This is said to be one of the 100 College Football Games of All Time, according to CollegeFootballNews.com.
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No. 80 – NC State 23 … South Carolina 22
November 1, 1986
At the time: NC State was in the midst of a strong first season under head coach Dick Sheridan with a 5-1-1 record and a two-game winning streak after a 27-3 win over a good Clemson team. South Carolina was going nowhere fast with a 2-4-1 record with one of the wins coming over DI-AA Western Carolina.
The setup: NC State was up 17-3 going into halftime but lost starting QB Erik Kramer early in the second half to a leg injury. USC’s Todd Ellis hooked up with Sterling Sharpe for a touchdown and it became a ballgame again at 17-13. Kramer came back in the game, but he fired two interceptions in the fourth quarter leading to Gamecock points. Ellis ran for a one-yard score, and USC was up 22-17 late with the ball with 2:13 to play and with NC State out of timeouts. It should’ve been over. A handoff followed by two kneel-downs made it fourth down for USC on its own 24 with :30 to play (thanks to a controversial clock stoppage after first down). NC State got the ball back on the USC 39 with :24 to play after a 15-yard punt, but couldn’t do anything as Kramer was sacked on third down and the clock ran out. However …
The ending: … there was a flag on the field. USC LB Kenneth Robinson was nailed with an offsides call. Many Gamecock fans had already stormed field, along with the players, but they had to be cleared for one final play. Kramer threw up a last-gasp pass into the end zone (as he aggravated his ankle injury) where Danny Peebles pushed off, leapt up and made the catch as USC safety Chris Major delivered a major shot. NC State won 23-22.How they ended up: South Carolina lost the following week to Florida State before beating Wake Forest and Tying Clemson to finish 3-6-2. NC State blew its shot at the ACC title the following week losing 20-16 to Virginia, but still went on to an 8-3-1 season finishing with a 25-24 Peach Bowl loss to Virginia Tech.
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Not sure if this is really a great game if we lost but was a heck of a game; I kinda think of great games being those we win but I can see why this made the list….any thoughts?
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