NC State’s long-circled trip Saturday night to Clemson didn’t go how the Wolfpack wanted, as the Tigers took full control of the ACC Atlantic Division with a 30-20 win.

Now the Pack’s hopes of winning an ACC title for the 1st time since 1979 have significantly dwindled, as NC State would have to run the table and pray for 2 ACC losses for a Clemson team that clearly is once again the cream of the crop in the league.

The Wolfpack had a prime chance to shift the tide, to win a top-10 matchup for the 1st time in program history while showing this season it was the pride of the ACC. Instead, it was a familiar result for a team that has come up just short at Clemson a handful of times.

“Heartbroken,” quarterback Devin Leary said. “Honestly, a little bit heartbroken and a little bit pissed off just because we walked off that field knowing that we didn’t play to our best ability. We had very high aspirations, high expectations going into this game. We thought we prepared well, but we didn’t execute.”

It was a disappointing result from a game that had had all of the buildup for NC State. The Pack finally beat Clemson at home last year. With an experienced team and ranked among the top 10 for the 1st time since 2002, this was the Wolfpack’s chance.

“It’s a big missed opportunity for us,” linebacker Isaiah Moore said. “We realize that. But we’ve still got a long season ahead. There’s a lot at stake. But this one hurt. We had an opportunity to continue to be in the driver’s seat, and we missed out on it.”

Despite the defeat at Death Valley, all is not lost for this Wolfpack squad that is one of the best in program history. While Saturday’s loss makes the Pack’s hopes of an ACC Championship Game appearance during December all but lost, the chance technically is still there. The Coastal Division has shown us that crazy things can happen. Maybe that chaos will leak over into the Atlantic during the final season of ACC divisions.

“The championship game wasn’t played tonight,” Moore said. “We’ve still got a lot at stake for us. There’s a long season ahead. We’ve got a really good Florida State team at home next week, so we’ve got to be able to reset and get back to work.”

And even apart from the ACC title game, there’s still plenty ahead for NC State. In 2021, the Wolfpack was denied a chance at the program’s first 10-win season since 2002, as the Holiday Bowl was canceled the day of the game.

That 10-win mark meant a lot to NC State’s team as it headed toward the Holiday Bowl date, and there’s no reason it shouldn’t mean the same this year.

The Pack still has a chance to set school history, to win a marquee ACC bowl game and finish out this window of opportunity with another winning season.

That will start next weekend at Carter-Finley Stadium, where NC State will face the challenge of a 1-loss Florida State team.

The Wolfpack still has a ton to play for. It can’t lick its Clemson wounds for long, and with an experienced group it won’t.

“We go to the next game,” coach Dave Doeren said. “We can’t sit here and say, ‘What if?’ It’s a long season. There’s a lot of games left. All we can control is next week. We have to focus on getting ready for Florida State, taking it 1 game at a time and seeing where we end up.”