NC State spent Saturday afternoon winning the hidden battle, and that was enough to beat Louisville 31-28.
The Wolfpack never trailed in Raleigh, leaning on a defense that kept punching the ball loose and an offense that got a career day from CJ Bailey and a handful of his pass-catchers. NC State moved to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in ACC play, while staying unbeaten at home.
The game turned late in the fourth quarter, when the Pack had a shot to stretch a seven-point lead into a two-score cushion. Instead, Bailey was intercepted in the end zone, and Louisville made it count immediately with a touchdown two plays later to tie the game for the first time since the opening quarter.
NC State answered the pressure the right way. Kanoah Vinesett drilled his third field goal of the day, and then the defense slammed the door.
Harvey Dyson III chased down a Cardinals runner from 49 yards away and stripped the ball at the end of the run, with Popo Aguirre pouncing on it for his third fumble recovery of the game. On the next Louisville possession, Dyson came through again with a third-down sack that forced a three-and-out.
From there, the Wolfpack offense milked the rest of the clock, burning Louisville’s timeouts and the final 2:03 to finish it off.
Aguirre was everywhere in the turnover fight. Entering the game as the ACC’s third-leading tackler per game, he ended up with six tackles and three fumble recoveries.
NC State forced four fumbles overall, and Aguirre’s three recoveries are the most by a Wolfpack player since 2019. Dyson, Isaiah Shirley, Ke’Von Carter, and AJ Prim all had hands in the takeaways.
That pressure showed up in the numbers, too. NC State went 9-for-17 on third down and 1-for-1 on fourth down, while holding Louisville to 4-for-9 on third down and 0-for-0 on fourth down. The Wolfpack also forced three turnovers, with two coming deep in its own territory, plus a fourth-down stop on the NC State 11-yard line.
Bailey turned in the best passing performance of his young career, going 24-of-40 for 373 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, while also adding 19 rushing yards. His top target was fellow Miami native Jojo Trader, who finished with five catches for 92 yards, both career highs. Tight end Preston Douglas also had a big afternoon, setting personal bests with five receptions and 74 yards.
It was the second straight game in which NC State spread the ball around to 10 different receivers. Keenan Jackson and Tyran Warren caught the touchdown passes, with Jackson finding the end zone for the fifth time in the last three games. Warren’s score came on a 33-yard strike, his first as a Pack member.
The run game had to adjust after Duke Scott left early with an injury, and junior Davion Gause handled the bulk of the work. The transfer ran 21 times for 69 yards, both career highs, and posted his most rushing yards since his first game as a freshman at UNC. Short-yardage specialist Will Wilson added the Pack’s only rushing touchdown, his sixth of the season and a tie for the ACC lead.
Vinesett stayed perfect on the year, hitting all three of his field-goal attempts, including a 46-yarder. It was his most field goals in a game since 2024 against UNC.
Louisville got the first possession and briefly looked ready to strike with a 24-yard run, but a fumbled snap and a stop by Brian Nelson II forced a punt. NC State answered with Vinesett’s 46-yard field goal, set up by chunk gains through the air from Hunter Provience and Douglas.
The Cardinals then drove 60 yards in three plays before Shirley forced a fumble on a run up the middle, and Aguirre recovered. NC State turned that into its first touchdown, a 19-yard seam catch by Jackson that made it 10-0.
Louisville’s first points came on a 33-yard touchdown pass after the Pack’s offense stalled, but NC State still went into halftime ahead 13-7 after Douglas hauled in a 35-yard grab and Vinesett added a 35-yard field goal.
The Wolfpack came out aggressive after the break. Bailey hit Victor Snow for 24 yards, then found Jackson for seven on fourth-and-two to keep a drive alive.
That led to Warren’s 33-yard touchdown and a 13-point lead. Louisville answered with a 38-yard catch-and-run touchdown on the next snap after converting a fourth-and-three.
After a three-and-out, NC State’s defense produced again when Carter recorded his first collegiate sack on a strip sack, and Aguirre recovered for his second of the day. Wilson finished the short field with a one-yard touchdown, and Bailey’s two-point pass to Gause pushed the lead to 28-14.
Louisville kept fighting, adding a touchdown run and then capitalizing on Bailey’s end-zone interception. The Cardinals followed with a 70-yard touchdown run two plays later to tie it at 28, but that was the end of their scoring. NC State had the final answer, and the defense made sure the last word belonged to the Pack.
In Other News...
Dave Doeren Loved How NC State Answered In Winning Time
Dave Doeren came away impressed with the way NC State handled the most important stretch of its 31-28 win over Louisville, pointing first to the teams focus and effort when the game tightened. After meeting with the media, the Wolfpack coach singled out CJ Bailey, Harvey Dyson III and the offensive line as central to the outcome, while also making sure to credit the home crowd for the energy it brought throughout the game.
Even with the victory in hand, Doeren did not sound ready to let the Wolfpack settle in too comfortably. He acknowledged there are still areas on defense that need to improve, a reminder that winning close games can expose as much as it rewards. For NC State, the challenge now is carrying over the poise it showed in winning time while cleaning up the details that nearly turned a good night into a tense one. [Read more 🡒]
NC State May Be Underselling Its Most Efficient Red Zone Weapon
Will Wilson has already carved out a very specific role for NC State, and it has been a productive one. The backup quarterback has turned limited offensive snaps into six rushing touchdowns, tying him for the ACC lead, while averaging around five yards per carry in short-yardage situations that have become his calling card.
NC State has clearly found a dependable red zone piece in Wilson, but the bigger question is whether the Wolfpack are using him to his full value. His effectiveness in tight spaces suggests there may be more room to expand how he is deployed, and for an offense that could use every edge near the goal line, that feels like a storyline worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Harvey Dyson May Have Just Saved NC States Season
NC States season has had a familiar feel at times lately, with strong starts giving way to uneasy finishes, and Saturdays game against Louisville looked headed in that same direction after the Wolfpack faded after a sharp first half. But the defense found a defining moment when Harvey Dyson forced a fumble that NC State recovered, setting up the go-ahead field goal in a 31-28 win.
Dave Doeren made sure to single out Dyson after the game, praising the play in his postgame press conference, and it was easy to see why. In a stretch where NC State needed something to steady it, Dyson delivered the kind of snap that can change more than one result, giving the Wolfpack a win that could loom large as the season goes on. [Read more 🡒]