NC State’s second-half fade against Wake Forest turned a halftime lead into a 38-14 loss, and once the wheels came off, they came off fast.
The Pack were shut out after halftime while Wake Forest piled up four touchdowns and punted only once over the final two quarters. That was the game right there: NC State had a lead, then watched it disappear, then watched the margin keep stretching the other way. The offense never found a response, and the defense didn’t show much resistance once the game flipped.
The numbers tell the story of how hard it was for NC State to get anything going. The rushing attack was basically a nonfactor from the beginning, which meant every down turned into a passing situation.
That’s usually a bad place to live unless the passing game is elite, and NC State clearly wasn’t built for that kind of load. CJ Bailey didn’t throw an interception and finished with 243 passing yards, but he averaged just 6.2 yards per attempt, and the Pack struggled to sustain drives.
Wake Forest made life even worse by creating havoc plays and stuffing nearly half of State’s rushing attempts. The pressure on the run game forced NC State into a one-dimensional approach, and Wake was able to keep the Pack from stringing together anything consistent.
On the other side, Wake’s own run game wasn’t overwhelming, but it was more than enough because Gio Lopez was so efficient through the air. He completed almost 79% of his passes and averaged 9.2 yards per attempt, turning the passing game into easy pitch-and-catch production. NC State’s pass defense has now allowed 8+ yards per attempt and 2+ passing touchdowns in four straight games, which is a rough trend any way you slice it.
NC State now gets some extra time to sort through the mess and try to get a little healthier before heading to Stanford. There are still plenty of issues here that more film study won’t magically solve.
In Other News...
NC State's Second Half Problem Just Got A Lot Harder To Ignore
NC State had enough going for it early Saturday to make the evening feel manageable, with quarterback CJ Bailey settling in and completing 16 straight passes in the first half. But as the game wore on, the rhythm disappeared, and Wake Forest began to take control behind Gio Lopez, who threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns in a performance that exposed how fragile the Wolfpacks offense can look when it starts to drift.
The result was a 38-14 loss at home, the kind that forces a hard look at what went wrong and why it keeps happening. Dave Doeren and players pointed to execution problems and injuries as part of the picture, and the concern now is less about one bad night than whether NC State can find a second-half answer before the season starts to pull away from it. [Read more 🡒]
ACC Heavyweights Already Look Like A Problem For NC State
The early ACC noise around the league already has a familiar feel for NC State, with the usual heavyweights showing the kind of depth and firepower that can make a conference race difficult in a hurry. UNC opened with an 88-70 win over USC in Greensboro, leaning on Jarin Stevensons 25 points and 10 rebounds, while Virginia rolled Richmond 96-53 with five players in double figures and Duke looked sharp in a scrimmage win over Belmont, 102-62, behind Dame Sarrs 19 points.
For the Wolfpack, the part worth watching is how quickly those contenders are already sorting themselves out before league play settles in. Michael Malone had reason to point to UNCs uneven backcourt performance, and USCs shorthanded lineup offered some context for the result, but the broader picture is clear: the teams NC State has to chase are bringing size, scoring and depth right from the start, and the gaps may not be easy to close once the ACC schedule gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]