N.C. State isn’t quite there yet. The Wolfpack, picked to win the ACC, had a chance to show the basketball world that it has arrived but instead fell at No. 3 Michigan 79-72 in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge.

The Pack, now 4-2, trailed 73-58 before going on a 10-0 run to make it 73-68 with two minutes left. Down 75-70 with 54 seconds left, State forced a turnover and called timeout. State’s C.J. Leslie spun and scored but was called for an offensive foul negating the basket. Leslie and Pack coach Mark Gottfried were irate at the call which basically ended the comeback.

T.J. Warren led the Wolfpack with 18 points and State shot 57 percent. Michigan, which forced State into a halfcourt game, improved to 6-0.

“If that’s the third-best team in the country, and I believe they are, then we’re getting pretty close,” Gottfried said Gottfried. “We’re not a great team yet, but we can get there if we can improve.”

No. 6 N.C. State was favored to win the Puerto Rico Tip-off tournament but Oklahoma State exploded for a 76-56 win as the Pack imploded.

State’s C.J. Leslie got in foul trouble and didn’t start the second half. When he did get in there he committed a foul and cursed the official, picking up a technical that counted as his fifth foul. With Leslie fouled out and sulking on the bench, the Pack didn’t put up much of a fight the rest of the way.

The Pack lost each half by an identical 38-28 score. State, led by Rodney Purvis’ 16 points, managed only 35 percent from the floor and 50 percent from the foul line. In addition, Oklahoma State outrebounded N.C. State 42-27.

The Cowboys’ Le’Bryan Nash led all scorers with 23 points. Leslie scored just two points in 17 minutes.

Boxscore

NC State has a tough assignment playing at Clemson against a team that is averaging 28 points – in the first half alone.

“They’re so explosive on offense,” Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien said. “What they’ve done is they’ve come out and jumped on people right away. I don’t know if you can stop them. I think you have to try to contain them and slow them down.”

O’Brien said a lot of their big plays come off the play-action pass and run fakes. “Certainly you just have to try to control what they do and not give up the big explosive plays that they’re so good at.”

That’s something that hasn’t really be done this season.

“They’ve lost one game on the road to Florida State. They’ve been undefeated I think probably two years at home,” O’Brien said. “Certainly it’s a tough venue to play in. They feed off their crowd, and they have so many big play guys, a quarterback that can beat you with arm or leg, tailbacks catch the ball and run with it, and same thing with their wide receivers. There’s not any one area that you say they’re weak in. They’re strong in all areas, and they put a lot of pressure on your defense.”

NC State coach Tom O’Brien is trying to be philosophical after two losses in a row, including last week’s weak effort against Virginia, as his team prepares to host Wake Forest Saturday.

“I’ve been around long enough to know that – there’s only one team that meets its goals every year, and that’s the team that wins the National Championship,” he said. “You try to win 14 games, that’s what you want to do. Life is about readjusting and setting different goals as you go along.”

Turnovers have derailed the Wolfpack season and have them readjusting their goals. State has turned the ball over just four times during its five wins but have turned it over 19 times in its four losses. “It’s pretty apparent what you have to do to be successful,” O’Brien said.

Combine that with the fact that the Wolfpack was flat against Virginia and beaten in the trenches. Problems with the offensive line and runningbacks have hampered the Wolfpack with their running game. “That’s what happens in college football,” O’Brien said. “That’s why each week you worry about what you’re able to control that week, because you don’t know what team you’re going to have until the trainer tells you who’s going to practice and what you have. And then you take that product and you do the best you can to try to put yourself in the position to win each and every Saturday, and that’s the way it goes.

“And then at the end of the year, you’re either going to make goals like winning seasons, go to bowl games, those things, or you’re not.”

O’Brien on Wake Forest:
“It’s a typical Wake Forest team, a lot of red shirt seniors and juniors, a lot of experience, been in the program for a long time. Certainly the heart and soul of the guys on defense is Whitlock in the middle, No. 50. He’s played for a long time, makes a lot of plays, causes a lot of disruption there. They’re great run-to-the-football, get-after-you type of guys there, and then certainly (Michael) Campanaro is back, and he and (Tanner) Price, they’re on a different wavelength than everybody else. They know where they’re going to be and what they’re going to do, and Josh Harris does a great job when he gets the ball in his hands of making things happen. They’re very inventive with what they do offensively, and the 3-4 allows them to do a lot of different things on defense.”

Despite a disappointing Homecoming loss to Virginia Saturday, NC State can bounce back to become bowl eligible with a win at home against Wake Forest.

