NC State football’s offense exploded for 59 points in its 59-28 win over Stanford. The Wolfpack earned its second ACC win of the year against the Cardinal, showing out for its homecoming game. Here are the key takeaways from the game.

Big plays lead to big win

The Wolfpack capitalized on big play after big play en route to scoring 59 against Stanford — the most it’s ever scored against an ACC opponent. The Pack had two rushing touchdowns over 50 yards, a 52-yard rush from redshirt freshman running back Hollywood Smothers and a 94-yard rush from graduate running back Jordan Waters.

It was massive for the offense to get some explosive plays in the ground game as it opened up the offense for freshman quarterback CJ Bailey. The Pack rushed for over 281 yards with the rushing game accounting for five touchdowns.

The offense wasn’t the only group making big plays either, the defense forced two turnovers in the form of a fumble recovery and an interception. Special teams almost tacked on six more points on a 91-yard kickoff return from senior safety DK Kauffman that put the ball at the Stanford 9-yard line.

The big plays either put points on the scoreboard or set the Wolfpack up for a quick score. The red-and-white had four scoring drives that took less than two minutes. The offense has been searching for the explosiveness it saw against Stanford and has at least three more games to show this game wasn’t a fluke.

All in on Bailey

It’s hard to imagine a world where Bailey is not the future of Wolfpack football. The true freshman continues to get better in every game he plays. For the second straight game, Bailey threw for multiple touchdowns without turning the ball over.

In the win over Stanford, Bailey had more touchdowns than incompletions. Throwing 18-20, Bailey completed 90% of his total pass attempts and eclipsed the 200-yard mark for the fifth time this season.

Whether it’s throwing a dart downfield or making a play with his legs, Bailey can do just about everything you want from a quarterback in the modern game. He shows incredible poise for the hardest position in football as an 18-year-old, as shown when he delivered a strike to junior tight end Justin Joly to extend the Pack’s lead in the second quarter.

With the rules around NIL and the transfer portal, players like Bailey are never guaranteed to stay around, as he’ll probably receive numerous offers to play at another school. You can’t replace the physical skill nor the intangibles a player like Bailey offers, and with a young group of skill position players, head coach Dave Doeren and the rest of the football program need to do everything to keep Bailey in Raleigh going forward.

Struggling against running quarterbacks

A consistent issue, for more than just this season, has been when the defense has had to deal with a dual-threat quarterback. A quarterback who can use his legs to extend plays or gain yards on designed runs has killed NC State in the past and against Stanford, it was no different.

Quarterback Ashton Daniels rushed 11 times for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Each touchdown run came from more than 40 yards out, scorching the Pack defense.

Since 2013, Doeren’s first season as head coach of the football team, NC State has given up at least one game per season where the quarterback had gained over 100 yards rushing. With teams like Georgia Tech left on the schedule, whose quarterback rushed for over 100 yards and two touchdowns against UNC-Chapel Hill, the Pack needs to prevent quarterbacks from getting big gains on the ground if it wants to become bowl eligible.

Davin Vann is a forced fumble machine

No player in college football has more forced fumbles than graduate defensive end Davin Vann this season. With his key turnover against Stanford, which Waters took advantage of on a 13-yard touchdown run, Vann now has five forced fumbles through nine games.

Vann also tacked on a sack against the Cardinal, giving him 5.5 total on the season, tying his career high. A leader in the locker room and on the field, Vann has shown why he deserves the No. 1 jersey.

With six tackles and two for a loss against Stanford, Vann now has 33 total tackles on the year and 12 tackles for a loss. Over a third of his tackles have resulted in negative yards for the opponent’s offense and the graduate has shown why he has been such a key piece to the Pack’s defensive front.