Oct. 16, 2004

Final Stats |  Notes

By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) - North Carolina State yielded only five first downs and 24 yards passing, and quarterback Jay Davis provided enough offense to help the Wolfpack end a four-game skid against Maryland with a 13-3 victory Saturday.

N.C. State (4-2, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) permitted only 91 yards of offense, 31 after the Terrapins' first drive. The Wolfpack was winless against Maryland since 1999, blowing a second-half lead in all four games, but the nation's third-ranked defense wouldn't allow that to happen again.

It was the second straight defeat for the Terrapins (3-3, 1-2), who one week earlier managed only 81 yards in a 20-7 loss to Georgia Tech. Maryland had won 13 in a row at home before the two-game skid.

Joel Statham went 6-for-11 for 18 yards before being replaced by true freshman Jordan Steffy in the third quarter for the second consecutive week. Steffy completed one of seven passes for six yards.

Four plays after the Wolfpack's Deovonte Edwards fumbled on a punt return, Maryland's Nick Novak kicked a 40-yard field goal with 10:07 remaining to make it 13-3 and ruin N.C. State's bid for its first road shutout since 1977.

Davis went 13-for-30 for 208 yards, including 7-for-13 for 108 yards on third down, after starting running back T.A. McLendon injured his hamstring on the opening series and did not return.

Maryland gained 61 yards and made four first downs on its first possession, but had 53 yards in total offense and remained stuck on four first downs by the time coach Ralph Friedgen called upon Steffy with the Terrapins trailing 13-0.

Steffy's first series resulted in Maryland's seventh straight three-and-out, but he did direct the offense to a first down late in the third quarter - the only one the Terrapins could muster over the final 52 minutes.

N.C. State held the Terrapins to 44 yards of offense in taking a 10-0 lead at the half. It began to rain shortly before halftime, and thousands in the crowd of 52,179 left before the start of the third quarter.

Maryland opened the game with a 14-play drive that appeared to end with Novak kicking a 32-yard field goal, but the Terrapins were called for illegal procedure on the play and Novak missed the subsequent attempt.

The same thing happened to the Wolfpack late in the first quarter, but John Deraney kicked a 32-yard field goal after a procedure penalty wiped out his first try.

N.C. State made it 10-0 on its next possession, moving 60 yards in a drive highlighted by a 30-yard pass from Davis to Darrell Blackman and aided by a fasemask penalty against Maryland on a sack. Reggie Davis ran in from the 1 to cap the nine-play march.

Davis completed three third-down passes totaling 47 yards during the Wolfpack's next possession, which ended with Deraney missing a 32-yard field goal try.

But Deraney kicked a 49-yarder in the third quarter to make 13-0.