NC State, led by QB Mike Glennon, and Wake Forest, led by QB Tanner Price, meet in an Atlantic Division contest at Carter-Finley Stadium (3 p.m, RSN) that will make one team bowl eligible. Both teams come into Saturday’s contest with 5-4 records and need one more victory to qualify for postseason play. The Deacons and Wolfpack will be meeting for the 106th time in a series which has been played every year since 1910 and is the ACC’s longest continuous football rivalry.

Wake Forest junior QB Tanner Price (Austin, Tex.) completed 39 of 57 passes for 293 yards and 3 TDs in the Deacons’ 28-14 win over Boston College. Meanwhile Wake Forest junior WR Michael Campanaro (Clarksville, Md.) tied an ACC single-game record with 16 receptions for 123 yards and three scores against Boston College. Wake Forest sophomore CB Kevin Johnson (Clarksville, Md.) had seven tackles, two pass breakups and a pass interception in the Deacons’ win over the Eagles.

There were fewer positives for the Wolfpack last weekend, however, NC State junior WR Rashard Smith (Dublin, Ga.) averaged 18.7 yards on three punt returns in the Wolfpack’s loss to Virginia.

The Series: NC State leads 62-37-6; NC State leads 41-22-5 at home.
The Coaches: Jim Grobe: 73-71 (12th year) at Wake Forest; 106-104-1 (17th year) overall Tom O’Brien: 38-34 (6th year) at NC State; 113-79 (16th year) overall
Of note: Wake Forest has won five of the last seven meetings between the teams, including a 34-27 victory last year at Winston-Salem … The teams will be meeting for the 103rd consecutive year, making this the longest continuous running series in the ACC … It is the second-most played game in the ACC behind North Carolina-Virginia, which meet for the 107th time on Nov. 15 … WR Danny Dembry scored two touchdowns, and QB Tanner Price threw for 297 yards and a touchdown to lead
the Demon Deacons’ win last season at Winston-Salem.
Next up: Wake Forest at Notre Dame (Nov. 17); NC State at Clemson (Nov. 17)

Virginia 33, NC State 6
The visiting Cavaliers (3-6, 1-4) forced five NC State turnovers and recorded six quarterback sacks while snapping a six-game losing streak on Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C. One of the biggest sacks came from DT Will Hill, who dropped Wolfpack QB Mike Glennon for a safety. The Cavaliers also came up with three interceptions. QB Phillip Sims ran for one touchdown and threw for another, and Kevin Parks rushed for 115 yards and a late 31-yard touchdown for Virginia. Backup QB Michael Rocco added an 18-yard touchdown pass to WR Darius Jennings. The Wolfpack (5-4, 2-3) avoided its first home shutout since 2007 with 6:30 remaining in the game, when Glennon fired a 2-yard touchdown pass to TE Mario Carter.

NC State head coach Tom O’Brien spoke to the media Tuesday.

On North Carolina running back Giovanni Bernard…
“He is a great back. He’s tough to bring down. He has a very powerful lower body and he has great quickness and speed, but it’s their offensive line. They have three seniors up there and a junior at left tackle. In the past, they’ve been kind of like us. We’re starting our fifth different offensive line in seven games. Over there, they’ve had a lot of different moving parts, but they’ve been consistent up front. You look at [Jonathan] Cooper at left guard – he might be a first round guy. Not to take anything away from him [Bernard], because he’s a great back in his own right, but this is the best offensive line we’re going to play against this year.”

On how NC State has controlled the line of scrimmage against UNC the last few years…
“I think they’ve been beat up, banged up when we’ve played them. They’ve had different parts in there than they’ve had in the past. These guys have played every game this far this year. That’s the key to having a good offensive line. Other than having good players that they have is to be cohesive and be playing with the same guys week-in and week-out. They’re the least sacked team in the conference, today.”

On what UNC does offensively…
“it’s similar to what Clemson is doing offensively; similar to what we saw in the second half against Maryland. It’s the Rich Rodriguez offense. It’s what he started back at Tulane, to Clemson, to West Virginia. It’s very similar to that.”

On allowing Maryland to rush for 100 yards last week…
“It’s certainly concerning us when you have to play a [running] back like we’re going to have to play this weekend. We didn’t tackle particularly well in the second half. I think some of it was apprehensiveness on our part because of some of the things that were going on. As I said to the team, I’m going to treat it like it was an opening game after the break, and we have to get much better between the first and second game here in the second half of the season, if we’re going to have any success.”

Whether or not there is cause for concern having played three straight close games…
“No, I think that’s the way college football is. A lot of people are [in] tight games nowadays. It’s seems like it’s getting more like the NFL, week-to-week.”

If the team has gain confidence winning two close games in a row…
“Yeah, I think that’s a big confidence builder, especially for the quarterback. You have to be able to have success in those situations, and then i think the whole team has confidence in the quarterback, and certainly, our kicker gained a lot of success. That’s the first time he’s been put in that situation. We thought that he was special the day that we signed him – that he would be able to handle those situations and be able to kick anywhere on the field – and for him to do that should be a big step forward for him, too.”

