NC State let a 17-point cushion slip away Saturday night and walked out of Vanderbilt with a 35-31 loss after the Commodores scored 21 points in the fourth quarter and won it on a fumble return as time expired.
The Wolfpack had controlled the game early, racing to a 17-0 lead before Vanderbilt finally got on the board just before halftime. NC State still carried a 24-14 edge into the fourth quarter and even answered again to make it 31-21, but the finish turned chaotic in a hurry.
Vanderbilt’s comeback started with a 10-yard touchdown catch by Sedrick Alexander with 14:11 left in the game, cutting it to 24-21. NC State responded with another Keenan Jackson touchdown, a 23-yard grab from CJ Bailey at 9:35, to push the lead back to 10.
That wasn’t enough. Jared Curtis found J.
Sherrill on a 43-yard score at 6:18, and the Commodores kept pressing until the final play delivered the winner on the turnover return.
Jackson was the center of NC State’s passing game all night, finishing with nine catches for 102 yards and three touchdowns. Bailey went 25 of 37 for 275 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Wesley Wilson added a 38-yard scoring run in the first quarter and finished with 49 rushing yards on eight carries, while Jayden Scott led the ground game with 50 yards on 16 attempts.
NC State’s opening burst came fast. Wilson’s touchdown run made it 7-0 at 11:05 in the first quarter, and Jackson’s 30-yard touchdown reception from Bailey stretched it to 14-0 by 2:58.
Kanoah Vinesett added a 24-yard field goal in the second quarter before Vanderbilt answered with a touchdown pass from Curtis to J. Sherrill with 12 seconds left before halftime.
The Wolfpack built back in the third quarter when Bailey hit Jackson from six yards out to make it 24-7, but Vanderbilt answered with a seven-yard run from M. Young. From there, the fourth quarter belonged to the Commodores.
Curtis finished 20 of 34 for 277 yards and three touchdowns for Vanderbilt, and Sherrill led the receiving effort with six catches for 108 yards and two scores. The Commodores also got 64 rushing yards from Curtis and 53 from Sedrick Alexander on seven carries.
The numbers show how tight the game was in total yardage and how costly the ending became for NC State. The Wolfpack outgained Vanderbilt 446-409 and held the ball for 35:49, but the Commodores were more explosive, averaging 7.1 yards per play to NC State’s 5.6. Vanderbilt also forced the key turnovers late, and the final margin came on a return after the fumble.
NC State had 25 first downs to Vanderbilt’s 20 and went 7 of 16 on third down. The Wolfpack also converted three of five fourth downs and finished 2 for 2 in the red zone. But the penalties piled up - 7 for 64 yards for NC State, 13 for 116 for Vanderbilt - and the late mistakes proved fatal.
On defense, NC State got six total tackles from P. Aguirre, while J.
Sensabaugh added four tackles, a breakup and a quarterback hurry. For Vanderbilt, R.
Jones and C. Heard each finished with eight total tackles, and N.
Rinaldi had a sack.
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NC State Let A Seemingly Safe Finish Turn Into A Nightmare
It looked for all the world like NC State was about to escape with a narrow road win, the kind of finish coaches spend all week rehearsing and players still find a way to make messy. Instead, the closing sequence turned into a collapse, with Vanderbilt finishing off a 35-31 victory on a last-second fumble recovery touchdown after the Wolfpack had tried to bleed out the final play.
The irony is that the game also featured a breakthrough performance from true freshman quarterback Jared Curtis, who made his first career start and passed for 264 yards and three touchdowns while adding 64 yards on the ground. But Dave Doeren later confirmed NC State had intended to take an intentional safety at the end, and the indecision at quarterback changed everything in a flash, leaving the Wolfpack to absorb a loss that will linger far longer than the final score. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Just Turned A Routine Finish Into A Brutal Loss
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Instead, the ending turned on one chaotic snap near the goal line, when a fumble in the end zone flipped everything in an instant. Vanderbilt pounced on it for a touchdown and walked away with a 35-31 win, a stunning escape that also snapped a long skid in games where the Commodores had trailed by double digits in the fourth quarter. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Let A Road Win Slip Away In Brutal Fashion
NC State had more than enough offense to leave Nashville with a road win, with quarterback CJ Bailey throwing for 275 yards and three touchdowns and Keenan Jackson hauling in all three of those scoring strikes. The Wolfpack led early, stayed in control for much of the night at FirstBank Stadium, and still found itself in position to close things out after building a late edge.
Instead, the finish turned cruel in a hurry. Vanderbilt forced a fumble and turned it into the decisive touchdown with one second left, turning what looked like a solid ACC road victory into a 35-31 loss for NC State. For a team that did a lot right for most of the game, the final sequence left the Wolfpack walking away with little more than frustration and a reminder of how quickly a road game can swing. [Read more 🡒]