NC State heads into Saturday’s matchup with Wake Forest in Raleigh knowing exactly what’s at stake. The Wolfpack and the Deacs are meeting for the 120th time, and this one carries real weight in the ACC race, with both teams still alive in the chase for the conference crown.
NC State has finally found a little momentum after stringing together its first back-to-back wins of the season. Wake Forest arrives at 4-1 and riding a two-game conference winning streak, making the Deacs the toughest remaining test on the Wolfpack’s schedule.
As Dave Doeren put it, “They're [an] experienced, talented group, and they're healthy. They've had a lot of we've had a lot of tight games with Wake in my tenure here,” NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren said.
“This might be the best Wake team we've played.
One of the biggest reasons this game should have plenty of fireworks is the quarterback matchup. NC State’s CJ Bailey and Wake Forest’s Gio Lopez both bring serious passing production into the weekend.
Lopez has thrown for the 5th most yards in the conference with 1,377, while Bailey is right behind in 8th at 1,266. That kind of production usually means trouble for a defense if either quarterback gets comfortable early.
Bailey is coming off the best passing game of his career. Last week against Louisville, he threw for 373 yards and two touchdowns, then earned recognition as one of the eight Manning Stars of the Week.
After that performance, Doeren said, “CJ played a hell of a football game,” Doeren said after the game. “Really accurate downfield throws, and he took care of the football.”
Wake Forest had its own big outing at quarterback, with Lopez accounting for five touchdowns in the Deacs’ blowout win over Stanford last week.
For NC State, the margin for error gets even smaller because of the injuries. The Wolfpack will be without 12 key players on Saturday, including Duke Scott (RB) and Spike Sowells Jr.
(OL), who is out for the rest of the season. Two more players are listed as game-time decisions.
That puts more pressure on the players who are available, especially Davion Gause, whose workload jumped last week after Scott went down.
Gause answered with production against Louisville, leading NC State’s backs with 69 yards on 21 carries. He also caught three passes for 45 yards. If the Wolfpack are going to keep the offense moving against Wake Forest, they’ll likely need a similar all-around effort from him again.
The larger concern for NC State has been the way its games have unfolded lately. The offense has started fast over the last three weeks, building early first-half leads, but the defense has not held up over the full 60 minutes.
That’s where Saturday could swing. Bailey has shown he can put points on the board, but Lopez is capable of doing the same if the Wolfpack let Wake settle in.
NC State can’t count on one standout play to carry it. Harvey Dyson’s forced fumble and sack last week were huge, but this game will demand more than a single rescue act.
Doeren said, “I look forward to the opportunity to battle with them this week,” Doeren said. “I know it's going to be a great challenge.
I know our players look forward to the opportunity to improve. We've gotten better each game this season.
And we need to do that again.”
NC State and Wake Forest kick off at Noon ET on the CW.
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Gio Lopez controlled the game for Wake Forest, completing 26 of 33 passes for 303 yards and accounting for four touchdowns, while NC States offense went quiet after halftime. The Wolfpack struggled to generate much of anything on the ground as the game slipped away, and the inability to respond after the break left a painful result in a conference race where every missed chance matters. [Read more 🡒]