NC State and Wake Forest are back at it again, and the numbers around this series still tell a pretty wild story.
Saturday’s matchup at Carter-Finley Stadium will be the 120th meeting between the two programs, with NC State owning a 70-43-6 edge. The teams have played every season since 1910, which makes this the longest continuous rivalry in the ACC and the second-longest in the FBS. Only Wisconsin and Minnesota have a longer uninterrupted run, having met every year since 1907.
The Wolfpack has generally liked its chances in Raleigh. Since 2000, NC State is 10-3 against Wake Forest at Carter-Finley, though it has gone 4-9 in Winston-Salem.
The Pack has won its last two road games in the series, but lost the most recent meeting in Carter-Finley. And if recent history is any guide, this one could come down to the wire: seven of the last nine matchups have been decided by 10 points or fewer, including five by six points or less.
NC State also has a little old-school reminder of what this rivalry can produce. In the 2015 win over Wake Forest, Matthew Dayes rushed for 205 yards in one of the 119 previous meetings between the schools.
The Pack enters the game with some momentum coming off its win over Louisville, and junior quarterback CJ Bailey was at the center of it. He threw for a career-high 373 yards against the Cardinals and now has 6,784 career passing yards.
Bailey is only 24 yards shy of moving past Devin Leary for sixth place in school history. His career completion percentage of .668 and passing efficiency mark of 147.92 are both NC State records, and his effort against Louisville earned him a Manning Star of the Week honor.
He also threw two touchdown passes while playing a career-high 83 snaps.
On defense, middle linebacker Popo Aguirre has been everywhere. He leads the Wolfpack with 43 tackles, which ranks third in the ACC, and he now leads the nation in fumbles recovered after snaring three Louisville miscues in the 31-28 win.
That total is just two short of the Wolfpack season record. Aguirre made his first NC State appearance against Virginia and piled up a career-high 18 tackles in that game, the second-highest single-game total by a Pack defender under Dave Doeren.
Only Payton Wilson had more during Doeren’s tenure, with 19 against Duke in 2020. Aguirre has led the team in tackles in three of five games this season.
Doeren also had plenty to say about the kind of defense NC State wants to be, using the phrase Camera Club to describe players who show up in the shot by getting to the football. Aguirre fit that bill last week, but so did senior edge Harvey Dyson III.
Dyson finished with two tackles for loss, a sack and another tackle, but his biggest moment came in the fourth quarter with the game tied at 28-28. Louisville running back Keyjuan Brown broke free for a 49-yard run and looked headed for the end zone before Dyson chased him down, made the tackle and stripped the ball loose.
NC State then drove for the winning field goal. Doeren called Dyson “a guy that just won’t let the team lose.
It says that he’s all in. It wasn’t his play to make, the linebackers and safeties weren’t there, and he made the play for us.”
Up front, the Pack has had to keep adjusting at center. Through five games, NC State has started three different players there.
Sophomore Spike Sowells began the season as the starter after earning Freshman All-America honors in 2025 as a guard, but he was injured in Game 2 and has not returned. Right tackle Teague Andersen moved inside against Richmond, then started at center against Vanderbilt and Appalachian State and earned ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors after the App State win.
Rico Jackson took over at right tackle in those games. Against Louisville, left tackle Jimarion McCrimon was out with an injury, so Andersen shifted back to right tackle, Jackson moved to left tackle and junior transfer Daniel Cruz started at center.
Cruz played every offensive snap, all 88 of them, and handled the protection calls well.
NC State also got a bigger night from Davion Gause, whose last name rhymes with sauce. The junior had been the No. 2 back behind Duke Scott through the first four games of 2026, contributing quietly but consistently.
He had no stats in the opener, then totaled 119 rushing yards and 72 receiving yards across games 2-4. Against Louisville, though, he stepped into a larger role when Scott left with an injury in the first quarter.
Gause answered with 114 total yards, including 69 on the ground and 45 through the air, and scored on a two-point throw from Bailey.
There has also been a clear pattern on defense and in the opening moments of games. NC State has forced a punt on every opponent’s opening drive this season, giving the Wolfpack strong starts in all five games.
The second half has been a different matter. In every game except the shutout of Richmond, the opponent has scored a touchdown on its first drive after halftime.
On offense, NC State has scored on the opening drive of the game in each of its last four contests, and it has also scored on the opening drive of the second half three times, against Richmond, Appalachian State and Louisville.
In Other News...
NC State Faces A Pressure Test After Its Early Season Collapse
NC States trip into October comes with a little extra pressure after an early-season stumble, and the matchup with Wake Forest now looks like the kind of game that can either steady the Wolfpack or keep the questions coming. Around the college football world, this weeks slate is packed with intrigue, but for NC State the focus is much narrower: a conference game against a familiar foe, a chance to regain rhythm, and a test of whether the offense can clean up its recent mistakes.
There is some optimism baked into the matchup, especially with CJ Baileys playmaking ability giving the Wolfpack a higher ceiling when the ball is moving well. The bigger issue is whether NC State can pair that with enough control and balance to avoid another messy night, and the quarterback situation adds another layer of interest as the staff looks for the right mix to complement Bailey. Wake Forest may be the opponent on the schedule, but the more revealing battle is whether NC State can answer its own early-season collapse before it starts to linger. [Read more 🡒]
NC States Early Formula Is Suddenly Looking A Lot More Real
NC States 31-28 win over Louisville did more than get the Wolfpack to 3-2 and off the ACC schneid in 2026. It also gave a sharper look at the early formula that has started to take shape around this team, with the updated conference rankings showing where a few of the Packs key pieces are stacking up through the first stretch of league play. CJ Bailey, Duke Scott, Keenan Jackson, Will Wilson, Preston Douglas and kicker Kanoah Vinesett all have a place in that early ACC picture, which is part of what makes the win feel a little more meaningful than a one-off upset.
The bigger question now is how sustainable that formula will be as the schedule keeps moving, especially with the next test already looming. Vinesetts reliability has become a real part of the conversation after his perfect day against Louisville, and the offense has enough different contributors to suggest this group can keep hanging around if the pieces stay in place. The only catch is that the Wolfpack are heading into a week where availability and depth matter just as much as the rankings, which leaves the next step in this reset feeling a lot more important than the standings might otherwise suggest. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Faces A Defining ACC Test With Momentum On The Line
NC State heads into a pivotal ACC matchup with Wake Forest carrying real momentum and a home-field edge it has protected all season. Both teams have been playing well, which is what gives this one extra weight beyond the usual conference date. The Wolfpack have had to manage injuries along the way, but they have still handled business in Raleigh and now face a test that should say plenty about where they stand in the league picture.
Wake Forest brings enough recent success to make this more than just a spot-the-better-team kind of game, and the setup suggests a tight one from the start. For NC State, the stakes are simple: keep the home run going, stay steady through the injury issues and keep its place in a crowded ACC race from slipping. A win would say plenty about the Wolfpacks staying power, while a stumble would make the path ahead much less forgiving. [Read more 🡒]