SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 6, 2014
North Carolina State 46, Old Dominion 34: Shadrach Thornton rushed for three touchdowns and Jacoby Brissett passed for 253 yards and two touchdowns as the host Wolfpack defeated the Monarchs.
Matt Dayes also scored twice for North Carolina State (2-0) and Stephen Louis caught the scoring pass that put the Wolfpack ahead to stay. Thornton’s third touchdown – a 23-yard scamper with 3:59 to play – gave North Carolina State a 12-point lead and completed the scoring.
Ray Lawry rushed for three touchdowns for Old Dominion (1-1). Taylor Heinicke was 33-for-45 for 274 yards and two scores.
Thornton’s 2-yard scamper with 8:52 left in the third quarter gave the Wolfpack a 25-21 lead before Lawry scored from the 4 with 3:22 to play to put Old Dominion back ahead. Brissett tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Louis to give North Carolina State a 32-28 advantage with 1:01 to play and Dayes scored on a 10-yard run with 12:01 left in the game before Heinicke got the Monarchs within five on a 9-yard scoring pass to Antonio Vaughan.
Thornton scored from 2 yards out with 6:46 left in the opening quarter to give the Wolfpack a 10-7 lead before Lawry scored from the 1 with 1:27 left to put the Monarchs back ahead. Lawry scored on a 2-yard run with 11:10 left in the half for a 21-10 edge and the Wolfpack pulled within three with 32 seconds to go when Brissett hit Dayes on a 7-yard scoring pass and tossed a two-point conversion to Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Thornton rushed for 86 yards while Dayes had 79 rushing yards and 32 receiving yards. … Heinicke raised his career passing-yardage total to 12,029, making him the 24th player in college history to reach 12,000. He finished the game in 23rd place. … Bo Hines led the Wolfpack with four receptions for 61 yards.