What happened on NC State’s game-altering second-quarter interception in loss at Duke

DURHAM — NC State, up six, was looking to answer Duke’s second first-half touchdown late in the second half, and it found itself with a fourth-and-2 on the Blue Devils’ 24-yard line. The goal was simple: try to draw the hosts offside to pick up an easy first down with a hard count. 

NC State lined up with two wide receivers set to either side of the formation, with redshirt sophomore running back Hollywood Smothers next to sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey. As the Wolfpack stood at the line of scrimmage, the two wideouts to the left of the line were looking towards the coaching staff on the far sideline. 

But at the same time redshirt sophomore wideout Noah Rogers and sophomore Keenan Jackson had their backs to Bailey, Duke defensive end Vincent Anthony Jr. appeared to enter the neutral zone, which resulted in graduate center Jalen Grant snapping the ball. 

Bailey seemed to panic as he threw the ball, looking for senior tight end Justin Joly over the middle, but his pass landed about 7 yards short — directly into Duke linebacker Tre Freeman’s hands. He returned the interception 67 yards to the Wolfpack 12-yard line, which set up Duke’s go-ahead touchdown two plays later. 

From then on, it was all Blue Devils as they held on to win 45-33 on Saturday night at Wallace Wade Stadium.

If it seemed like NC State’s offense was surprised that the ball was actually snapped on the play, even though the Wolfpack had a chance to kick a field goal to extend its lead, well it’s because they were.

“It’s a hard-count play. We don’t even have a play called, unless they jump offside,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said postgame. “The center’s not supposed to snap it unless he knows somebody’s in the neutral zone. Jalen thought their D-end was in the neutral zone when he snapped the football, the refs didn’t think that.”

From Doeren’s vantage point on the far sideline, it seemed like Anthony jumped offside. The officials, however, didn’t see it the same way and let the play go on. It led to the interception, which was Bailey’s second of the game — he ended up with 4 total turnovers (3 interceptions and a lost fumble) in the defeat. 

Smothers, who was standing in the backfield, didn’t see what happened. It all occurred quickly, leading to the tailback’s instincts to tackle the ball carrier stepping in, preventing a pick six.

“I just saw them run the other way,” Smothers said. “It happened fast. I think I just tried to go get him.”

Bailey, who was making just his 13th start of his young collegiate career, tried to make a play out of nothing on the late down. While Doeren knew what his quarterback was trying to do, he would have liked to see him try to get the ball out of harm’s way.

“It’s a play where CJ, in that situation, has to see there’s not a flag and throw it away,” Doeren said. “He was trying to make a play right there. It’s unfortunate.” 

That turnover appeared to spark Duke’s offense, which scored three straight touchdowns following the error. In all the Blue Devils outscored the Wolfpack 31-12 after the costly interception that NC State thought it would get back due to a penalty flag that was never thrown. 

After all, the Wolfpack was content on kicking a field goal late in the half to take a possible 9-point lead to the halftime locker room. 

“We were trying to get them to jump, and if they didn’t, I was going to bang a timeout and kick a field goal,” Doeren said. “We weren’t even going to run a play right there.”

But NC State did. And Duke took full advantage, feasting on what it does best: turning defense into offense in a hurry. That ended up being a critical difference in the Wolfpack’s first loss of the 2025 campaign.