What Went Wrong For NC State Against Vanderbilt (Besides THAT)

We’ll take a look back at everything that went wrong for the Wolfpack in their heartbreaking loss to the Commodores.

Sep 19, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; NC State Wolfpack running back Davion Gause (7) stiff arms Vanderbilt Commodores safety Ricardo Jones (7) during the second half at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Wolfpack suffered an all-time bizarre defeat. And by now, even the most casual sports observers have had the ending forced on them. 

Our reporting team tracked that over 60K people have now viewed the ending on the SEC’s YouTube page.  

It’s impossible to avoid. 

“Everyone’s going to talk about the last play,” NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren said after the game. “There were 10 or 20 plays in that game that, if we had played better on, maybe it wouldn’t have come down to that.” 

Offensive Show

NC State got off to a hot start on Saturday, much like the heat advisory warning both teams were under in Nashville. 

At kickoff, the temperature reached a real feel of 105 degrees. The on-field temperature was even hotter at 150 degrees. 

State’s offense scored on the first two drives of the game and had 17 points and 221 total yards before halftime. 

The defense held Vanderbilt to 2-for-5 on 3rd down, forced a fumble, and kept the Commodores out of the end zone for much of the first half. 

However, it didn’t take Vandy’s true freshman quarterback Jared Curtis long to find his confidence in this game. 

He single-handedly willed the Commodores' offense back in this game on a two-minute drill that resulted in Vandy’s first touchdown of the game. 

Wilson Avoids The Pressure

But CJ Wilson (QB) stayed cool under pressure, even when the Vandy pass rush was directly in his face. Wilson seemed unfazed. 

His offense played well at times and found ways to score points in a multitude of ways.

Will Wilson (QB) ran for a 33-yard touchdown while Keenan Jackson (WR) hauled in 3 touchdown passes of his own. 

But for every point NC State scored, Curtis and his Vanderbilt offense found ways to respond. He seemed to rattle off big play after big play, throwing darts to his receivers for the score or to set up an eventual touchdown. 

It may sound odd, but it never felt like the Wolfpack were fully in control, even though it had the lead for the entire game, until that now-infamous final play. 

Losing A Heartbreaker

“Very sad ending to a game where I thought we did a lot of good and found really hard, controlled the football game, responded when we needed to respond multiple times,” Doeren said. 

“Obviously, a play that breaks your heart more than anything,” he said. “I was proud of how our guys played for 59 minutes and 59 seconds.” 

NC State returns to Raleigh 1-2 on the season. 

We’ll see how NC State responds to this devastating loss next week when it hosts App State.