NC State football holds off App State rally. Observations from a Wolfpack win
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A comfortable win after everything that transpired in Nashville a week ago would have been nice. As N.C. State has discovered, life doesn’t always work out the way we want.
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Appalachian State, known as a giant killer, rolled into Raleigh with an undefeated record and nothing to lose. N.C. State, meanwhile, had everything to lose — and it almost did.
The Mountaineers’ sideline erupted in cheers in the fourth quarter as Joe Reddish recovered the onside kick in Wolfpack territory, sending its offense back on the field after a touchdown cut N.C. State’s lead to one touchdown.
Less than two minutes later, Appalachian State tied the game. N.C. State fans started yelling to fire head coach Dave Doeren, seemingly fed up with the team’s inability to put opponents away.
N.C. State quarterback CJ Bailey took a knee — twice, actually — on the final play of the game to seal the 41-31 victory and hand App State its first loss of the season.
“It was the hardest finish of a football game I’ve been a part of in my career a week ago, and this team just battled all week,” Doeren said. “With a lot of negativity outside of our program, they just insulated themselves and blocked the noise, and I’m proud of them for that.”
Running back Duke Scott deserves more credit than he will probably receive, rushing for 152 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 6.7 yards per carry, a number that was once as high as 9.1 yards per carry in the first half. Doeren and Bailey credited the offensive line and blockers, too, for their ability to open gaps for the run game.
The junior running back, with a few assists from Davion Gause, put the offense on his back when it mattered most. Scott scored N.C. State’s final touchdown of the game with 5:08 remaining to regain the lead.
“They just started moving bodies, moving guys around. We started pounding with Duke Scott, Davion Gause,” Bailey said. “They were running. They were running hard, and I’m so proud of those guys in our run game, in the trenches. That’s where it starts at, and we tell those guys every day, ‘It starts with y’all. It don’t start with me. It starts with y’all up front.’”
Jackson Vick also had two key pass breakups in the fourth quarter and a pair of solo tackles.
“We knew we had to stay together. That was the biggest thing, staying together over those last few moments,” Vick said. “We knew it was gonna come down on our back, and we executed.”
This game, unfortunately, felt a lot like the Wolfpack’s loss at Vanderbilt. The Wolfpack jumped out to a 21-0 lead after scoring on three of its first four drives, picking up 216 yards of total offense. N.C. State’s defense held the Mountaineers to 48 yards during that span. It finished the first half with 287 yards, a 122-yard advantage over the Mountaineers.
N.C. State’s second-half performance did not inspire much confidence on either side of the ball. The Wolfpack (2-2, 0-1 ACC) gave up three touchdowns after the break, squandering its three-possession lead.
In fact, the Mountaineers (3-1) used a complete reversal to out-gain the Wolfpack 187 yards to 76. N.C. State responded, thanks to its solid run game, to return to the win column. It ended with 459 yards, including 206 on the ground, to App’s 379.
The Pack said it didn’t have any fears or concerns that it would have a repeat of last week. The players and staff knew the game wasn’t over.
“(I was) just going up and down the sideline, encouraging guys to finish,” Doeren said. “Seeing the look in their eyes, seeing what CJ was all about there on the sideline, and the offensive line had a lot of energy, I felt good about that drive. I thought we’d go down and score. I think you know it’s easy for people on the outside to panic, but I have a lot of trust in these players, and I knew that they would come through.”
Bailey finished the night 24-of-33 passing for 253 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Singleton is exactly who everyone expected. He completed 26 of 38 passes for 317 yards. His performance included a screen pass to Darrin Fugitt down the middle for a 30-yard gain, setting up the Mountaineers for their first touchdown of the night. He added a 54-yard pass to Sam Pickett on the first play of the second half. App State turned the explosive play into its second touchdown seven plays later.
The senior quarterback entered the game throwing for 889 yards and ranked No. 6 in the nation with an 80.8% completion rate, so his 68% rate on Saturday was lower than usual, but he willed his team back into the contest.
Based on the ending of last week’s game, ball security should have been a priority in practice. Maybe it was. The Wolfpack offense, however, had a couple of close calls Saturday.
