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RALEIGH -- In Saturday's final 25 seconds, N.C. State's Michael Lemon knew how it felt to be an ACC quarterback. A fellow Wolfpack defensive lineman, Willie Young, had jumped on Lemon in joy, celebrating the sack that effectively secured the Pack's first ACC win of the year.

"Please. Please. Get off of me," Lemon said a few minutes later in recalling his entreaty to Young, author of seven sacks himself on the season.

The Wolfpack's 38-31 victory over Maryland wasn't a work of art, but neither could it be called ugly. And it was worth the momentary discomfort.

"It had been so long," State coach Tom O'Brien said of his team's four-game losing streak. "After what we did in October, we were desperate to win a football game."

No State guys were more desperate than the defenders, who had allowed 42 or more points in three straight games entering Saturday.

You could argue that the most important thing they accomplished this day was unintentional -- end Shea McKeen's hit on the knee of Maryland QB Chris Turner. The play sent Turner to the sidelines for the remainder of the day and left the Terps in the hands of Jamarr Robinson, a redshirt sophomore who hadn't thrown a pass in competition since he was a senior at Charlotte's Myers Park High School in December 2007.

That slowed the Terps' offense, which generated one of its scores on an interception return and another on an 82-yard kickoff return by Torrey Smith. Robinson's mobile, but the Terps couldn't entrust the entire playbook to him.

The Pack, meanwhile, kept going and ultimately secured it on the ground. Toney Baker, finally healthy after an eternity in the rehab room, ran for 75 yards on 19 attempts as State knew it wouldn't necessarily have to score quickly. The game had changed from OK Corral to "OK, let's take a deep breath."

"We knew we had to get our running game going," Baker said. "Coach said it was going to break, and it did."

It was enough that the Pack built a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and left the Terps with 69 yards ahead of them in the final minute. Robinson threatened, but Lemon burst through and sacked him with less than 20 seconds to go. Maryland, out of time outs, was reduced to a last attempt.

"It kinda cleared open for me," Lemon said. "I was surprised it was so clear."

It wasn't much different on the final play, when Lemon smacked Robinson as the quarterback was releasing what he hoped would be a heave into the end zone.

Eventually, every team has to rely on its defense to make a stop or two. The Pack now hopes it's on to something.

"I'm definitely happy," safety Clem Johnson said. "I'm just a little sore."

Maryland 14 7 7 3 -- 31

N.C. State 17 7 7 7 -- 38

NCSt--Bryan 17 pass from R.Wilson (Czajkowski kick)

Md--Meggett 1 run (Ferrara kick)

NCSt--Bowens 35 pass from R.Wilson (Czajkowski kick)

Md--Wujciak 70 interception return (Ferrara kick)

NCSt--FG Czajkowski 48

Md--Turner 1 run (Ferrara kick)

NCSt--Davis 18 pass from R.Wilson (Czajkowski kick)

NCSt--R.Wilson 2 run (Czajkowski kick)

Md--Smith 82 kickoff return (Ferrara kick)

NCSt--Eugene 2 run (Czajkowski kick)

Md--FG Ferrara 31

A--55,631

Maryland N.C. State

First downs 14 31

Rushes-yards 27-108 41-139

Passing 162 343

Comp-Att-Int 17-33-1 25-38-3

Return Yards 97 24

Punts-Avg. 3-43.7 1-41.0

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-1

Penalties-Yards 10-91 3-10

Time of Possession 25:05 34:55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Maryland, Robinson 9-38, Porzel 4-31, Meggett 9-24, Turner 2-7, Logan 1-5, Tyler 1-5, Team 1-(minus 2). N.C. State, Baker 19-75, Eugene 12-52, R.Wilson 9-11, Spencer 1-1.

PASSING--Maryland, Turner 12-19-1-135, Robinson 5-11-0-27, Team 0-2-0-0, Williams 0-1-0-0. N.C. State, R.Wilson 25-38-3-343.

RECEIVING--Maryland, Smith 8-64, Cannon 3-41, Tyler 2-33, D.Campbell 2-13, Jackson 2-11. N.C. State, Ja.Williams 7-107, Davis 4-54, Spencer 3-59, Baker 3-21, Howard 2-20, T.Gentry 2-16, Bowens 1-35, Bryan 1-17, Eugene 1-9, J.Smith 1-5.