NC State defense steps up in ACC clash. What we learned from Pack’s win over FSU

There’s something to be said about hard work winning games. A little luck never hurt anybody.

N.C. State’s defense put on a great performance, certainly — its best of the season — but it got a lot of help to beat Florida State, 21-11, on Friday night at Carter-Finley Stadium and become bowl eligible for the 11th time overall, and sixth consecutive season, under head coach Dave Doeren. “Can’t say enough about these kids. Eleven bowl opportunities now in 13 years, six out of seven against Florida State. Pretty damn good,” Doeren said. “Proud of these guys, proud of the staff look forward to celebrating it and getting ready for the next.”

NC State cornerback Jackson Vick tackled Lawayne McCoy in the first half to stop the receiver from adding yards after a catch. Vick was originally called for targeting, but the ruling was overturned on replay.

Wolfpack quarterback CJ Bailey nearly fumbled the football twice in the game. His first mistake also came in the first half and was ruled a fumble recovered by Florida State. After review, it was determined Bailey’s knee was down prior to the ball being stripped. Later in the game, a similar situation took place. He was called down prior to FSU knocking the football away.

Don’t worry, special team shenanigans took place, too. Fifth-year punter Caden Noonkester booted a punt that had little hang time and distance and barely crossed midfield. The ball bounced back into N.C. State territory after hitting FSU’s KJ Kirkland. Noonkester raced to the football and recovered it, regaining possession.

“I cannot say that I’ve ever done that before,” Noonkester said. “I’ve watched my fair share of fumble recoveries, so I tried my best to imitate that on the play. It’s a result-driven business, so I got the result done. I’m sure a lot of people could criticize my technique, but I got the job done.”

N.C. State (6-5, 3-4ACC) was unable to capitalize on the opportunity but that didn’t matter. FSU’s Squirrel White signaled for a fair catch, but he fumbled the punt. N.C. State linebacker Tra Thomas recovered the ball at the Florida State 14-yard line.

The Wolfpack turned the mistake into a touchdown that extended its lead from three points to 10 with 1:47 to play when Bailey found tight end Justin Joly in the end zone on a tough fourth-down play.

Bailey ended the game 18 of 25 passing for 152 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Doeren doesn’t necessarily consider the reviewed plays lucky as much as he believes those are correct decisions. He pointed to a missed facemask penalty, which didn’t go in the Pack’s favor. Doeren is still glad Vick wasn’t ejected, because the depth is so shallow there didn’t have a substitute. Who knows what the staff would’ve done.

But he agrees the team got some breaks in the win. Noonkester, for example, said he acted on pure instinct.

“That’s God’s blessing, is what that is,” Doeren said. “It’s good to get some of those. We’ve had many that didn’t go our way. Football is that way. There’s bounces in games. There’s all kinds of bounces in games, and sometimes they go your way, sometimes they don’t. That’s football, and sometimes it’s frustrating, because you just feel like it’s always against you. It’s good to finally get a couple bounces.”

Florida State (5-6, 2-6 ACC) has not won a true road game since Nov. 25, 2023, when it defeated rival Florida.

Here’s what we learned from N.C. State’s fourth straight win over Florida State.

Stalwart defense leads NC State to victory

N.C. State’s defensive injuries have been well documented this season. Nine of the team’s top 22 defensive players have missed at least one game this fall.

A shorthanded Wolfpack, however, put together its best performance of the season.

N.C. State ranked second-to-last in the ACC for scoring defense (31.6 points per game allowed) and was among the bottom 30% of the nation. Florida State’s offense, on the other hand, ranked No. 17 in the nation and No. 2 in the conference for scoring (36.4 points per game). The Wolfpack defense was also giving up 440.4 yards per game to its opponents, while the Seminoles offense racked up 487.5 yards.

A desperate Wolfpack defense looked nothing like it has at earlier points this season — complimentary — and played with a kind of urgency it’s sought all season. It held the Seminoles to three points in the first half and eight in the second. FSU recorded 383 yards of total offense and 180 rushing yards. It was the second-fewest points scored by Florida State this season, only one more than the Seminoles scored against Clemson. On the opposite side, it was the fewest points allowed by N.C. State against an FBS opponent in 2025.

“I’m so proud of our defensive kids and defensive staff,” Doeren said, “For putting together that game plan, for executing that game plan, playing the way that they did, believing coming off a really opposite-type of game the week before, I thought our guys played outstanding defensive football tonight.”

Cornerback Devon Marshall led the defensive attack, recording three pass breakups and one interception in the first 15 minutes and 43 seconds of game time. The Wolfpack turned Marshall’s interception and 17-yard return into a 23-yard touchdown. It was his first interception of the season and third of his career.

