NC State’s season has already veered into damage-control mode, and the Wolfpack are only three games in.
What was supposed to be a confident start has turned into a 1-2 mess, with the loss to Vanderbilt landing especially hard after NC State handed the game away in the final seconds. The defeat came after an ugly blowout loss to Virginia on national television, and the combination has put Dave Doeren’s program under a harsh spotlight heading into a demanding stretch.
Doeren said the staff’s late-game plan was built around taking a safety and bleeding the clock.
“We decided as a staff to take a safety, and the plan was to use a safety play that allows us to also milk the clock,” Doeren said. “That play is designed to allow the quarterback to roll to his right, milk the clock until people get near him and then fall down and not take contact. And, obviously, that's not what happened.”
Instead, CJ Bailey fumbled in the end zone with seconds left, and Vanderbilt recovered to close out a win NC State badly needed. Doeren said the staff and Bailey all own what happened.
“We were prepared for the moment, and we just didn’t execute in that moment,” Doeren said. “CJ takes ownership, I take ownership, Kurt Roper takes ownership, we take ownership,” Doeren said. “It's a terrible way to end a football game that you controlled.
The fallout has been loud enough that even outsiders are piling on. Josh Pate went as far as to call for NC State to shut its program down, a reaction that says plenty about how rough the last two weeks have looked for the Wolfpack. A blowout against App State won’t erase that kind of sting on its own.
Still, Doeren is trying to keep the bigger picture in view. NC State has nine regular-season games left, and the ACC race is still there if the Wolfpack can somehow string together a run.
“There’s a lot of football left in this season. There's a lot to play for.
And I know that we're not gonna quit,” Doeren said. “We're gonna fight our butt off.”
For now, the next chance to steady things comes on Sept. 26, when NC State hosts App State. Louisville, ranked No. 16, and Wake Forest, which is 2-1, are waiting after that. Doeren said the group will be tested, but he believes the answer is still in front of them.
“Our resolve is being tested, our togetherness being tested. And I know we'll pass the test,” Doeren said.
In Other News...
NC States Secondary Just Lost A Key Defender Without Warning
The Wolfpacks secondary took another hit this week when defensive back Asaad Brown disappeared from NC States football roster, leaving his status with the program unclear. Brown had already been sidelined for the last two games with an injury after opening the season on the field, so his absence had been noticeable even before the roster change surfaced.
Brown had been one of NC States more useful pieces in the back end, starting multiple games in 2025 and giving the defense some flexibility in how it deployed him. For a unit that has already had to manage injuries, losing a versatile defender without any immediate explanation only deepens the uncertainty around how the secondary will hold up moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Fans Have A Real Reason To Question That Budget Number
A new Athletic report put a price tag on roster spending across the Power 4, and NC State landed in the middle of the pack with an estimated range of $22 million to $26 million for the 2025-26 cycle. It is the kind of number that immediately gets attention because it helps frame how competitive a program is trying to be in the modern college football economy, especially for a team like the Wolfpack that is trying to keep pace in an arms race where perception often matters almost as much as reality.
But the figure has already been met with skepticism from people close to NC State, who say it is too high and does not reflect the programs actual spending. The report also flagged other schools, including Tennessee, LSU and Notre Dame, as possible misreads, which only adds to the sense that these broad estimates come with plenty of guesswork. For NC State fans, the bigger question is not just what the number says, but how much it really says about where the Wolfpack stands financially compared with the rest of the sport. [Read more 🡒]
CJ Bailey Owned NC States Costly Late Mistake After Vanderbilt Loss
After NC States loss at Vanderbilt, CJ Bailey did not duck the tough questions about how the game ended or how he handled the night overall. The quarterback met with the media to talk through his mindset after the setback, the late fumble that helped define the finish, and the way the offense had to adjust on the fly after moving from a tempo look to a huddle approach.
Bailey also spoke about the support system around him, pointing to his family as a steady source of encouragement while he continues to grow through the season. For a young quarterback, nights like this can linger, but they also become part of the learning curve, and Bailey sounded like a player intent on carrying the lessons from one road loss into the next challenge. [Read more 🡒]