Instant observations: NC State cruises past Florida State to achieve bowl eligibility

NC State was shorthanded. Its availability report was filled with 17 players listed out, including a starting cornerback and the team’s right tackle. But even though the injured player list was longer than a CVS receipt, it didn’t seem to be too much of an issue for the Wolfpack with Florida State in town.  Instead, the Pack was able to control the game from start to finish in a wire-to-wire 21-11 win over the Seminoles on Friday night at Carter-Finley Stadium. With the win, NC State has achieved bowl eligibility for the 11th time in the last 12 seasons under coach Dave Doeren. Florida State, which has now lost eight straight conference road games, muffed a pair of punts inside the last three minutes to allow NC State to salt the game away with a 12-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey to senior tight end Justin Joly to put the nail in the coffin. Bailey was 18-of-25 passing for 152 yards and two touchdowns, while redshirt sophomore Hollywood Smothers led the Wolfpack with 84 rushing yards on 21 attempts. Joly paced NC State with 66 receiving yards and a touchdown on five receptions in another balanced passing effort.  Here are TheWolfpacker.com’s observations from the team’s sixth victory of the season.