The Wolfpack graciously gift-wrapped and hand-delivered a crucial ACC victory to the visitors from Charlottesville Saturday afternoon at Carter-Finley Stadium.

“If they come out and drive 60 or 70 yards and beat you, that’s one thing,” State coach Mike O’Cain said after the Pack (4-3, 1-3 ACC) self-destructed in the second half and lost 47-26. “You can live with that. But when you feel like you put it out there for them to take, it hurts you.”

Virginia (4-3, 3-2 ACC) grabbed with both hands, parlaying three State turnovers and a short punt into 30 unanswered points in the pivotal third quarter. When the period mercifully ended, the fourth-place Cavaliers had turned a 19-10 halftime deficit into a three- touchdown lead.

“It came from nowhere,” said State quarterback Jamie Barnette. “We were moving the ball downfield, running our offense. Then everything started going wrong and there was nothing we could do to control it.”

State cut the field in half when Rahshon Spikes fumbled an errant pitchout from Barnette on his own 48-yard line less than two minutes into the second half. Seven plays later, Thomas Jones — the league’s most-prolific running back this fall — rammed into the end zone from a yard out for the first of his three touchdowns.

“The defense is supposed to get it up and go out and stop them,” said linebacker Levar Fisher, who sat out the second half with a sprained left ankle. “We take a lot of pride in doing that. The guys were hitting, but for some reason we just didn’t get it done.”

The hit parade continued two snaps later when Virginia’s Yubrenal Isabelle picked off a Barnette pass and returned it 29 yards to the State 16. Jones, who rushed for 221 yards and became the league’s first thousand-yard runner, subsequently twisted in from the seven to give the Cavs a 25-19 edge midway through the quarter.

“We didn’t like the way we played in the first half,” Virginia center John St. Clair said after the Cavs amassed 29 first downs and 514 yards total offense. “Too many stupid mistakes. We came out and decided we were starting all over.”

They finished what they started by adding two more touchdowns in the next five minutes. First came QB Dan Ellis’ 41-yard scoring pass on a timing pattern to wideout Billy McMullen. Then, following another State fumble deep in its own end, Ellis connected with Ahmad Hawkins on a 12-yard slant.

“All the turnovers sort of surprised me,” said State running back Carlos Doggett. “I thought we were over that curse.”

In the fourth quarter Virginia used Jones to chew up the clock. The 207-pound senior — a stealth bomber who could emerge as a Heisman candidate — carried nine times for 76 yards in the final period.

“He’s amazing,” said Virginia tight end Casey Crawford. “Thomas makes all of his blockers look good. All you have to do is tie someone up for two seconds and he’s by you. It’s like, ‘Boom, he’s gone, read all about it.’”

For State, the news isn’t so pleasant. The banged-up Wolfpack has enough injuries to fill a medical journal and will limp into Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium next Saturday minus their top two receivers. Chris Coleman dislocated his elbow in last week’s win over Clemson and is out at least a month. Yesterday senior Ryan Hamrick broke his right foot making a reception on the game’s third play from scrimmage. His season is over.

“We have way too many injuries,” said Doggett. “It means the young guys are gonna have to step up. If they don’t, we’re in trouble.”

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