CJ Bailey continues to play with confidence; shows it in romp over Campbell

By Noah Fleischman

CJ Bailey always wants to start fast. It’s in his DNA as a quarterback, looking to get the offense in an early rhythm that the team can build on throughout a given game. The desire isn’t what makes him unique as a signal-caller, rather his ability to execute that is. 

Bailey has started fast in each of the Wolfpack’s first six games. He has completed at least 75 percent of his passes to begin each game. It doesn’t always lead to points, but Bailey’s goal seems to be not to allow the offense to get stuck in neutral through the air. 

While NC State rode a two-game losing streak, it was due in part to his accuracy taking a dip later in games. At Duke two weeks ago, 3 interceptions (and a lost fumble) were what doomed the Wolfpack, while the loss to Virginia Tech was riddled with inconsistent drives from the offense.

The ever-confident sophomore didn’t have that issue against Campbell as he led NC State to a 56-10 win over the Camels on Saturday afternoon at Carter-Finley Stadium. 

Bailey started 9-for-12 passing, his least-accurate beginning of a game this fall, but he finished his outing 11-for-11 through the air. The quarterback would have been on a hot streak if this were any video game, and against the Camels’ defense, it seemed as if one completion led to the next.

“Once you get that first completion, it’s going to keep adding up,” Bailey said. “That’s just the way I operate. When I get a bunch of completions going, it’s going to keep flowing throughout the game.”

In all, Bailey was 20-of-23 passing — a season-best 87 percent completion rate — for 337 yards and 4 touchdowns, the single-game most yardage of his young collegiate career. The Wolfpack offense scored a touchdown on all eight drives that Bailey was in the game before he gave way to backups Lex Thomas and Will Wilson for most of the second half. 

The Miami, Fla., native appeared to channel the game plan to heart against Campbell. NC State coach Dave Doeren wanted his team to play with aggression to jump out to an early lead before building on it — headlined by winning the coin toss and electing to receive first. 

Bailey was unafraid to push the ball downfield, completing eight passes of 15 yards or more, including three of his scores that were 37 (to tight end Cody Hardy), 16 (to running back Hollywood Smothers) and 34 (to Terrell Anderson) yards, respectively, as he totaled 226 of his yards on those plays alone. 

Why exactly was Bailey able to find immediate and sustained success down the field? Smothers’ electric running, which was highlighted by a career-long 59-yard touchdown scamper, forced Campbell to load the box. That’s all Bailey needed to connect with his dynamic receiving corps as seven different Wolfpack players caught explosive passes in the victory. 

Doeren knew the Camels were going to have to choose how to defend NC State, either to slow down Smothers or Bailey, and they picked the run game. From there, it was all Bailey, who was able to find the open man downfield in the aerial numbers game against the defense for much of the afternoon. 

“The run game and the pass game are friends,” Doeren said. “They’ve got to work well together. You can’t be a dink-and-dunk offense with a good run game. When you have a good run game, it opens up down-the-field play actions and shots. You can’t be afraid to call them. If you throw an incomplete pass, it’s OK. But those are opportunities, with the receivers we have, that we’ve got to capitalize on.”

Bailey has always had confidence in his ability to connect on a deep ball as he was 8-of-16 passing for 290 yards and 2 touchdowns on throws of 20 air yards or more going into the tilt with Campbell, according to Pro Football Focus. That number ballooned against the Camels as Bailey was 5-of-7 passing for 179 yards and 2 scores on throws of 20 yards or more in the win.

Doeren, the Wolfpack’s 13th-year coach, has always had the same level of confidence in his quarterback. The Campbell win was no different. 

“CJ’s playing well. He’s played well all year, and he’s not going to be perfect; there are plays he’s going to learn from,” Doeren said. “But he’s giving us a chance to win. He’s playing hard; he’s making plays with his feet; he’s throwing catchable footballs down the field; he understands the offense and where Coach [Kurt Roper] wants him to go with the ball. He’s playing with a lot of confidence, so I love how CJ’s playing.”

Bailey, who approaches each game with the same swagger and urgency to do his job, felt like the win over Campbell was a good tune-up for what’s next on NC State’s schedule: a trip to No. 21 Notre Dame next Saturday. 

To pull off the upset over the Irish, he will need to be accurate as he has been all season. After resetting his career best in completion rate each of the last three weeks, Bailey knows he’ll need to play a complete game yet again. 

And he’s ready for the challenge.

“It’s been great to push the ball downfield and be accurate and on time. I want to continue to have that throughout the season,” Bailey said. “Next week is going to be a big week. I’m going to have to make a lot of plays with my arm and let guys do their job as well.”

Although Campbell’s defense has nothing in common with Notre Dame’s unit, Bailey has proven to himself that he can be ultra-efficient while stretching the field. That confidence booster is likely to show up on the road in a hostile environment in a week’s time.