Can NC State Get a Sixth Win for Bowl Eligibility?
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RALEIGH — NC State picked up its fifth win in a spot very few expected it to. The Wolfpack took down a ranked Georgia Tech at Carter-Finley Stadium, moving just one win away from a trip to a postseason bowl game.
While the Wolfpack enjoys its second open date, it also knows there are just three opportunities left to win down the stretch. In his 13 years as the head coach at NC State, Dave Doeren has missed out on playing in a bowl game just twice. The Wolfpack is also trying to snap a losing streak in bowl games that stretches back to 2017. Can the Pack find a win down the stretch?
Least Winnable Game
NC State's final road trip of the 2025 season will be a flight to South Florida to face the No. 18 Miami Hurricanes. Miami looked like a surefire College Football Playoff participant through most of October, but has now lost two of its last three games, first to Louisville and then against SMU.
Head coach Mario Cristobal is notorious for late-season collapses and the latest edition of the Hurricanes seems to be in the middle of another one. Georgia transfer quarterback Carson Beck has fallen out of the Heisman race as turnovers pile up. Still, Miami is loaded with NFL talent and could present particularly daunting challenges to the Wolfpack offensive line.
NC State does hold a bit of a wildcard for this particular matchup. Sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey is a native of Hollywood, Florida, near Hard Rock Stadium and the Miami campus in Coral Gables. The matchup is personal for Bailey, who wants to put on a show for friends and family who will be in attendance. He's also coming off his best performance as a member of the Wolfpack.
"That's one that I really want. I need everybody and I’ve got to come to play as well as I did today," Bailey said after the Georgia Tech win. "I need those guys to have my back, and I already know they're going to do it,"
Most Winnable Game
While the rivalry runs deep, NC State has looked like a better team than Bill Belichick's North Carolina Tar Heels through most of the 2025 season. Even so, both teams could enter the matchup fighting for a bowl spot with five wins. North Carolina entered a forgiving portion of its schedule with three wins and the defense has looked improved.
However, NC State seems to have found some of its confidence from the early stages of the season. The Wolfpack has a win over Virginia, the top dog in the ACC, and over Georgia Tech, who entered the matchup undefeated. North Carolina's best win? A road win over Syracuse with a lacrosse player starting at quarterback.
The Tar Heel defense has improved in the later stages of the season. Belichick's defense held Virginia to just 17 points, seven of which came in overtime. The unit followed that up by holding Syracuse to 10 points and just 152 total yards. The defensive line has turned up the gas over the last two games as well, with 10 sacks. NC State has struggled to get pressure all season long, so that's one advantage for the Tar Heels.
However, the Wolfpack holds a major advantage offensively, as sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey significantly overmatched Gio Lopez at UNC. Bailey ranks third in the ACC in passing yards, while Lopez has barely thrown over 1,000 yards. The Wolfpack offense also includes the conference's leading rusher, Hollywood Smothers.
The Wildcard
Florida State opened its season with a win over Alabama and looked like one of the most improved programs in the nation. However, things went wrong quickly for Mike Norvell and the Seminoles, who lost their first four ACC games before finally beating Wake Forest.
The Seminoles have struggled in Raleigh historically and the game will be played on a Friday night, the week before both schools play rivalry games. It could be a sleepy spot for both teams, but Carter-Finley will certainly be active, likely giving the Wolfpack a slight advantage.
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Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.
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