On defensive tackle T.Y. McGill’s improvement since the season’s beginning and if he’s considered the anchor of the defensive line…
“I don’t think he’s the anchor. Those are the two guys outside – the more experienced guys – but, he’s getting better and better each and every week. He was forced into action last year, which was a good thing for us. Certainly, he exposed himself in the spring game when he ran Asa Watson down from behind on that one pass [with] some of the speed and quickness he has – power. He’s still learning the position. He’s got a ways to go, but certainly, there’s flashes of him making plays. The kid’s got a great personality. He loves to play the game. Friday, after I said something to the team before we broke the walkthrough to get on [the plane], he said, ‘We’ve got all our bullets right Coach? We’re not gonna’ run out of bullets?’ I said, ‘No, we’ll fire ’em all.’ He understands.”

On talk about the winning streak against North Carolina…
“That’s the way rivalries are – you can’t escape that fact no matter what side of the ledger you’re on in this thing. Certainly, I was at the Army-Navy game when I played in it, coached in it, certainly Virginia-Virginia Tech and then as much at Boston College as we tried to make the Notre Dame rivalry.”

If any of the wins are more special that the others in the rivalry…
“Yeah, I think the one here when Dana [Bible] was sick and missed the game, and the week before we had to go to Blacksburg [Va.] and we had one week to try and get organized on offense to win the game, and what a great job the team did and Russell [Wilson] did and everybody that day – coming back in the second half. We made a big play to get the ball back and then ran the clock out at the end. Because of the circumstances of the game. As Russell said after the game, he threw the ball in the stands, and then he had to go up and get it to give it to Dana. He had to go find the person he threw it to and give them another one. I think that was a little more special than any of the others for those reasons.”

If the players have done a good job getting focused on this game…
“It’s hard to play this game and not know that. That’s what we talk about early in this thing is that there’s certain games that are special because of all the influence on the outside looking in. No matter where you go or what you do, whether it’s in the social media or whether it’s on campus, that’s all that’s going to be talked about, and that’s the way a game against North Carolina is for North Carolina State.”

On how Maryland’s quarterback changes may have altered NC State’s ability to get sacks in the second half last week…
“I think we had one or two, but it was the style of offense for the second half that didn’t allow it. We’re going to have trouble sacking him [Bryn Renner]. He’s only been sacked five times this year. They get rid of the ball quick. He loves to throw the ball to the tight end – he’s a tough matchup for anybody because half the time he’s flexed as almost a wideout. He and [Erik] Highsmith are generally together. They’re both two big guys, and then he [Renner] does a great job screening the ball to Bernard and getting him out of the backfield.”

If he sees similarities between QB’s Mike Glennon and Bryn Renner…
“No, i think they’re different. Renner could play in our offense because he has in previous years, but I don’t think Mike’s that type of guy that’ll run the option. We could ask him to do it, but that’s certainly not his strengths. We wouldn’t do that – maybe.”

If watching the Duke-North Carolina game gave any hints to attacking their run defense…
“We’ve played the top two rushing defenses in our conference back-to-back, and North Carolina’s third, so at least we’re heading in the right direction as far as rush defense are concerned, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. Hopefully, that line we’ve got in there now will stabilize, stay healthy, and they can get better and better as time goes on. The backs are pretty well set as we are right now, going forward, so maybe we can get a little more consistency and run the ball better.”

“In yet another totally bizarre ACC game, NC State beat Maryland 20-18, thanks in large part to Maryland’s missed 33-yard field-goal attempt, which clanked off the upright as time expired.”

– Heather Dinich, ESPN.com

“Wolfpack quarterback Mike Glennon carried the Wolfpack through the two-minute drill at the end of the game, culminating with the game-winning kick from (Niklas) Sade after covering 54 yards in less than two minutes. Even though the N.C. State defense couldn’t hold at the end, it got bailed out by (Brad) Craddock’s missed kick.”

– Satchel Price, SBNation.com

“In a game in which two Maryland quarterbacks excelled after starter Perry Hills left the game with a second-quarter knee injury, Craddock missed a chance to become the biggest hero of all.”

– Jeff Barker, The Baltimore Sun

“I actually thought I hit it pretty well. It’s never good missing one, you know? It hit like the top of the upright.”

– Brad Craddock, Maryland kicker

“Probably the worst thing to happen to us is we knocked the quarterback out of the game.”

– Tom O’Brien, NC State coach

“That was a very disappointing and heartbreaking loss we had out there, but the guys competed and played very hard. They gave everything they had. We put ourselves in a position to win the game there at the end, but we just came up short.”

– Randy Edsall, Maryland coach