NC State’s trip to Stanford comes with a little geography lesson attached: this is just the Wolfpack’s second game on the West Coast in the last 66 years. The first came at UCLA in 1960, and the most recent was at Cal in 2024.
That California footprint runs deeper than the schedule line. Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren was born in San Diego, and offensive line coach Garret Tujague was born in Pleasanton. Tujague also spent 17 years coaching in California, working as head coach at College of the Canyons and as an assistant there and at the University of the Redlands.
NC State’s recent West Coast history has been sparse. After the 2021 season, the Pack earned a spot in the SDCCU Holiday Bowl in San Diego, spent six days in California, and then watched the game get canceled on game day. The 2024 trip to Cal finally gave the Wolfpack its first West Coast game since 1960, and NC State came away with a 24-23 win behind freshman quarterback CJ Bailey.
The broader numbers are just as striking. Since the 1960 season, NC State has played regular-season games west of the Mississippi River only 14 times. It has done so just once under Doeren and only twice since the turn of the century, with the 2002 game at Texas Tech the other example in that span.
This year’s Wolfpack team has plenty going for it beyond the travelogue. NC State ranks first in the ACC and 12th in the FBS in third-down conversion percentage at .517.
Linebacker Popo Aguirre has been a force in his own right. He leads the country in fumbles recovered after grabbing three in the win over Louisville, and he also paces the Pack in tackles at 9.2 per game, which ranks second in the ACC and 19th in the FBS.
Keenan Jackson has been one of the sharper touchdown threats on the roster as well. He has five touchdown catches in six games this season, topping the four he had in his previous 26 contests.
There has also been a steady influx of youth. Fourteen freshmen have seen action for NC State this season.
Along the offensive line, Teague Andersen has been all over the formation. He has started at right tackle three times, at center twice and at left guard once this season. He also earned ACC Player of the Week honors after starting at center in the App State game.
In Other News...
NC State Finally Made The Dave Doeren Decision Fans Feared
A rough start to the 2026 season finally caught up to Dave Doeren, as NC State moved on from the longtime coach after the Wolfpack fell to 3-4 with a loss to Stanford. Doeren had spent 14 seasons in Raleigh and was the longest-tenured coach in modern NC State football history, building a 98-74 record while overseeing one of the program's steadiest stretches.
The timing only sharpened the sense that the decision had been building for a while, especially after a loss to a Stanford team that had struggled in its own right. Even with Doeren under contract through 2029, the Wolfpack chose to make a change now, leaving the program to sort out what comes next after a disappointing opening half to the year. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Let A Winnable Stanford Trip Slip Away On Defense
The first trip to Stanford for NC State ended with more frustration than history, as the Wolfpack let a winnable game slip away in a 31-28 loss. CJ Bailey did his part with 256 passing yards and two touchdowns, but the offense could not quite offset a night when the defense spent too much time on its heels and the Cardinal kept finding answers.
Stanford finished with nearly 500 yards and four touchdown passes, a pace NC State never really managed to slow down once the game got into the middle stages. The defeat evened the all-time series at 1-1 and sent the Wolfpack home with a result that will linger, though there is little time to dwell on it with California next on the schedule in Raleigh. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Showed A Different Offensive Look Fans Needed To See
NC State wrapped up its offseason with a convincing 128-64 exhibition win over Lenoir-Rhyne at the Lenovo Center, and the bigger takeaway was the different kind of offense it put on display. The ball moved, the scoring came from multiple spots, and the frontcourt looked far more involved than it had at times in the past, which is exactly the sort of balance the Wolfpack wanted to show before the real games begin.
Ven-Allen Lubin was a force inside, while Paul McNeil gave the perimeter attack a needed spark and Robert Jurkovi added efficient production of his own. For a team trying to settle into its identity, the exhibition offered a useful snapshot of what this group can look like when the offense is flowing, with the season opener against Campbell now the next chance to see whether that rhythm carries over. [Read more 🡒]