West Virginia enters the game with a 9-3 record and are Co-Champions of the Big East Conference. The Mountaineers were hurt in their quest for the Big East's BCS bid with October losses to UConn and Syracuse. WVU's strength lies in their defense, which ranks 2nd nationally in points allowed and 3rd in yards allowed. The Mountaineers have appeared in eight straight bowl games and were defeated in last year's Gator Bowl by Florida State 33-21. West Virginia has played in the bowl on one previous occasion, in 1995, when it was known as the Carquest Bowl and was played in Miami.
NC State enters the bowl with an overall record of 8-4. The Wolfpack will attempt to win a bowl game for the first time in coach Tom O’Brien’s four seasons in Raleigh. NC State played in the Papajohns.com Bowl in his second season but lost to Rutgers, 29-23. The strength of the Wolfpack is in their passing game, which is ranked number 19 in the country. NC State has appeared in the bowl three previous times, first in 1998 when the game was known as the MicornPC Bowl and was played in Miami, Florida, and then in 2001 and 2003 when it was played in Orlando but was called the Tangerine Bowl.
Game Summary[]
Scoring[]
Scoring Play
Score
1st Quarter
NCSU – Russell Wilson 16 yard pass to Mustafa Greene (Josh Czajkowski kick), 1:37
NCSU 7–0
2nd Quarter
WVU – Geno Smith 32 yard pass to Stedman Bailey (Tyler Bitancurt kick), 2:10
TIE 7–7
NCSU – Josh Czajkowski 45 yard kick, 0:26
NCSU 10–7
3rd Quarter
NCSU – Josh Czajkowski 38 yard kick, 6:05
NCSU 13–7
NCSU – Josh Czajkowski 40 yard kick, 1:50
NCSU 16–7
4th Quarter
NCSU – Russell Wilson 7 yard pass to Jarvis Williams (Josh Czajkowski kick), 3:55
NCSU 23–7
Statistics[]
Statistics
West Virginia
NC State
First Downs
18
21
Total offense, plays-yards
64-324
81-377
Rushes-yards (net)
25-128
36-101
Passes, Comp-Att-Yds
22-39-196
28-45-276
Fumbles-Interceptions
4-1
0-0
Time of Possession
23:14
36:46
Game Notes[]
The two schools have played each other nine times previously, with WVU holding a 5-4 advantage. They have not played since 1979. This will be the third time that they have played in a bowl game, having played in the 1972 and 1975 Peach Bowls. The bowl series between NC State and West Virginia is split, 1-1: the Wolfpack won the 1972 contest 49-13, and the Mountaineers 13-10 victors in 1975.