We didn’t have a time. We wasted two earlier and a half, and then we used our third right after the interception before we even ran a play because we were too unorganized to just Wilson on the field and dive forward.

9/19/2026 4:51:17 PM

Gonna be national media spotlight too, fun

9/19/2026 4:53:55 PM

Also, here’s what’s so stupid about it - it’s not like a situation where there was 10 or 15 seconds on the clock and you’re trying to prevent them from getting multiple plays. They should’ve told Bailey hey there’s no way you’re gonna waste six whole seconds before you get tackled just waste two or three and take the safety because either way we’re gonna have to give them the ball with one second or three seconds it won’t really matter. Bailey was clearly trying to get all six seconds off the clock, but even then you knew they were going to add a second most likely just because that’s how college sports has been. You tell Bailey just run out of the back of the end zone if he can takeoff three seconds at almost a guarantees they get one last play and that’s the game. But what makes it so bad is the chances of wasting six seconds was so thin that either way whether it’s one second on the clock three seconds or four it’s really all the same scenario you’re gonna kick off and they’re either gonna catch it and run one play or they’re gonna try to return it.

Either way the whole point of that is you’re gonna take the safety and they’re most likely gonna get the ball because wasting six seconds is really tough. That’s a long time with only a few yards to spare.

The fact Bailey felt like he needed to take that extra step or two to waste time is what is coaching all about. You make sure he knows you’re not killing all six seconds kill two or three get us the safety and we move on.

Again, that’s where we’re having. The timeout would really help you go right into that play and make sure everyone’s on the same page with exactly what needs to happen and how to execute their on fourth down. Not to mention you just leave Wilson in because he’s already just done it three players in a row. You don’t need to put Bailey back on the field.

9/19/2026 4:54:41 PM

I don't think this is on coaching as we had a time out before the play because vandy took it just ill advised play by our QB

9/19/2026 4:59:25 PM

No, vandy didn’t use a TO. We took a delay of game. They only had 2 TO they used after 1/2nd down.

Again we used a Timeout - our last - after the interception for NO reason. You have to be structured enough to just run Wilson on, and save your TO because this exact reason. So you can fully talk as an offense right before 4th down and 100% put on the field the right people and plan.

There was zero reason to waste your final TO after the turnover.

9/19/2026 5:02:52 PM

Other than punting or taking the safety, the only other possible play call would be to have CJ sprint out and throw a sky ball into the bench.

But no, we did whatever that bullshit was. We’re going to be all over national media. My friends who know I’m a season ticket holder are already texting me and I’m going to be at a training meeting with 75 coworkers this week. I’ll be re-living that play over. And over. And over.

This is why Doeren has to go. We aren’t a serious football program.

9/19/2026 5:04:30 PM

Guys I’m just going to assume that even if we took the safety we would give up a TD on the return or on the Hail Mary throw.

9/19/2026 5:11:43 PM

First keep Wilson in.

Second, whoever is back there you explain - kill 3 seconds that’s all we need. You aren’t killing all 6, and we just need to be in the 1-3 range. You have to understand in that scenario you aren’t killing all six seconds and at that point who cares if there’s one second on the clock or three it’s the same thing. The fact Bailey thought he could kill all six seconds shows that he doesn’t understand the timing of a basic pass Rush.

9/19/2026 5:12:10 PM

They had trouble with the Wilson group all day, i feel like 5 of our timeouts were when we were lined up with Wilson

Anyway "fun" stat

Quote :

"blatantly stealing a stat posted by ESPN elsewhere: Teams are now 1,046-2 over the last 20 seasons when leading with the ball in the final 10 seconds of regulation. the losses —NC State today —Michigan in the "trouble with the snap" game"

9/19/2026 5:30:53 PM

Honestly killing like 2 seconds is fine. You’re leaving them time for one play. 5 seconds or 1 is basically the same in this situation. Would’ve been better to not even have a qb in and just snap it directly through the end zone lol

I didn’t realize we did call a TO after the INT lol

9/19/2026 5:31:35 PM

Yep - the timeout after a dead ball int- it’s your last. You 100% save that. If he had 2-3 sure.

Do I think it prevents the thing from happening? Maybe not but at the same time using that timeout and getting all the time possible to be organized is what you do before that fourth down play. You shouldn’t need a timeout to get Wilson on the field because you also know they’re about to use two of their timeouts too and you can use that time to just stay organizing and calm. It’s a little detail, but it turned out to be a big deal. The timeout before we start play is happening doesn’t really help you because you don’t know what the future scenario is going to be to talk about. You know you need to put Wilson on the field and he’s gonna run forward three times in a row. Then you use your timeout with one second on the clock and you get your team organized.

Also, for what it’s worth, we took A delay of game instead of having a time out. That cost us a few more yards, which would give Bailey even more room to run around and probably more likely to have gotten the thing to zero. Again another small detail about the sequence that might get lost. With how it played out an extra two or 3 yards would’ve been nice.

