RALEIGH, N.C. — If this was goodbye for Russell Wilson at home, it was an impressive way to go.
Wilson threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in what might have been his final home game to lead North Carolina State past Wake Forest 38-3 on Saturday.
Wilson was 24 of 35 for 300 yards with touchdowns covering 4 yards to Jarvis Williams and 38 yards to Owen Spencer, and scored on runs of 1 and 2 yards for the Wolfpack (7-3, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). The junior quarterback, who was honored before the game along with 19 seniors, hasn't decided whether he'll return for one more season or continue his pro baseball career.
No need to rush that decision yet, though — the priority now is keeping the Wolfpack's surprising season rolling.
"Every day, I try to push myself to be the best that I can be, no matter if I'm running the ball, throwing the ball, whatever. I try to do the same thing for the rest of the guys ... because we've got a lot of talent on this team," Wilson said. "We can be special, but we have to work at it every single day.
"That's what it was about for us."
N.C. State scored on four of six second-half possessions to pull away. On the other side of the ball, linebacker Nate Irving — who didn't play in 2009 as he recovered from injuries suffered in a grisly car accident — had eight tackles behind the line of scrimmage and 13 total stops.
The Wolfpack outgained the Demon Deacons 387-188 to keep control of the Atlantic Division with road trips to North Carolina and Maryland looming.
"Going forward, it's another win, and it gives you a chance to move on, again, controlling your destiny, where you have to go and what you have to do," coach Tom O'Brien said. "Now we have to go on the road again. It's not an easy road, but we're still alive and have a chance to get to Charlotte (for the ACC title game). The road has to go through Chapel Hill now."
Wake Forest (2-8, 1-6) lost its eighth straight game, its longest slide since dropping its last 10 in 1978. The Demon Deacons had lost all four previous road games by an average of 38½ points, with none closer than 31.
"This losing stuff is getting old," linebacker Kyle Wilber said.
Determined to keep this one competitive for as long as possible, Wake Forest shortened this one by relying on its running backs, outrushing the Wolfpack 110-59.
But the Demon Deacons' brutal season might be best summarized by a telling sequence of plays.
After breaking up a third-down pass in the end zone, safety Alex Frye leaped to celebrate with teammate Cyhl Quarles — and promptly crumpled to the field with an apparent knee injury, though he later appeared to be OK on the sideline. Lovell Jackson then muffed the Wolfpack punt and Earl Wolff recovered at the Wake Forest 17. Two plays later, Wilson scampered in from 2 yards out to make it 24-3.
"We're playing hard, but you can't have experienced players making mistakes," coach Jim Grobe said. "We're playing a lot of freshmen, but our upperclassmen are making too many mistakes."
Wilson also sneaked in to cap N.C. State's next possession. His curtain call came with 9:55 left, following a 19-yard pass to Spencer. He jogged off the field to an ovation from the Carter-Finley Stadium crowd.
"It could be my last time — I'm not sure yet — so coach wanted me to get out there (during pregame introductions), just in case," Wilson said. "Obviously, I love N.C. State, I love this football team, and the teams of the past too, and of the future. It's been a great experience for me, but we've still got more work to do, and, hopefully, more games to win."
Spencer finished with seven catches for 138 yards, and he and Wilson teamed to give the Wolfpack some breathing room on their first possession of the half. He took a short pass from Wilson and slipped through the left side to give N.C. State a two-touchdown lead.
That broke open what had been a tight game for a half. Wilson's pretty 50-yard pitch-and-run to Williams midway through the second quarter set up the only touchdown of the opening 30 minutes. Wilson swung a screen pass to Williams at the Wake Forest 4, and the senior receiver powered into the end zone to make it 10-3 and put N.C. State ahead to stay.
Freshman Chris Hawthorne, in his first game in place of injured kicker Josh Czajkowski, kicked a 25-yard field goal to cap the Wolfpack's opening drive.
Wake Forest drove inside the N.C. State 5 twice in the first half but its only points came on Jimmy Newman's 19-yard field goal early in the second quarter. The Demon Deacons were stuffed on fourth-and-goal in the final minute of the half.
"We knew field goals wouldn't win the game," Grobe said. "We knew they would score some points. We knew our defense couldn't shut them down for four quarters."