WINSTON-SALEM, NC. — It wasn’t pretty, and it certainly wasn’t easy, but NC State football remains undefeated after a thrilling 34-24 win at Wake Forest.
“I like winning,” said head coach Dave Doeren. “To quote Bull Durham ‘It’s better than losing’ right? It’s a great feeling that’s what we do this for.”
For the second week in a row, the Wolfpack (3-0, 1-0 ACC) found itself trailing by double digits. With the Demon Deacons (2-1, 0-1 ACC) jumping out to a 14-0 lead, the Pack was in a precarious spot. One slow start from the offense, one untimely penalty or one blown defensive assignment could nail the Pack into a coffin and send the red-and-white’s season into a spiral. NC State remained unfazed as it fought and clawed its way back into the game and ultimately earned its first road win of the season, avenging last year’s 34-30 loss in the rivalry series.
“We’ve been down a couple times, these guys know how to fight back,” Doeren said. “They believe, they don’t flinch, there’s no division. Coaches made good adjustments two weeks in a row and now it’s pretty exciting to go on the road, get your first [road] win and to play the way we did in that second half.”
Once again, NC State’s offense proved to be electric. As his name suggests, redshirt sophomore running back Hollywood Smothers put on a jaw-dropping performance, rattling off 163 yards on the ground. The star back refused to go down time and time again, spinning and jumping his way around opponents. Without Smothers, NC State would not have enjoyed a victory over the Demon Deacons.
While Smothers put NC State’s offense in position to score, sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey finished drives off with perfection. The Miami native threw a trio of touchdowns, while completing 71.9% of his passes —- an efficient, steady showing for the rising star. With receivers running open all night, there was no doubt that the Wolfpack would pile up points on the Demon Deacons.
Even with the offense humming all night, Wake Forest managed to seize an early lead and momentum. With memories of gut-wrenching losses in Winston-Salem flooding into the minds of the Wolfpack faithful, it would be easy to imagine another such loss occurring —- especially with a defense unable to stop a nosebleed early. However, as the game progressed the Wolfpack defense bowed up and stopped Wake Forest’s offense.
The defensive improvement began in the first quarter when redshirt sophomore defensive end Isaiah Shirley scored a thick six — scoring a rare defensive line touchdown. The touchdown evened things up at 14 apiece and showed that the Pack had a fighting chance early.
“It’s always good when you can make the momentum shift,” Shirley said. “That play did that. I’m thankful for the guys supporting me all through practice to make that play come to life.”
Things didn’t truly turn around for NC State’s defense until it found a way to solve its biggest issue — third downs. The Demon Deacons converted their first six third down opportunities, shredding the Pack defense like paper. However, midway through the game things changed. The Pack earned a third down stop, then another and continued making stops all game long, stopping nine straight third attempts to close the game. After struggling to make third down stops last week, the switch is a much-needed sign of improvement for the Pack defense.
“Our mentality, we just dug deep,” Shirley said. “We started playing our brand of football — hard, tough, together.”
With the victory, NC State can breathe a sigh of relief. A quarter of the way through the season, NC State has faced a trio of four-quarter fights, winning each one. After going 3-4 in one possession games last season, the Wolfpack is emphasizing its preparation for high pressure moments — and it’s paying off.
“We needed to come together and that was the thing last year’s team didn’t do,” Doeren said. “A major part of what I wanted in the offseason was to create that chemistry on the team… We’ve been tested, that team hadn’t and so it definitely put us in a better position.”
Next up, NC State will remain on the road and travel to Durham for another Tobacco Road rivalry game at Duke. The Wolfpack and the Blue Devils will kickoff at 4 p.m. with TV coverage available on ESPN2.
