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RALEIGH — You know that feeling you get on the first day back at work after a two-week vacation?

You come in relaxed and refreshed, ready to take on the world — and 10 minutes later the workaday stress floods back with a vengeance. You muddle through until lunchtime, catch your second wind and finally you're back on the job.

So it was with N.C. State on a rainy Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Sophomore quarterback Russell Wilson led three straight scoring drives late in the second half and the defense finished with a goal-line stand as the Wolfpack (3-1) rallied from a 14-point deficit to defeat Pittsburgh (3-1) 38-31.

Coming off a glorified two-week vacation -- back-to-back victories over FCS opponents Murray State and Gardner-Webb — N.C. State fell behind early, tackled poorly, botched clock management, drew 12 penalties and missed two chip-shot field goals.

"Right now," Pack coach Tom O'Brien said through gritted teeth, "we're not a good football team and I'm not a good coach."

Yet, the Wolfpack won. Here's how:

l Wilson was terrific. He completed 21 of 35 passes for 322 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran 10 times for 91 yards, including a pivotal 21-yard scramble on fourth-and-14 from the Pitt 28.

"We were (planning on) throwing the ball there," Wilson deadpanned and winked. "That was big for us. I just got an opportunity to run and took off and made sure I got the first down."

The scramble set up a 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end George Bryan that tied it at 31 with 12:26 left.

l Toney Baker was terrific. The fifth-year senior halfback from Jamestown ran for 81 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, and he caught three passes for 71 more yards and another touchdown.

"We went through a lot of adversity tonight, and I think we showed we're a resilient football team," Baker said. "The key is we just kept fighting to get the victory. &ellipses; We never stopped believing we could win."

Baker, a former News & Record prep player of the year for Ragsdale, showed the explosiveness and moves that made him a prized recruit before two knee surgeries robbed him of two seasons.

"I feel like I've been getting better each week," Baker said. "I feel like I'm getting a little faster, I'm playing smarter, just getting more into the offense."

He turned a short pass over the middle into a 38-yard touchdown with a sharp cut to evade one defender and a leap into the end zone to elude another.

That touchdown tied it at 17, and Baker's 2-yard burst between the left guard and tackle later in the second half capped N.C. State's comeback, making it 38-31 with 6:28 left.

l Brandan Bishop was terrific. Just when it looked like N.C. State's offense would give the game away, the freshman safety made two fine plays in the goal-line stand that won it.

Sitting on the 38-31 lead, N.C. State's best offensive lineman -- center Ted Larsen — snapped the ball over Wilson's head on a third-down play. Pitt's Max Gruder recovered the loose ball, giving the Panthers first-and-goal from the N.C. State 8 with 2:45 left.

The Pack stuffed a running play on first down. On second down, Pitt quarterback Bill Stull completed a pass to tight end Dorin Dickerson, who had one man to beat. Bishop made a textbook solo tackle, dropping Dickerson for a 1-yard loss.

On third down, Stull went to Dickerson again, this time in the back of the end zone. Bishop slammed into the receiver and knocked the ball out of his hands.

Stull's fourth-down pass under pressure was close to no one, and N.C. State got the ball back.

And now the vacation is officially over. The Wolfpack awoke at halftime and finished its first day back at work, casting its eyes ahead to next week's conference opener at Wake Forest when the work really begins.

"It's a great win," Baker said, "but the point is we got a lot of things to clean up. The type of stuff that happened today will get you beat in the ACC."

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

Pittsburgh 10 7 14 0 — 31
N.C. State 7 3 14 14 — 38

Pitt—Lewis 6 run (Hutchins kick)
Pitt—FG Hutchins 35
NCSU—T.Gentry 23 pass from R.Wilson (Czajkowski kick)
Pitt—Lewis 7 run (Hutchins kick)
NCSU—FG Czajkowski 25.
NCSU—Baker 38 pass from R.Wilson (Czajkowski kick)
Pitt—Saddler 13 pass from Stull (Hutchins kick)
Pitt—Baldwin 79 pass from Stull (Hutchins kick)
NCSU—Ja.Williams 33 pass from R.Wilson (Czajkowski kick)
NCSU—Bryan 7 pass from R.Wilson (Czajkowski kick)
NCSU—Baker 2 run (Czajkowski kick)
A—57,583.

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs — Pitt 11, NCSU 27
Rushes-yards — Pitt 23-94, NCSU 46-208
Passing — Pitt 206, NCSU 322
Comp-Att-Int — Pitt 12-23-0, NCSU 21-35-0
Return Yards — Pitt 7, NCSU 18
Punts-Avg. — Pitt 6-45.5, NCSU 3-45.7
Fumbles-Lost — Pitt 0-0, NCSU 4-1
Penalties-Yards — Pitt 8-80, NCSU 12-81
Time of Possession — Pitt 22:53, NCSU 37:07

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING
Pitt — Lewis 19-95, Graham 2-6, Saddler 1-1, Stull 1-(minus 8).
N.C. State — R.Wilson 10-91, Baker 18-81, Eugene 16-59, Team 2-(minus 23).

PASSING
Pitt — Stull 12-23-0-206.
N.C. State — R.Wilson 21-35-0-322.

RECEIVING
Pitt — Dickerson 4-52, Baldwin 2-98, Saddler 2-17, Turner 1-26, Lewis 1-6, McGee 1-4, Byham 1-3.
N.C. State — Davis 4-47, Bryan 4-28, Baker 3-71, Graham 3-63, Eugene 3-27, Ja.Williams 2-37, Howard 1-26, T.Gentry 1-23.