What D’Eriq King did tonight was phenomenal,” Diaz said. “Throwing for 430 and running for 105, that’s absolutely remarkable and was at his best when his best was needed.”
It was the sixth time in the last 20 years in college football that a quarterback has passed for 400 and five touchdowns and rushed for 100 yards. King has done it twice, also at Houston in 2018.
Miami, which racked up 620 yards of total offense, will move into a tie for second place in the ACC after this week’s games with the top teams, Clemson and Notre Dame, both unbeaten and slated to play Saturday.
“This team has something about it that we can find a way to win the game,” Diaz said. “To find a way to win a game like that on the road against a team that was playing very well and for that, I’m very proud.”
NC State (4-3, 4-3) built a 41-31 lead in the fourth quarter behind a balanced offensive attack with 410 total yards (279 passing, 131 rushing) combined with a pivotal 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Zonovan Knight, who scored twice.
Christopher Dunn hit a 53-yard field goal to give NC State a 41-31 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The Hurricanes pulled with 41-34 on a 38-yard field goal by Jose Borregales on the ensuing drive.
After a defensive stop, King delivered on a key drive. He reeled off a 28-yard run and then two plays later withstood a hit in the pocket while threading a 14-yard strike to Pope down to the NC State 9.
“I felt confident, I was letting it rip all night,” King said. “I kept throwing the ball and running the ball when I had to. I just played free.”
King ran the ball down to the 1 to bring up a fourth down. But a false start by Jarrid Williams prompted Diaz to bring on the field goal unit instead of going for it and Borregales calmly knocked in a 22-yarder to pull within 41-37 with 6:12 left.
“As a competitor I wanted to stay on the field, but it made sense to kick the field goal,” King said. “It showed what type of coach Diaz is, he trusts the defense.”
Diaz’s decision proved to be correct.
“I thought the key was the run game and in the first half they were able to run the ball and it felt like once we stopped the run game we would make plays in the passing game,” Diaz said.
Miami’s defense struggled most of the night, but came up with a big stop when Te’Cory Couch sacked Bailey Hockman to force a punt.
“There’s a lot of disappointing things, but when they needed to make plays, the guys believed in each other and they found a way to get it done,” Diaz said.
Gurvan Hall lost five yards on the punt return and then King was flagged for intentional grounding on the first play giving Miami a 2nd-and-18 with under four minutes left on the pivotal drive.
King made up for the penalty on the next play by connecting for Harley down the middle for 35 yards.
“Mike made a great catch and that play really got us going,” King said.
Three plays later he found Harley over the middle and Harley used his speed to run untouched for the final 30 yards for a 54-yard score, giving Miami a 44-41 lead with 2:43 left.
“When you have a quarterback like D’Eriq King, you never feel like you’re out of the game,” Diaz said. “We felt like we could score on them and felt like we could beat them down the field and that ended up being true.”
Ivey intercepted a pass on the first play by Hockman, ending NC State’s upset attempt.
Jose Borregales hit a 36-yard field early in the third quarter to tie the game at 24.
Knight’s 1-yard touchdown run gave NC State a 31-24 lead.
After King’s fourth touchdown pass of the night, a 17-yarder to Pope, to tie the game at 31, Knight responded with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown for a 38-31 lead, setting up an exciting fourth quarter.
Both teams scored a touchdown on their first two possessions to begin the game as the teams were knotted at 14 at the end of the first quarter.
NC State opened the scoring on a trick play as quarterback Bailey Hockman caught a 31-yard touchdown on a throwback pass from Thayer Thomas.
Miami countered with a nine-play, 75-yard drive, which nearly was a three-and-out. Instead, Diaz elected to go for it on 4th-and-1 from their own 34 and King responded with a 42-yard run. King eventually found Mallory for a 3-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7.
Hockman hooked up with Devin Carter for an 11-yard touchdown score, beating Ivey on coverage down the sideline for a 14-7 lead.
A 39-yard touchdown pass from King to Wiggins kept the Hurricanes on pace with the Wolfpack for a 14-all tie.
The Hurricanes took their first lead of the game in the second quarter when King dropped in a 20-yard touchdown pass to Harley, who made an over-the-shoulder grab running towards the back pylon for a 21-14 advantage.
Dunn’s 42-yard field goal cut the deficit to 21-17 and then the Wolfpack went ahead 24-21 on Hockman’s nine-yard touchdown pass to Cary Angeline.
The score remained as NC State took a 24-21 lead into the break.
“At halftime we were on the ropes,” Diaz said. “The leadership of this team came into the locker room at halftime and calmed everybody down.”
Christopher Stock has covered the Miami Hurricanes since 2003 and can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] and on Twitter @InsideTheU.
