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RALEIGH — North Carolina still has a bowl game on the horizon, but this sun-splashed Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium amounted to N.C. State's bowl game.

And the Wolfpack played like it.

Russell Wilson threw four touchdown passes, Alan-Michael Cash blocked a field goal in the fourth quarter, and N.C. State rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat No. 23 North Carolina 28-27 as both wrapped up the regular season.

In the 99th edition of this rivalry, injury-depleted N.C. State (5-7, 2-6 ACC) beat North Carolina (8-4, 4-4) for the third season in a row, putting a serious dent in the Tar Heels bowl resumé.

"We could play this game in the McDonald's parking lot," Wolfpack wide receiver Owen Spencer said, "and it would still be a big game."

This big game turned around on big plays.

Spencer, who finished with four catches for 130 yards, hauled in 56- and 38-yard touchdowns in the second half to complete the Wolfpack's comeback.

On the first, a well-covered Spencer pinned the ball between his shoulder pad and the side of his helmet — "I didn't even realize what happened until afterward," he said — and on the second he beat Heels safety Da'Norris Searcy on a seam route, catching the ball in stride at the 11 and winning a footrace to the end zone for the winning points.

Wilson made perfect throws on both, standing in and taking a big hit from defensive end E.J. Wilson just as he released the winning pass. It finished an eight-play, 90-yard scoring drive and gave the Wolfpack its first lead with 14:31 left.

"(Russell Wilson) is just an athlete," Carolina coach Butch Davis said. "His ability to throw the football really showed today. We did a good job of keeping him from running, but he is so good at making big plays. When he is able to do that, those are the kind that are back-breakers."

Wilson finished 20-of-27 for 259 yards and four touchdowns, two each to Spencer and Jarvis Williams. Perhaps most important, Wilson protected the ball. Carolina came in with 11 interceptions in its last three games, but N.C. State had no turnovers against the nation's No. 5 defense.

"I think the major thing was when we all-out blitzed, we didn't get (to Wilson)," Heels safety Deunta Williams said. "We left guys on islands for a little while, and those were pretty good receivers we were covering. They were fast and elusive, and they did a good job of making plays."

N.C. State's defense made two more key plays after taking the lead.

Cash, a 6-foot-1 senior defensive tackle, got a hand up and blocked Casey Barth's 38-yard field-goal attempt with 4:44 left. It snapped Barth's string of 16 successful kicks in a row.

"The snap was perfect. The hold was perfect," Barth said. "I have to blame myself on that one. It was a low kick. ... I think I hit it all right, but we'll never know if it would've been good."

Clem Johnson, a senior safety, ended it by intercepting Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates' last pass near midfield with 16 seconds left.

"The Carolina game is big no matter what," Johnson said. "It's been a down year for us, but we were motivated to beat them."

Yates finished 13-of-19 for 280 yards and two touchdowns. The junior led three first-half touchdown drives that lasted 45, 44 and 49 seconds. He threw 35- and 70-yard TD passes to Jheranie Boyd.

But with scouts from the Chick-fil-A Bowl looking on, that lightning quick offense was absent in the second half for Carolina, which now could end up in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn.

"For the next couple of weeks, it's going to be kind of hard to let this one go," Yates said. "We don't have a game for a while, so it's going to have time to really set in. ... It's going to sting for a little bit longer. Obviously, we want to go to the best bowl game possible, but it's not up to us. Not anymore. We've just got to sit back and wait."

N.C. State, meanwhile, celebrated its equivalent of a bowl game Saturday.

NOTES: Toney Baker, N.C. State's redshirt-senior tailback from Jamestown, rushed for 62 yards and caught three passes for 43 yards. The former Ragsdale High star has been granted a sixth year of eligibility because he lost two seasons to knee injuries, but he might decide to enter the NFL draft. ... North Carolina's Kennedy Tinsley, a senior linebacker from Greensboro who starred at Dudley, made two tackles on kickoff coverage in the final regular-season game of his career. ... N.C. State's Evan Dooley, a 6-foot-2 senior wide receiver from Greensboro who starred at Page, dressed for his final game at N.C. State. ... N.C. State weakside linebacker Dwayne Maddox sprained an ankle on the play before Yates' 70-yard TD pass to Boyd. He did not return. ... NFL scouts from the Chargers, Lions and Raiders watched from the pressbox.

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

North Carolina 3 21 3 0 — 27
N.C. State 0 14 7 7 — 28

UNC—FG Barth 31
UNC—Boyd 35 pass from Yates (Barth kick)
NCSU—Ja.Williams 6 pass from R.Wilson (Czajkowski kick)
UNC—J.White 40 run (Barth kick)
NCSU—Ja.Williams 14 pass from R.Wilson (Czajkowski kick)
UNC—Boyd 70 pass from Yates (Barth kick).
NCSU—Spencer 56 pass from R.Wilson (Czajkowski kick)
UNC—FG Barth 20
NCSU—Spencer 38 pass from R.Wilson (Czajkowski kick)
A—57,583.

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs — UNC 17, NCSU 22
Rushes-yards — UNC 34-159, NCSU 41-76
Passing — UNC 322, NCSU 259
Comp-Att-Int — UNC 14-20-1, NCSU 20-27-0
Return Yards — UNC 0, NCSU 13
Punts-Avg. — UNC 4-41.0, NCSU 7-35.6
Fumbles-Lost — UNC 1-1, NCSU 3-0
Penalties-Yards — UNC 10-122, NCSU 5-40
Time of Possession — UNC 28:25, NCSU 31:35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING
North Carolina — J.White 7-83, Houston 17-58, Boyd 4-13, Little 2-5, Yates 4-0.
N.C. State — Baker 17-62, Eugene 12-32, Team 1-(minus 2), R.Wilson 11-(minus 16).

PASSING
North Carolina — Yates 13-19-1-280, Houston 1-1-0-42.
N.C. State — R.Wilson 20-27-0-259.

RECEIVING
North Carolina — Little 6-159, Houston 3-20, Boyd 2-105, Pianalto 2-34, Highsmith 1-4.
N.C. State — Ja.Williams 7-50, Spencer 4-130, Eugene 4-18, Baker 3-43, Davis 2-18.