NC State made it interesting, but the Wolfpack flew home from Palo Alto with another loss. Stanford’s Davis Warren threw for 303 yards and a career-best four touchdowns, and the Cardinal recovered an onside kick in the final minute to hold off NC State 31-28 on Friday night, as reported by Deadspin.
How It Went Down
Stanford kept marching all night. The Cardinal put together scoring drives of 84, 86 and 90 yards in the first half and outgained the Pack 477 to 381. Micah Ford ran for 150 yards on 22 carries, and Caden High caught nine balls for 103 yards and a score.
NC State still had a puncher’s chance. An 18-play, 86-yard drive that ate 9:25 off the clock ended with a 2-yard Will Wilson touchdown run early in the fourth, cutting it to 28-21. After a Stanford field goal made it 31-21 with 8:27 left, CJ Bailey led a 14-play, 89-yard answer and found Keenan Jackson for a 16-yard touchdown with 1:23 to go. Then Stanford came up with the onside kick, and that was the ballgame.
Bailey finished 17 of 30 for 256 yards and two touchdowns and added 59 yards on the ground. Wilson scored twice in short-yardage work, and Deandre Desinor also caught a touchdown pass.
The IAHHM Take
Give the Wolfpack credit for not folding late, but the bigger story is the slide. NC State is now 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the ACC, with two straight losses. Playing without leading rusher Jayden “Duke” Scott, who sat a second straight game with a foot injury, didn’t help. Neither did a defense that let Stanford go 84-plus yards over and over.
Bailey is still the guy who gives Raleigh hope. He makes plays with his arm and his legs, and when the offense gets rolling, this team can hang with anybody on the schedule. The question is whether the defense can hold up long enough to get this team to a bowl game.
Pack fans: is this season still salvageable? Sound off.
Source: Deadspin
