NC State had the game in hand Saturday, then let it slip away in the most brutal way possible.
The Wolfpack were ahead 31-28 and backed up inside their own 10-yard line with six seconds left. All quarterback CJ Bailey needed to do was let the clock drain.
Instead, he took the snap, ran around in the end zone and fumbled as he was tackled. Vanderbilt pounced on the ball for a touchdown and suddenly had a 35-31 lead.
Officials put one second back on the clock after a review, but Vanderbilt still came away with the win. It was the kind of finish that leaves everyone staring at the screen.
The sequence quickly lit up social media, with reactions ranging from disbelief to outright frustration.
“This has to be one of if not the worst way to lose a football game ever,” one post read.
“Even if you leave five seconds left on the safety, all that clock is gonna go off on the free kick. Just the most horrific way to lose,” another post read.
“I don’t think there’s possibly a worse way to lose a football game,” another post read.
“This just passed Cristobal’s late game decisions against Georgia Tech for the dumbest way to lose in the last 25 years. Unbelievable,” another post read.
The ending turned what should have been an NC State win into a 1-2 start. If Bailey simply holds onto the ball, the Wolfpack leave with a victory and move to 2-1 instead.
Vanderbilt, meanwhile, stays perfect at 3-0 and heads into its next game against Auburn on Sept. 26.
In Other News...
Vanderbilt Just Got The Kind Of SEC Shoutout Fans Never Expected
The SEC Nation crew had plenty to discuss during Auburns primetime meeting with Florida at Jordan-Hare Stadium, especially with the Gators making their first trip there since 2011 and new coach Jon Sumrall getting his first SEC test. But the broadcast briefly took a turn Vanderbilt fans probably never expected, when former quarterback Chase Daniel brought the Commodores into the conversation while laying out a possible path for Florida.
Tim Tebow pushed back right away, and Daniel quickly clarified he meant Vanderbilts surprising 10-win season last year, not some low-end comparison. The exchange stayed light, with the panel laughing it off, but it was still the kind of offhand shoutout that says plenty about how far Vanderbilt has come and how noticeable that rise has become around the league. [Read more 🡒]
Vanderbilt Stunned NC State With A Finish Nobody Saw Coming
For much of the night, Vanderbilt was chasing NC State, waiting for a break that never seemed to arrive. The Commodores had to fight through a late deficit before the game turned on a sequence no one in the stadium likely expected, and the result pushed Vanderbilt to 3-0 while sending NC State to 1-2.
C.J. Baileys late decision to try for an intentional safety turned into a fumble that Vanderbilt recovered, and the Commodores made it count by taking the lead for good in a 35-31 finish. NC State coach Dave Doeren later explained what the play was supposed to be and made no secret of how costly the loss felt, but for Vanderbilt the bigger story was simple: a game that looked close to gone was suddenly theirs. [Read more 🡒]
Vanderbilt Just Pulled Off A Finish College Football Rarely Sees
NC State had the game in hand, the ball and the lead with the clock bleeding down, and still walked out of Vanderbilt with a loss after a fumble recovery in the end zone with six seconds left. For the Commodores, it was the kind of finish college football almost never delivers, one that turned a tight game into an upset before the Wolfpack could even absorb what happened.
The rarity of it only sharpens the backdrop. In the last 20 years, it has happened just once before under similar circumstances, when Michigan fell to Michigan State in 2015. For NC State, the defeat left it at 1-2, while Vanderbilt got a win it will be talking about for a long time, even if the play itself will be replayed and argued over for even longer. [Read more 🡒]