Dave Doeren praises NC State after second straight comeback victory
By Luke Greco
Published:
NC State went on the road Thursday night and came back to beat Wake Forest 34-24. It was the second consecutive week that NC State trailed at half and came back and won the game. Last week, NC State was down 24-14 to Virginia and came back and won 35-31.
The Wolfpack went into the half trailing 24-17 against Wake Forest. They came out of the half guns blazing. NC State scored 17 unanswered points in the second half and was all over Wake defensively.
NC State head coach Dave Doeren spoke about the secret to NC State’s success after the game.
“We tested them. I told them, when they got back, it’s going to be the hardest thing they’ve been through, and it’s going to make them the closest team they can be if they fight through it all,” Doeren said. “We knew we needed to come together, and that was the thing last year’s team didn’t do. So it was a major part of what I wanted in the off season, was to create that chemistry on the team.”
NC State only allowed 44 total yards to Wake in the second half and limited the Demon Deacons to only 2 first downs. The win marks the 4th time in the last 2 years that NC State has trailed by 10+ points in a game and come back to win. That is tied with Iowa State and Missouri for the most wins in the FBS over that time.
NC State running back Daylan Smothers was sensational last night, carrying the ball 24 times for a career-high 164 yards. This rushing total marks the most by an NC State running back since 2018, when Reggie Gallaspy ran for 220 yards.
NC State will go on the road to play Duke in Week 4.
