With the NC State Wolfpack (1-1) teetering towards what would have been a terrible loss to LA Tech, true freshman CJ Bailey entered the game late in the second quarter following an injury to starter Grayson McCall and helped lead the Pack to a 30-20 comeback win.
“It’s a hell of a win,” said NC State head coach Dave Doeren. “Anytime you’re down two scores and you come back, particularly when you’re doing it with a quarterback that’s really throwing his first pass in college football, it says a lot.”
Early on things were real rough for the Wolfpack as the team was eyeing a 17-6 deficit at halftime with only 117 yards of total offense.
To make matters worse, the injury bug also crept in on the Wolfpack as they were without both of their starting corners with senior Aydan White being ruled for the game before kickoff and sophomore Brandon Cisse getting injured in the first quarter.
And then there was McCall, who went to the locker room in the second quarter and was ruled out for the remainder of the game, handing Bailey the reins of the offense.
“When coach first told me I had to go in and step up, I kind of got jitters, I’ll be honest,” Bailey said. “I had those nervous jitters in my body, but after that bad mistake I made, I just said, ‘Let’s just play ball. Just go play ball and do what you were taught for all the time you’ve been playing football,’ and in that second half, that’s what I did.”
It was a tough start for Bailey, who was intercepted on a throw into double coverage on just his third pass attempt of the game, but as the game went on, he looked more and more composed and started moving the ball with authority.
“It was a learning lesson for me, especially going into the half when I threw that interception,” Bailey said. “I had to learn and overcome that and not hang on it. In high school, I used to hang on bad mistakes, but I had to learn how to put everything in the past and move forward.”
But the true spark for the offense was thanks to the defense dragging the Pack back into the game.
On the opening drive of the second half, graduate defensive end Davin Vann broke through the Bulldogs’ line and got a hand on quarterback Jack Turner as he was throwing and the deflected ball went into the waiting hands of senior safety DK Kaufman for a 33-yard pick-six.
“It was just the right place at the right time,” Kaufman said. “D. Vann made a great play hitting the QB and then Travali [Price] made a great block and I was just doing what I had to do, but it was definitely a great spark coming out of the half.”
The defense then followed that up with a three-and-out sequence to give even more juice to the home team.
Playing off that energy, the offense finally responded with Bailey and running back Kendrick Raphael leading the way for a 13-play, 76-yard drive, the Pack’s first offensive touchdown since Week 1.
“I was just going off of what the defense did,” Bailey said. “The defense was making plays so I had to step in and make plays as well. Once I made that first play, it just kept on going like a domino effect.”
From there, the Wolfpack just took over, outscoring the Bulldogs 24-3 in the second half and Bailey even had the opportunity to grab his first touchdown on a designed quarterback run at the goal line.
“I was so happy when coach called that play for me,” Bailey said. “I just wanted to execute and get into the endzone for the team. I just wanted to make a play and when I made it, it just felt amazing.”
The Pack ended the day with 361 yards of total offense, putting up 244 of those in the second half alone and Bailey finished with 156 yards through the air and 27 on the ground.
While it was obviously a 180 for the offense, it was even better to see the defense play the way they’re capable of and shut down the LA Tech offense.
“It was really simple stuff,” said Kaufman, who took the credit for LA Tech’s first two touchdowns. “We were just beating ourselves. We just had to find a way to keep fighting through. You have to have a short memory, especially as a DB, you have to have a real short memory.”
The defense nearly shut out the Bulldogs in the second half, conceding just the single field goal after a gritty goal line stand, and allowed just 122 yards total in the final two quarters.
“Very proud of the way our guys came back,” Doeren said. “It was obviously not a great first half to say the least, but it was a great response in the second. The players rallied around each other in that locker room. … I thought we showed a lot of heart. I really do. I think it was just a hearty and gritty win.”
Doeren did not have an update yet on either McCall or Cisse, stating that he would have an update on Monday, but did say that White was considered day-to-day at this point.
NC State will begin conference play next week as they head down to Death Valley to take on the Clemson Tigers.
