RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – CJ Bailey and NC State’s offense put up season-high numbers in a 56-10 win over Campbell Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Bailey threw for 337 yards and four touchdowns for the Wolfpack (4-2), helping the offense score more points than they had in the previous two games combined. Bailey had more touchdowns (four) than incompletions (three).
Hollywood Smothers broke off an early 59-yard touchdown run on his way to 123 rushing yards for the afternoon. Jayden Scott added two scores on the ground as NC State topped 200 rushing yards on the day.
The Wolfpack wasted no time making a statement. They scored three touchdowns in the first quarter and followed with a four-touchdown effort in the second period.
Bailey found Smothers, Terrell Anderson and Justin Joly for touchdowns in that second quarter, and NC State took a 49-7 lead to the locker room at halftime.
Smothers’ rushing total came on four carries and he also made a TD reception as the Wolfpack (4-2) snapped a two-game skid and improved to 3-0 in nonconference home games.
“We needed to play well,” N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said. “… We had a lot of ground to make up. We have to get better every week.”
N.C. State’s 482 first-half yards of total offense marked the most for a Football Bowl Championship team this season. The Wolfpack led 49-7 at the half.
“When we don’t do our job, really good football teams make you pay,” Campbell coach Braxton Harris said. “And that’s what the first half was.”
Bailey finished 20-for-23 for 337 yards in 2½ quarters of action, with scoring throws to Cody Hardy, Terrell Anderson, Justin Jolly and Smothers giving the sophomore a single-game career-high for TD passes. Jayden Scott, who finished with 89 yards on the ground, ran for two touchdowns and Will Wilson scored the game’s first points on a 2-yard run.
Even with a comfortable lead, Doeren wanted more in the second half.
“We haven’t been a team that has finished people this year,” he said of keeping starters in the game for a chunk of the third quarter. “There’s risk in that, but I wanted starters in there to start the second half on both sides.”
Campbell (1-5) pulled even at 7-7 in the first quarter on Mike Chandler II’s 13-yard pass from Kamden Sixkiller on a possession that began at the N.C. State 14-yard line following a fumbled punt return. Ravel Cato’s fourth-quarter interception of a Wilson pass set up Alex Crabb’s 46-yard field goal.
Sixkiller went 12-for-22 for 87 yards.
The takeaway
Campbell: The Camels dropped to 0-3 all-time vs. Atlantic Coast Conference opponents, with all those games in a seven-season span. They lost to another FBS in-state foe last month at East Carolina.
N.C. State: The Wolfpack’s first five games had final margins of 12 points or less, so this was a reprieve from late-game tension. The team will play only one more home game until late November. Three of N.C. State’s victories have come against in-state opponents.
Take him down
The Wolfpack put an emphasis on better tackling after Virginia Tech racked up 227 rushing yards a week earlier.
That seemed to pan out, but maintaining that level of defense will be critical moving forward.
“We have to be able to do this week to week and not take a week off,” linebacker Kenny Soares Jr. said. “Maybe today was a good start to it, but next week has to be better.”
Spread it around
Five N.C. State players notched receiving plays of more than 25 yards, with Doeren insisting that downfield shots are necessary because of Smothers’ ability to draw attention as a rushing threat.
“We wanted to be explosive and we were,” Doeren said. “With Hollywood in the backfield, it creates opportunities to throw the ball down the field.”
Up next
Campbell: Plays next Saturday at Hampton in a Coastal Athletic Association game
N.C. State: Plays next Saturday at No. 21 Notre Dame