Early in the season, most fans wrote off a road game at No. 15 Miami as a sure loss, but a dominant upset of then-No. 8 Georgia Tech created hope for NC State football.
“That’s what I thought the whole week: We’re gonna go play to win,” said sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey. “We’re gonna go win this game.”
You have to dream to have a nightmare.
The Wolfpack (5-5, 2-4 ACC) was hammered by the Hurricanes (8-2, 4-2 ACC), which had 581 yards of offense for a 41-7 final score, the Pack’s biggest loss of the season. The Wolfpack posted nine rushing yards, five punts and zero plays past midfield in a 24-0 first half, failing to move into Miami territory until there were five minutes left in the game. A late rushing touchdown for Bailey was all that saved the Pack from being shut out for the first time in over a decade.
Miami’s run defense ranks seventh in the country, and the unit made its presence felt. It was tough sledding for all of NC State’s 29 rushing yards — its fewest total of the season — and the team struggled to make necessary blocks everywhere on the field.
“Every time you call a play, you see a guy in the backfield on the snap,” said head coach Dave Doeren. “They’re splitting double teams, running around guys, blitzing guys. They played way faster, way more physical than we did tonight.”
The last time these two teams played, NC State kept Miami out of the endzone in a 20-6 win. This time, the Hurricanes found the endzone five times.
“We got it handed to us out there tonight, it’s a bad feeling,” Doeren said. “The highlight of our football team was our punter.”
Two early interceptions thrown by Bailey set the tone for the game.
“We was killing ourselves: penalties, just not [being] on the same page, throwing interceptions,” Bailey said. “We just have to play better.”
Both passes were intercepted by defensive back Jakobe Thomas, who was helping fill in for a Miami secondary missing its star, Keionte Scott, a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. The first was returned for a pick-six, and the second helped set up Miami’s first offensive touchdown.
“[Thomas] is a good player, a long player; he made a lot of plays,” Bailey said. “We just got to fix what we had to do offensively.”
Bailey played high school football in Miami at Chaminade-Madonna Prep, and only received an offer from the Hurricanes after he committed to NC State. His homecoming was a difficult one, as he struggled to settle in and looked uncomfortable for much of the afternoon.
“It’s not good to lose any game, you know what I mean? Even with me being here back at home,” Bailey said. “I just want to run it off and go to the next one.”
NC State looks for a rebound in a home game at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, against Florida State. Night games at Carter-Finley have been kind to the Wolfpack over the years, and the team still needs one more win to qualify for a bowl game, a feat Doeren has achieved in all but two of his 12 prior seasons as NC State’s head coach.