Appalachian State recovered the football after one of Scott’s aggressive runs. The officials ultimately ruled he was down, and his forward progress had ended before the ball came loose.
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In the second half, wide receiver JoJo Trader was loose with the football. He was originally called for a fumble recovered by the Mountaineers’ defense after a 20-yard gain in Wolfpack territory. The call on the field was overturned after the ACC replay center determined Trader fumbled the ball out of bounds.
A replay couldn’t save the Wolfpack early in the fourth quarter, though. App State intercepted Bailey’s pass and marched into N.C. State territory and ended the drive with a touchdown. The Mountaineers’ touchdown cut the Pack’s lead to one possession.
N.C. State knows the significance of maintaining possession, and it should count itself lucky those two plays went its way. Going forward, it can’t afford to rely on replay or luck when so much remains on the line.
It’s common to hear the names Popo Aguirre, Ronnie Royal, Jackson Vick or Brian Nelson. They’re some of the more experienced players and leaders on the Wolfpack defense. Freshman Elijah Satchell, however, is quickly becoming a player to watch.
Satchell sacked App State quarterback Malachi Singleton for a loss of 7 yards and forced the Mountaineers to punt in a 3-and-out, another major play in his short career. His contributions were limited in the remainder of the game, but Satchell’s stop — in a game this close — was the kind of play that a team thanks its lucky stars was made.
The freshman was called for a roughing the passer penalty on App’s final drive of the game, hitting Singleton’s helmet when he came down trying to make a play. While N.C. State doesn’t want a penalty in key situations, it didn’t cost the team points. And it would rather have penalties from effort instead of pre-snap errors.
Doeren spoke highly of the freshman on Thursday, calling him consistent and the “same guy every day.” Satchell has become known for his work ethic and football IQ.
“He’s increasing his reps because he’s earned that with his play,” Doeren said. “It’s a great example of what happens when you take advantage of your reps. I always tell the guys, don’t count the reps, make the reps count … and he’s a good example of that.”
Six of his seven tackles this season have been solo, and he had one drive-ending play against Richmond.
Noah Konieczynski remained out with an undisclosed injury, though he was listed on the pregame depth chart. Konieczynski has not played since the opener on Aug. 29, when he sustained the injury.
For the second week, Kanaoh Vinesett performed most of the kickoff duties, in addition to field goal kicking. Vinesett was not initially expected to handle kickoffs — it’s why the team brought in Drew Lovelace — but he’s been the best option.
Doeren said that in the days leading up to the game, the staff leaned on Vinesett against the Commodores because of his versatility.
“Kanoah gives us the ability to sky kick and deep kick, and Drew doesn’t,” Doeren said. “When you’re not going to always be a touchback kickoff team like we have been for a long time, you have to have some maneuverability with where the ball is going to land to make it harder on (the opponent), because you know they’re going to get return opportunities when you’re not kicking it in the end zone. If you just kick it to the same spot over and over and over, you’re asking for it. That’s what went into it. It’s health and scheme.”
On Saturday, Vinesett had eight kickoffs for seven touchbacks and 518 yards. He also made two field goals and every PAT. Doeren said after the win that he was “so proud” of the fifth-year player.
Lovelace, the soccer-player-turned-football player, was available. Lovelace entered the game with 11 kickoffs for 57.9 yards and one touchback.
With the ACC schedule ahead, it’s unclear how kickoffs will be split going forward. For now, Vinesett has handled it well.
Spike Sowells was not on the field during warmups, and Teague Andersen took snaps at center. Andersen made his first career start at center against Vanderbilt after Sowells left the Richmond game with an undisclosed injury.
“Spike’s continuing to rehab. We were hopeful to have him in this game, but he just wasn’t ready yet,” Doeren said following the Vanderbilt matchup. “We’re going to keep working and hopefully get him back. He’s day-to-day.”
Tight end Vander Ploog was not available and was on the sideline in a sling. Doeren called Ploog “day-to-day” earlier this week.
This story was originally published September 26, 2026 at 11:17 PM with the headline “NC State football holds off App State rally. Observations from a Wolfpack win.”
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