Six of the last eight games between N.C. State and Wake Forest were determined by 10 points or fewer, and in the FBS’ second-longest consecutive rivalry, things were bound to get wild.
The Demon Deacons made an emphatic opening statement in Winston-Salem, setting the tone for what would be a back-and-forth contest for the 116th straight meeting between the two squads.
Wake Forest (2-1) took a two-touchdown lead early in the first, but N.C. State (3-0) responded to win, 34-24, on Thursday night. The Wolfpack picked up just its fourth road win over Wake since 2000 and earned its first 3-0 start since 2022. It was the fourth comeback win in the last two seasons after trailing by 10 points at halftime.
The Deacs were impressive from the first play after wide receiver/kick returner Chris Barnes sprinted down the left sideline, untouched, his speed reaching 23 mph on the run. The N.C. State defenders trailed several steps behind, unable to keep up with the speedy receiver who scored on the kickoff return and put Wake Forest ahead.
Barnes hauled in a deep ball for a gain of 70 yards on the Deacs’ second drive of the game. Wake Forest scored three plays later to end the 93-yard drive, looking like it had all the momentum.
Except N.C. State was not about to go down quietly. Not against an in-state rival.
The Wolfpack, led by quarterback CJ Bailey, scored on its second offensive drive to cut the lead to one score. Bailey and running back Hollywood Smothers combined for 52 yards on the ground to move the chains to give N.C. State favorable field position.
Defensive end Isaiah Shirley came up with the second big touchdown, intercepting a pass from Wake Forest quarterback Robby Ashford. Shirley ran for a 41-yard touchdown; his play included a slick stutter step roughly 20 yards from the end zone to evade Ashford’s attempted tackle and tie the game 14.
The teams traded points for the remainder of the first half before the Wolfpack took control in the second, holding Wake Forest scoreless.
“Before the game, their head coach said they gotta be tougher than us. He was like, ‘We gotta show who’s really the toughest team on the field. We gotta grind for it,’” said N.C. State tight end Justin Joly. “And that’s exactly what we did and exactly what we wanted.”
Smothers led the Wolfpack with a career-high 164 rushing yards, his second consecutive 100-yard game. Joly added two touchdowns on just 22 receiving yards.
Bailey completed 23 of 32 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns. Wake Forest’s Ashford completed 21 of 35 passes for 252 yards, zero touchdowns and two interceptions. Star running back Demond Claiborne was held to 35 rushing yards on 12 carries and one touchdown. N.C. State allowed just 59 rushing yards in the game — 4 in the second half.
“I love winning. And to quote Bull Durham, ‘It’s, like, better than losing, ‘” N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren said. “It’s a great feeling, man, that’s what we do this for. We don’t go in there to lose games. It’s all about winning.”
Here’s what we learned from the Wolfpack’s win
Early defensive struggles on third down
Wake Forest’s offense had few issues on third down in the opening half, the second opponent to have success against N.C. State’s defense on conversion opportunities.
The Demon Deacons started the game 6 for 6 on third down. They failed to convert on two opportunities late in the second quarter, going 6 of 8 before the break. One failed conversion, however, still resulted in a 28-yard field goal.
N.C. State’s defense was better in the second half, holding the Deacs scoreless after the break. Wake Forest finished 6 of 15 on third down chances, missing its final nine chances.
This comes less than a week after the Wolfpack allowed Virginia to convert on 13 of 19 third down opportunities. The Cavaliers were 10 of 13 at halftime and did not go three-and-out at any point of the game.
“I was really disappointed with our third down defense in the first half, and that was really the story of the half,” Doeren said during his press conference on Monday. “We have to win our share of critical downs.”
After another slow start, the Wolfpack finally did that in the second half to fuel the comeback win at Wake Forest.
Defense contributes big second half
The defense’s consistency remains to be a question mark for the Wolfpack.
It has made great plays in the first three games, but it hasn’t consistently shown the same kind of physicality, speed and toughness on which N.C. State prides itself.
For example, on two of Wake Forest’s big plays, N.C. State got beat in coverage.
Barnes’ 70-yard reception was made possible by the defenders playing closer to the line of scrimmage as he hauled it in on the right sideline. Safety JJ Johnson, who ultimately left the game with an undisclosed upper extremity injury, was in shallow coverage, while it took Brody Barnhardt committing a horse collar tackle for a penalty to force Barnes out of bounds.
Later in the first half, tight end Eni Falayi gained 42 yards for the Deacs. The original play was extended after adding 24 yards after the catch, with linebacker Caden Fordham slow on the coverage.
The defense, however, stepped up in the third and fourth quarters — something it did in the previous game — to retake the lead. It forced four straight three-and-outs and held Wake Forest without a first down for more than 30 minutes of game time.
Defensive end Sabastian Harsh, one of the team’s best defenders, was called for targeting late in the fourth quarter. He lowered his helmet and hit Ashford helmet-to-helmet as he was sacked by Cian Slone, the replay officials ruled. He missed the remainder of the game and will be out in the first half against Duke on Sept. 20, per NCAA rules. Ronnie Royal followed up the penalty with an interception on the next play.
“I was really disappointed in the targeting call. I’m going to tell you. I thought that that was not a good call,” Doeren said in his post game press conference. “Last year we lost Grayson McCall to a play that wasn’t targeting, but that was today. I’d love an explanation on that. I thought that was about as clean as you could do what he did when the guy was running the football.”
N.C. State’s win featured some great moments. It also had ones when it felt like the Pack regressed, and it could use fewer major swings.
While the Wolfpack would like to have a defense it can depend on for all four quarters, right now, it’s only getting two. That means, wins this season might be fueled by the offense rattling off touchdowns and not by piling up stops.
Peak steps up in pivotal moments
Offensive tackle Jacarrius Peak is statistically N.C. State’s best lineman, according to Pro Football Focus. He showed his experience and significance in the win Thursday night.
Peak went down on the first drive, appearing to have tweaked his knee after an awkward landing. Despite needing an injury timeout, the redshirt junior returned to play and looked good as new.
Notably, Peak came up with a handful of big blocks to keep plays alive. After picking up a 10-yard penalty in the first quarter, With less than three minutes in the first quarter, Bailey scrambled as the pocket collapsed. He needed a gain on second-and-11.
The sophomore QB made his way to the left side and ran for 10 yards, Peak blocking the defender to give him a clear path. Two plays later, Bailey found Joly for the team’s first touchdown.
He did the same thing for Smothers in the fourth quarter. The running back put together a 42-yard run to put N.C. State on the Wake Forest 15-yard line. Smothers, like he did against Virginia, used evasive footwork and sheer athleticism to help on the play, but a strong block from Peak allowed him to add additional yards to the rush.
The Wolfpack added a 12-yard touchdown from Bailey to wide receiver Keenan Jackson to take its first lead of the game.
Offensive linemen don’t always get credit, but Peak can say he directly impacted two scoring drives.