The circumstances were dire for NC State heading into the fourth quarter, but CJ Bailey operated with impressive composure and made big throw after big throw to lead his team to a come-from-behind win despite no run support. Bailey is making obvious improvements each week, and while there’s plenty for him to improve still, he was very good.
NC State averaged 9.0 yards per passing attempt and completed 70.3% of its passes, marking the best passing performance by a team against Cal’s defense this season.
Bailey made things a bit more difficult than he needed to in choosing to throw that touchdown pass to Dacari Collins rather than KC Concepcion in the flat (also that pick play easily could have been flagged), but hey, I quibble. For the first time in a while, we had ourselves some fun.
Davin Vann was dominant in the fourth quarter, very nearly ending the game with a sack, but forcing a panicked throw short of the sticks on that last fourth down worked just as well. Vann also forced a fumble on a sack that apparently went completely unnoticed by the officiating crew, but no matter.
It always helps to head into the bye with a win, and now State can get itself to bowl eligibility with a couple of home games that are very much gettable.