By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer

RALEIGH — Kevin Concepcion looked very bit like the big-play star No. 24 N.C. State needs him to be. Good thing, too, considering the Wolfpack had a heck of a time pushing their way past a Championship Subdivision opponent to open a season with high expectations.

Concepcion slithered free from contact and broke loose to the right for a 35-yard catch-and-run touchdown — his third score of the night — to help N.C. State finally take the lead for good and beat Western Carolina 38-21 on Thursday night.

“I would just say my mindset,” Concepcion said of what was working best. “If nobody else is going to do it, then it might as well be me.”

The sophomore whose rise helped fuel last year’s second-half surge had a diving 17-yard scoring catch over the middle in the first quarter along with a 5-yard catch-and-run to the left pylon in the second. He finished with nine catches and 121 yards as a highlight in what was at times a slog for N.C. State — and other times an unexpectedly tense test against the 19th-ranked team from the FCS coaches poll.

The game was tied at 14-all at halftime and Western Carolina led 21-17 going into the final quarter before the Wolfpack began to wear down the Catamounts.

“Obviously a game we’d have loved to have played better in the first half,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said. “But I’m not going to apologize for winning either.”

Concepcion’s highlight-reel effort put the Wolfpack ahead for good, then Jordan Waters — a transfer from nearby Duke — shook off what had been a rough debut to that point by keeping his legs churning through multiple tacklers for a 7-yard TD that pushed N.C. State to a 31-21 lead with 6:33 left.

Waters sealed this one by breaking free for a 50-yard scoring sprint with 1:50 left in what morphed into a 123-yard rushing day, while Coastal Carolina transfer Grayson McCall threw for 318 yards in his first game in Wolfpack red.

“I also think our guys woke up a little bit and just started playing better,” Doeren said. “That’s why you play games, man. You’ve got to go out there and learn where you’re at.”

Cole Gonzales threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Catamounts, while Branson Adams wiggled his way through the middle for a 17-yard scoring run and that 21-17 lead with 4:36 left in the third.

“We did exactly what we wanted them to do and what we’d been coaching them to do,” WCU coach Kerwin Bell said. “Everybody talks about upsets, but dadgummit, there’s no upset unless you play good early, unless you stay in the game and play good consistent football and take care of the football. We did that.”

The takeaway

Western Carolina: The in-state Catamounts, picked to finish third in the Southern Conference, fell to 0-63 all-time against Bowl Subdivision opponents. Those struggles include eight losses to N.C. State, nine losses to ranked FBS teams and 34 losses to Atlantic Coast Conference opponents. Despite breaking in new coordinators on both sides of the ball, they hung in on this one with opportunistic play and by largely stuffing N.C. State’s attempts to run the ball.

N.C. State: The good news is Doeren opened his 12th season with a win. But this was an often-bumpy outing, starting with dropping a potential pick-6 on the game’s first offensive snap and including twice being stuffed on fourth-and-1 running plays by Waters. That means there’s plenty to work on with a marquee matchup looming for a team picked to finish fourth in the ACC.

Poll implications

The struggles against an FCS team at home could cost the Wolfpack some support near the back of next week’s AP Top 25 poll.

(Slight) delay

Kickoff was delayed by about a half-hour to around 7:30 p.m. due to lightning in the area. Students who had begun to fill the stands to watch warmups had to leave the bleacher areas at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Up next

Western Carolina: The Catamounts have their home opener against instate foe Campbell on Sept. 7.

N.C. State: No. 15 Tennessee awaits the Wolfpack in Charlotte on Sept. 7.