Close losses haunted NC State last season. Pack is off to better start in 2025
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- N.C. State lost five games by 10 or fewer points during its 6-7 2024 season.
- In 2025, key defensive plays helped N.C. State secure two narrow early wins.
- Offseason drills and situational practice improved N.C. State’s late-game execution.
Winning and losing a game can be determined by thin margins; one yard allowed, a bad pass, an interception.
N.C. State football knows that as well as any other program.
The Wolfpack lost five games by 10 points or fewer in 2024, including three decided by five or less. Had those three contests gone differently, the team could have finished with nine wins instead of six.
“You’re pretty close to having a hell of a season,” Doeren said. “Close doesn’t get it done.”
If there’s one thing the team showed early this season, it’s the ability to finish. N.C. State defeated East Carolina in the season opener, 24-17, after the defense’s successful goal-line stand forced a turnover on downs.
Saturday, defensive end Cian Slone picked off a potential game-winning pass in the end zone to secure N.C. State’s 34-30 win over Virginia.
Plays like that didn’t always happen a season ago, and they fueled the Wolfpack to be better; to come out on the other side this time.
“It builds confidence for sure,” Doeren said. “We’ve had two good football games where we had to finish to win, and we did that in both cases. It definitely ratchets up guys’ belief that they can win any game, and it doesn’t matter the situation that we’re in.”
Doeren said the coaching staff spent a lot of time analyzing the details during the winter and evaluating the team’s strengths and weaknesses. During spring practice and fall camp, there was an emphasis on two- and four-minute drills. Doeren previously said the team trains in chaos to prepare for moments like the ones they’ve faced; the ones the need key sacks, interceptions, clutch passes and big kicks.
“It’s play calling, it’s players and it’s toughness,” Doeren said. “I think for the guys that are returners on our team, those losses were fuel in the offseason, and for our coaches, it was fuel. So far, you can see the time spent has paid off.”
There are still at least 10 games left — the Pack hopes for more — including its upcoming rivalry game against Wake Forest.
Last season, the Demon Deacons handed the Pack one of its one-possession losses. Quarterback CJ Bailey entered the game after Grayson McCall was carted off the field with a head injury. Bailey was, at the time, a true freshman in his fifth career game.
N.C. State took a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but Wake Forest responded with two touchdowns. The Wolfpack regained possession with 1:01 remaining, but Bailey threw an interception on the first play of the drive. Wake, which only won two ACC games last season, pulled off the upset at Carter-Finley.
The Wolfpack heads to Winston-Salem on Thursday for its conference opener. Wake Forest features a largely new group, led by first-year head coach Jake Dickert, but returns running back Demond Claiborne and the defense has looked good in the first two weeks. Wake held Kennesaw State to nine points — its lowest total since 2021 — and Western Carolina to 10.
This will be the 119th meeting between the two programs, with the Pack only winning three times on the road since 2000. Its most recent road win came when Brennan Armstrong led N.C. State to a 26-6 victory in 2023.
N.C.State expects another tough matchup, and the Saturday-Thursday turnaround adds another challenge, but the team feels positive about its ability to close; to finish differently than it did a year ago.
“We’ve been tested twice, and some of the teams we’re going to play haven’t been,” Doeren said. “They’ve been in blowout wins and things like that. The competitive nature of both of our football games, I think, has really prepared us for what’s coming on our schedule. As coaches, we’ve been able to see guys and high pressure situations have to make plays and make them.”
