Hey that was fun.
NC State’s offense put together a near-perfect performance on Saturday, with CJ Bailey leading a scoring drive on every possession he played, and the Wolfpack ran past Stanford in a laugher.
At the low point of this season, State was doing everything it could to beat itself, on either side of the ball; today was a refreshing departure and another encouraging sign of progress. Even including the defensive hiccups, this was a dominant performance from start to finish.
State got it rolling by cashing in its first drive with a touchdown after a fourth down conversion in Stanford territory to make it 7-0, then quickly turned a Davin Vann forced fumble into another seven points. Two possessions in plus territory, two touchdowns—that is exactly what this team has needed.
The Pack could have turned this game ugly early, what with Stanford facing 3rd-and-21 down 14-0, but there Ashton Daniels went for 67 yards and a score. That was the first big breakdown on a perplexing day full of them for the defense, but ultimately this didn’t matter at all. Stanford made the most of big plays to keep the game tight in the first half, but NC State played from ahead the entire time and did not let up.
After Stanford scored to close to 17-14, Bailey led a touchdown drive that ended with an impressive scramble and throw to Justin Joly in the end zone. The Pack got a stop and then added another touchdown before halftime to put the Cardinal down three scores headed into the break.
Stanford scored on another annoying long touchdown run to open the third quarter, but State then reeled off 28 straight points. DK Kaufman had a hell of a day returning kickoffs, and very nearly housed one after that Stanford TD.
Not that this game felt in doubt at that point, but Kaufman’s big return to immediately stymie any positive vibes Stanford was feeling was a back-breaker. After subsequently scoring to go up 38-21, State turned Stanford over on downs the next possession, then Hollywood Smothers housed a 48-yarder to effectively put the game on ice midway through the third quarter.
It’s nice when that happens, isn’t it? This was easily the most satisfying game of the season, a good time from start to finish. CJ Bailey finished 18-20 for 237 yards and three scores, and if you didn’t know better you’d think he was throwing the ball against the second-team defense in the spring game. That kind of very good day.