The senior recorded his third pass breakup in the end zone, Cian Slone contributing pressure on Castellanos in the backfield. He had a fourth with just under two minutes remaining in the first half. Marshall deflected his fifth and sixth passes in the second half and intercepted a second pass on the final play of the game.

He is the first player to record five pass breakups and two interceptions since David Amerson achieved the feat on Sept. 3, 2011, against Liberty.

Marshall said at the end of October that he enjoys being on an island by himself deep down field and calls his position “Marshall Island.”

“I was just having fun out there, making plays for my team, my teammates coming up to me, celebrating with me,” Marshall said Friday. “I made plays early in the game, so I was just trying to remain focused throughout the game to keep making more plays.”

Doeren complimented Marshall’s toughness, competitive drive and coachability. The staff decided earlier in the week to match him with FSU’s leading receiver, Duce Robinson, and Marshall “rose to the occasion.

“That kid’s 6-6, 225 pounds, at least, and Devon played his butt off, man,” Doeren said. “If he’s not Player of the Week in the ACC, they got blinders on, because that was a hell of a performance by him.”

N.C. State put together a full defensive performance, though, gaining positive contributions all through the rotation.

Linebacker Kenny Soares added a pass breakup in the first half, while defensive ends Sabastian Harsh, Slone and Chase Bond put pressure on Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos and forced mistakes.

On an equally important note, nickelback Asaad Brown and linebacker Caden Fordham led all players with 12 and 15 tackles, respectively.

Florida State finished with 10 explosive plays, but the N.C. State defense limited the big opportunities and yards after contact. It also held the Seminoles scoreless on seven of its nine drives.

Fordham, whose father played at FSU and whose brother is committed to play in Tallahassee, said he’s happy to have family bragging rights. More than that, the team captain is excited about his team finally getting the results it knew it could have.

“We felt like we haven’t put a full game together as a defense, and I feel like we did that tonight,” Fordham said. “They were on us all week about doing what we need to do; just doing your job, playing fast, like we always say. It showed tonight. We finally put a full game together, and it was awesome to play out there with those guys tonight.”

Continue to get Will Wilson, Duke Scott more touches

Hollywood Smothers is the ACC’s leading rusher, and he’s certainly worthy of plenty of touches, but he hasn’t been nearly as efficient in the last two weeks.

Smothers had seven carries for -2 yards against Miami. The running back had 58 rushing yards on 11 attempts in the first half against Florida State. He finished with 84 yards on 21 carries. On paper, Smothers’ numbers were good. He struggled at times against the Seminoles’ defensive front. Smothers’ greatest strength is arguably his evasiveness, but FSU’s speed stifled runs and chased him off of edges that would’ve been successful against other defenses.

Duke Scott, the redshirt freshman running back, finished with 10 yards on two carries in the first half. Against Miami, he recorded 14 yards on seven attempts. He entered the game with 445 yards on the season, including a career-high 196 yards against Georgia Tech. The young back earned the start against the Yellow Jackets due to Smothers’ injury. Scott is a strong downhill runner and, listed at 215 pounds, provides more physicality than Smothers.

Freshman quarterback Will Wilson entered the game in the second half and converted on three short-yardage plays to start the Pack’s first drive after halftime. Like Scott, Wilson provides more muscle in the run game. Wilson is now 5 of 5 on fourth down opportunities and 7 of 10 third-down plays. The freshman is 19 of 27 on all conversion opportunities.

N.C. State needs all three players, and Smothers should in no way be removed from the lineup, but it was clear the offense was more dynamic when it utilized the downhill runners.

Castellanos runs on Pack defense

The N.C. State scouting report had Castellanos circled on the scouting report — for his legs.

“The quarterback, obviously, he’s a guy that’s been in the ACC. I’ve seen him a lot on film,” Doeren said on Monday. “Haven’t played against him, but he’s a dynamic player, strong arm, looks like a running back when he runs a football.”

Castellanos entered the game with 2,317 passing yards and 12 touchdowns, with a 59% completion rate. He ranked second on the team with 404 rushing yards and eight scores.

The Pack had success slowing down the Boston College transfer’s passing game. He finished 16-32 for 203 passing yards and one touchdown. It couldn’t quite get him on the ground game.

Castellanos, despite being under pressure multiple times, successfully found gaps to run. He finished 76 yards on 11 rushes, including with four rushing plays of at least 10 yards.

N.C. State’s defensive effort in other areas gave the team leeway for a few solid rushing plays. Its rushing defense remains an issue at times, but the team is OK with how it performed.

“I thought the secondary played lights out. That’s a good group of wideouts; they’re fast,” Doeren said. “Their most successful plays were quarterback scrambles and, you know, [that] kid’s fast. We knew that that would happen.”

This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 11:55 PM.

Jadyn Watson-Fisher

The News & Observer