NC State’s 73-0 demolition of Richmond should have been the kind of night that resets a season. It was the kind of performance that answers a bad loss with a louder statement, the kind that sends people home talking about what they just saw instead of what went wrong a week earlier.
Instead, it left the fan base split.
That divide says as much about where NC State sits right now as the final score does. For some fans, the Wolfpack finally delivered the response they wanted after the loss at Virginia.
For others, the Richmond result still lands in the same bucket as every other “it was just an FCS team” conversation. Even a blowout that extreme hasn’t fully settled anything.
And to be fair, this one was not ordinary.
NC State rolled up a school-record 734 yards of total offense, scored eight rushing touchdowns for another program mark, and finished with 10 total touchdowns - the most the Wolfpack has scored in a single game since 1919. The 73 points were the most ever at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Jayden Scott rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone. CJ Bailey bounced back from the Virginia game to throw for 281 yards and a touchdown on 13-of-17 passing, while also adding 40-plus rushing yards and a score.
Richmond was held to 110 total yards and six first downs.
That kind of gap is hard to shrug off.
It also matters that this wasn’t just another routine win over an FCS opponent. NC State has played 15 FCS games over the last 20 years, and none of them looked like this one.
The average margin in those games was +30.3, with 13.4 points allowed. Friday night went way beyond that, and the Wolfpack set a pile of program records while turning in some of the best PFF grades in school history since that number started being tracked.
Statistically, it was the worst beatdown NC State has ever handed out in the modern era.
Still, the Virginia loss hangs over everything.
That opener was a letdown, and the Richmond game was always going to be viewed through that lens. Beating a Top-25 FCS team by 30 would not have been enough.
Winning ugly would have raised more questions. Losing would have sent the mood completely off the rails.
The only way to change the conversation was to overwhelm Richmond from start to finish, and that is exactly what NC State did.
So yes, credit where it’s due.
At the same time, the response does not wipe out the opener. It should not.
What it does is create a new test, and that test comes next against Vanderbilt. On paper, it’s not a game that changes the national picture much.
It’s not Virginia, and it’s not likely to be treated as a headline matchup outside the moment. But in Raleigh, it may be the most important game of the month.
A win in Nashville, and the Richmond explosion starts to look like a real turning point. It would give the offense and defense some credibility after Charlottesville and give believers something to point to besides one bad Saturday.
A loss the wrong way, though, and the air goes right back out of the room.
With App State waiting in Raleigh after that and a Top-25 matchup with Louisville on deck, NC State does not have much room to lose the fan base again. That is the reality of this stretch, whether anybody likes it or not.
The Virginia game raised the questions. Richmond answered some of them in a hurry. Vanderbilt will tell everyone how much of this is real.
In Other News...
NC States Rout Revealed An Offensive Standout Nobody Saw Coming
NC States 73-0 rout of Richmond did more than pad the scorebook. It also produced a revealing offensive snapshot, with seven different players earning Pro Football Focus grades of 90.0 or better and a few performances standing out well beyond the usual blowout filler. Quarterback CJ Bailey posted a career-best 92.6, running back Duke Scott checked in with a new high of 92.2, and freshman Dylan McCoy made his offensive debut count with a 90.9.
The most surprising number on the sheet may have come from Isaiah Shirley, the defensive tackle who somehow led the offense in grading with a 97.3 while lined up as an extra blocking tight end. For a Wolfpack team looking to sort out who can help in more than one role, that kind of usage only adds to the intrigue, especially when it comes from a player who is not supposed to be the story on that side of the ball. [Read more 🡒]
Eemeli Yalaho Is Giving NC State A Real Frontcourt Question
Eemeli Yalaho has quickly become one of the more interesting frontcourt pieces in NC States preseason picture, and not just because of where he came from. The Finnish forward arrived with a reputation for efficiency, toughness on the glass and enough defensive versatility to matter in more than one lineup, and those traits are exactly why he looks like a real candidate to carve out minutes when the Wolfpack sort out their rotation.
What makes Yalaho such a compelling piece is the role he could play on both ends of the floor. He is expected to share forward minutes with another player, and his improving physical condition only adds to the intrigue around how much he can handle early in the season. If the offense comes along the way the staff believes it can, NC State may have found a frontcourt answer that gives the Wolfpack more balance than it had a year ago. [Read more 🡒]
RJ Keene Could Give NC State A Bench Weapon It Needs
RJ Keene is shaping up as the kind of perimeter piece NC State has been trying to add, a guard whose value may come less from volume and more from the specific things he can do well. Looking ahead to the 2026-27 season, the staff appears to see him as a reliable bench option who can fit around the starters, bring energy on defense and stretch the floor when the Pack needs a clean look from outside.
What makes Keene interesting is the possibility that his role could be defined before he ever steps into a major one. The early read is that he projects as a defensive specialist and 3-point threat behind the starting wings, which would give NC State a different kind of depth than it has had in recent seasons. If that profile holds, the real question becomes how quickly he can turn those tools into trustworthy minutes when the rotation starts to tighten. [Read more 🡒]