In the end, Glennon was right choice for Wolfpack

Shopping seems so simple at the Belk Bowl.

You beat a not-quite-there Big East team 31-24 and stroll over to the Home Department to collect your trophy, a crystal football with ridges and grooves for easy gripping.

N.C. State mastered its checklist and walked away with the flashy prize Tuesday night, building a three-touchdown lead before holding off Louisville 31-24.

Quarterback Mike Glennon threw three touchdown passes, completed 21 of 33 attempts for 264 yards and treated the football like delicate crystal, with one interception. He won the most valuable player award while culminating his unspoken campaign to break through the invisible glass ceiling created by predecessor Russell Wilson's brilliance.

Glennon is a 6-foot-6 junior on the roster but a college graduate on the registry. He delivered three touchdown passes in the 37-13 upset of No. 7 Clemson and threw five more as State came from 27 points down to beat Maryland 56-41.

His 31 touchdown passes tied Wilson for No. 2 in school history, only three short of Philip Rivers' greatest season.

Coach Tom O'Brien awarded Glennon the starting job last spring as Wilson began his second pro baseball season. The coach wanted a quarterback who would practice in the spring and summer. The coach didn't want the drama of watching Wilson weigh a State return against specializing in baseball or taking his last season of eligibility elsewhere.

Wilson, complaining that he wanted only to compete for his old position, left State and the South Atlantic League behind. He will direct Wisconsin's offense when the Big Ten champs meet Oregon in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2.

Glennon had similar grad-student options and two seasons remaining. State fans debated the trade-offs all year, while Wilson flourished in high-profile national games and State (8-5) fluctuated.

"I really tried not to worry about it too much the whole time," Glennon said. "I knew he was a great player and he would do great wherever he ended up, but I was also confident in myself, and my teammates felt very confident in me, so I knew with how the coaches prepared me that I would do just fine this year."

In July, O'Brien said that Glennon's transfer leverage played no role in his quarterback decision. When a reporter asked O'Brien about vindication at midnight Tuesday, the coach hummed a different tune.

"I never had to feel vindicated by any of that," O'Brien said. "That would never be my goal once I made a decision. I don't care what people think. I made my decision that was best for this football team going forward, and when I made the decision — weighing all options and looking at the talent that this kid has — I knew that we would have a quarterback at school. I wouldn't have been sure if I went the other way if Russell Wilson would ever come back to school. So, when I made the decision, I think I made the right choice, and I don't have to feel vindicated by anybody."

O'Brien paused, nodded toward Glennon and grinned. "But," O'Brien said, "he helped me."

There were other helpers at the Belk. Senior receiver-returner T.J. Graham snagged two touchdown passes, kicking into warp speed on a catch-and-carry 68-yarder. Sophomore cornerback David Amerson made a phenomenal interception — a ballet of pure larceny, over the top of a freshman receiver's helmet — followed by a tackle-slipping, meandering run of 65 yards for the final State touchdown.

Amerson, second on the NCAA list for single-season interceptions with 13, pried another interception away from a teammate and silenced the Cardinals' final Hail Mary prayer.

"Tunnel vision," Amerson said.

The Wolfpack saw beyond the checkout counter this season and envision brighter days ahead. State could use more beef in the running game, more receivers and a favorable stay-or-go NFL decision by junior linebacker Terrell Manning, but most big-ticket items remain intact.

Best of all, State gets one last season from a quarterback whose arm now looks a lot more like gold than glass.