NC State’s buy-in helps boost Wolfpack in another comeback win

By Noah Fleischman

WINSTON-SALEM — When NC State’s players returned to the Murphy Center for fall camp after a couple weeks off following the program’s weight training, Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren was ready to challenge his team.

The 13th-year coach was aware of what led to his team’s 2-5 mark in one-possession games in 2024: the squad wasn’t as together as he might have liked. That, in turn, left the Wolfpack without a shared identity of being able to finish games. 

And in the transfer portal era, where players come and go as if they’re walking through a revolving door, it can be tough to build the chemistry needed to close in crucial situations. 

That was the exact emphasis that Doeren was prioritizing with his team. And if it was going to work, he needed the entire squad to buy in. Sure enough, they did just that, despite having 41 new faces on the roster. 

“I told them when they got back it was going to be the hardest thing they’ve been through, and it’s going to make them the closest team they can be if they fight through it all,” Doeren said. “And they did.”

That resolve showed in NC State’s 34-24 come-from-behind win at Wake Forest on Thursday night at Allegacy Stadium. The Wolfpack, for the second straight week, trailed at the half. But just as it did to earn a 35-31 win over Virginia last Saturday, NC State found a way to play a much-improved second half. 

NC State spotted Wake Forest a 14-0 lead, including the opening kickoff being returned 98 yards for a touchdown, before its offense got into gear. The unit, led by sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey (23-for-32 passing, 201 yards, 3 touchdowns) and redshirt sophomore running back Hollywood Smothers (24 carries for a career-best 164 yards), helped keep the Wolfpack afloat through the first 30 minutes. 

But once the defense, which allowed Wake Forest to convert its first six third-down conversions and gave up five explosive plays in the first half, settled in, NC State started to dominate the game. The Pack’s defense allowed just 44 yards in the last two quarters, gave up just one first down and pitched a second-half shutout. 

And, as a result, NC State’s 17 unanswered points over the final two quarters were enough to leave its first road game with the victory. If this had happened a year ago, would the team have been able to fight through it? Probably not, at least that was the vibe from the team postgame. The emphasis on coming together as one team in fall camp showed in a major way.

“I think our training camp was built a certain way where they got to know each other,” Doeren said. “That’s one of these things in college football, you’ve got to see the guys play to figure out who you are, and we knew we needed to come together. That was the thing last year’s team didn’t do.”

This year’s squad has a certain swagger about it. There’s no panic on the sideline when things go awry, especially in the early parts of the game. It’s like the team has been there before, looking calm and collected, and refocusing on executing the game plan. 

After all, it’s exactly what the program did over the entire month of August. Doeren and his staff ran the squad through every situation in the book — end of half, end of game, four-minute and two-minute drills — and it led to the Wolfpack looking comfortable playing from behind. 

It’s not a habit the team wants to fall into, but just like it did against Virginia, NC State found a way to eliminate its mistakes in key moments. Its practices did just that, Smothers believed, noting the Pack was “more than prepared for the moment.”. 

“We’re family here. We believe in each other. We fight,” Smothers said. “We might bend, but we’ll never break. We believe in each other, believe in the man next to each other, and we’re just going to fight. We knew the game wasn’t over. We were down last week. We know what it takes to make plays. … We’re a family, and we came back and got the job done.”

Although Doeren felt like his approach to fall camp, which was drastically different from what the Wolfpack did a year ago — from the weight program to the practice schedule and situational football — prepared the team to work through adversity. But he wasn’t going to be truly sure until he saw it happen in a game. 

Sure enough, it has been evident in each of the past two games. 

“They understand what they have to do,” Doeren said. “They excel. People call it pressure situations, and to me, when those happen, you always revert back to your training. They believe, and they’re comfortable. They know what to do, they know how to do it, and they believe they can get it done.”

Doeren hasn’t been afraid to share his displeasure with the current state of college football, where the transfer portal and NIL dominate the headlines. He’s an old-school coach who wants his team to rally around the common goal of winning as many games as possible. While that might not have been as prevalent last fall, it is now. 

That’s what’s most important to the Wolfpack’s all-time winningest coach, who earned win No. 90 in his NC State career at Wake Forest. 

“It’s a fun team to coach. I’ve been saying this for a long time, and you can see why,” Doeren said. “They’re just a bunch of good kids that work hard. They take coaching. They’re talented, and they’re bought in. For me, it’s really refreshing.”

As a result, the team feels like it could continue to turn the tide in Raleigh. 

“I don’t think this team has a ceiling,” said senior tight end Justin Joly, who caught 4 passes for 22 yards and 2 touchdowns in the victory. “I think we’re walking outdoors, as high as we want to jump, we can. It’s just a matter of the people who do it.”