NC State quarterback CJ Bailey said Wednesday that the days since the Wolfpack’s road loss at Vanderbilt have been defined by support, reflection and a quick push toward the next practice.
Bailey said coach Dave Doeren and others around the program have been there for him as he dealt with the aftermath of the defeat. “The last several days have been good.
A lot of guys got my back. Coach Doeren, everybody in the facility, they've been leaning on me.
I've been showing up. Like, I've been waking up on the right side of the bed every morning, feeling good.”
He said the locker room message after the game was simple: move on. “It's always tough when you lose a game, especially that way.
We took it the same way as we take any loss. Like you know, just you know, try to move forward.
Like, those were the words that were said in the locker room. Like, pick ourselves up, get ready to get on the grass tomorrow.
You know what I'm saying? So I just got up, got in the locker room.
There's a lot of emotions, but we moved forward. We moved on to the next day, coming in with a better mindset.”
The ending at Vanderbilt stuck with him, though he said his focus in the moment was on protecting the clock and trying to make a play. “I was just trying to get all the clock out.
That was my thought. I'm just running.
The biggest thing was just to hold the ball, bro. Like, that was the biggest thing, and I was just trying to run around, make a play, be competitive.”
He didn’t hide from the mistake that followed. “That's who I am.
I'm a competitive guy, you know. And I was just competing to the final second, and you know, it happens.
I fumble the ball. I'm going to pick my stuff up and keep going.”
Bailey said the coaches had communicated plenty before the play, but the situation was one he had never experienced in a game. “It was a lot of communication with the coaches and us.
They told me a lot of things. We worked like Coach Doeren said.
We worked the play a couple of times, but never like that in that situation. That was my first time ever in that situation, and it didn't go the right way I wanted to.
I know I fumbled the ball. It's what it is.
You gotta move forward”
Even with the finish, Bailey pointed to a number of positives from the game, especially the way he handled the offense in a different setup. NC State shifted from tempo to huddle, and he said that meant a different kind of challenge at the line.
“Yeah, I made a lot of plays in that game. A lot of third downs and getting the guys on the same page.
The biggest thing was that we switched from being a tempo team to a huddle team. And we called a lot of plays from the huddle.
We called every play from the huddle, which was the biggest thing for me, pronouncing those words, getting it out, and moving fluent.”
For Bailey, the biggest lesson was communication and execution before the snap. “That was my biggest thing.
That's the biggest takeaway I take from that game -- making sure everybody was on the same page. From pre-snap to not hurting ourselves like before the play started.
On those third downs, I made a lot of plays, and the guys made a lot of plays. Defense made a lot of plays.
They showed up.”
He also made clear who he leaned on after the loss. “Oh, my parents, of course.
They're my backbone. My mom is at my house right now, so like they she's cooking meals, cleaning up for me, and doing everything for me.
That's my family. Like, they're gonna be there for me through thick and thin.”
Bailey said that kind of support has helped him sort through a difficult season and understand who is truly in his corner. “Yeah, of course.
Like you know, this year has been a tough year. You know, like and I learned a lot in this year of who my friends are, how big my circle is, how how a lot of things has changed for me throughout this year, and you know it's a learning lesson for me.”
He added that growing up quickly has been part of the job since he arrived as a freshman. “It's a part of growing up.
I had to grow up at a fast age. I stepped in as a freshman, came to play as a freshman.
I had to grow up since then. It's just been getting better.
I've been learning every year, every every day that I you know step step foot on this planet. Period.
It's just a blessing.”
Bailey also said he addressed the team after the game and tried to keep the focus on what comes next. “Oh, of course.
We had a team meeting. I said a couple of words to my guys, said a couple of words to the room, and just said we got a long season.
Like we got so many more games and so many more plays that we can make.”
What stood out to him most was how the Wolfpack responded in practice. “Like the best thing about it was after I said that, it's the way we attack practice.
Like the practices has been great. Today was even a great day.
It was a rainy day, and we practiced so hard out there. So like I applied to those guys, bro, because like they, they've been through a lot too from that loss.
You know what I'm saying? So, like, they came to work today, and they came to work yesterday as well.”
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The setback at Vanderbilt still lingers because it came down to a late-game fumble after a safety play, the kind of ending that leaves little room for excuses. Dave Doeren called it a failure in execution, but he also insisted the Pack will keep fighting and still has a path to improve in the ACC race, which makes the coming weeks feel less like a soft landing and more like an early season referendum. [Read more 🡒]