9/19/2026 5:47:59 PM

would’ve been pretty cool had we run a play like Clemson just did to win the game

fucking can’t stand running it straight up the middle with a QB they don’t have to worry about throwing

9/19/2026 5:49:51 PM

Why leave Bonehead Bailey in there to run it out instead of Wilson?? Boneheaded coaching and QBing

9/19/2026 6:28:38 PM

^^i don't get it either

9/19/2026 6:29:49 PM

Running it with Wilson on early downs is fine. Make them use a TO and kill clock. I’m fine letting Bailey take the snap over Wilson. But I still think you go punter as first option. Then Bailey. Wilson last. Bailey is the every down QB. Let him take the snap over Wilson, that’s fine. Just don’t fucking fumble. Just take a knee in the endzone or step out the back. No need to fight through tackles or anything. Go down. Don’t over complicate it. Take the snap. Kill a few seconds. Step out the back. And make them convert a miracle Hail Mary. Idk what bailey was told, I guess none of us will ever know. But ultimately the play call and personnel was fine. Just take a fucking knee o the end zone. It’s not hard

9/19/2026 8:19:20 PM

Just saw the ending. Like seriously the most retarded ending

9/19/2026 8:55:38 PM

Folks on the socials are throwing around that it is the worst mistake in football history.

I can’t argue with that

9/19/2026 9:17:46 PM

I'm cool with the safety but how do you fuck that up

9/19/2026 9:24:55 PM

Quote :

"But I still think you go punter as first option"

Not quite the same situation, but that sounds like a dream situation for Giovanni Bernard.

9/19/2026 9:48:20 PM

damn guys, long time no see.... that freaking ending! Ugh State

9/20/2026 12:38:15 AM

Quote :

" Running it with Wilson on early downs is fine. Make them use a TO and kill clock."

I’d take a chance at actually getting a 1st down vs. the defense knowing exactly what we’re gonna do for 3 downs.

we didn’t even bother to try anything different, and that’s what’s infuriating. we were always gonna run it straight up with middle with Wilson in. never made an attempt at any other kind of run, either from him or a running back.

9/20/2026 2:01:08 AM

^^^ put the punter in but no intent to actually punt

^ we had the game won. Bailey just has to take a knee and then survive a Hail Mary or kick off return from Vandy. I don’t even feel like defending DD. But that sequence of play calling and the decision making there was fine. Bailey fucked it up. The staff can share in the blame. But truthfully I’m fine with the process there. I maintain that I’d rather put the punter in, then he’s like two steps from just going out the back. But still…process there was mostly fine. Execution was abysmal

9/20/2026 4:43:08 AM

I feel like i'd rather bailey take that snap and get safety than the punter. I'd think more likely the punter fucks it up than bailey

9/20/2026 8:59:07 AM

A completely reasonable take imo. Process was fine. Execution was terrible. And it appears to be from a lack of practicing that scenario. Linemen should be coached to hold and face mask and grab and all of the above because a penalty really doesn’t matter. Bailey has to be coached to take a knee or go out the back. Hell, would’ve been better to just snap it straight out of bounds with nobody even back there to take the snap. There’s no difference in leaving 5 seconds or 1 seconds at the point.

[Edited on September 20, 2026 at 10:46 AM. Reason : H]

9/20/2026 10:40:33 AM

He should have tried this. Would have ate up those 6 seconds

[Edited on September 20, 2026 at 10:49 AM. Reason : Prob would get a flag and they'd put a second back lol]

[Edited on September 20, 2026 at 10:53 AM. Reason : 17371]

9/20/2026 10:47:24 AM

Revisiting the timeout thing from earlier on this page.

I agree wasting a TO is always not good. But Vandy called a TO after first and second down. And Bailey wasn’t even on the field. That’s plenty of time to communicate to Bailey about what’s expected. Especially because you can do the math with the clock and know there’s a safety situation upcoming. So upon further thought, I don’t really think burning that TO earlier was gonna make a difference in this situation. Had like 5 full minutes to make sure Bailey knew the situation. Doeren either failed to communicate and coach it or Bailey was an idiot and just panicked.

9/20/2026 1:34:27 PM

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nc-state-postgame-comments-vanderbilt-225806404.html

Quote :

"The plan, Doeren said, was for Bailey to roll out, burn time, fall on the ground and protect the football. N.C. State was willing to give up a safety, because it still would've maintained its advantage."

Fire him right now

9/20/2026 2:13:22 PM

That’s exactly what Bailey should’ve done. Bailey is the one that tried to change direction and take a hit. Fall on the ground would’ve been the right thing to do

9/20/2026 2:41:18 PM

yeah that’s exactly what should have happened and is in no way a fireable offense

9/20/2026 3:10:47 PM

Nc state shit made the wsj

9/20/2026 4:34:46 PM

Fire everyone.

9/21/2026 9:12:39 AM

As soon as this happened, I turned off the TV and tried to forget about it and went on with my day, but now the ridiculousness of is is sinking in. I kinda feel bad for Bailey. What a dumb mistake.

9/21/2026 9:16:52 AM

Yeah feels like a really difficult thing to come back from if you’re Bailey.

Also, I still refuse to buy into any of the “Will Wilson should’ve been in there” argument. I’ve seen it a little here and on social media too. If you don’t trust your starting 3rd year veteran starting QB to execute this play then maybe he shouldn’t be your starter at all. And I’m not saying that as an argument in favor of benching Bailey. I just mean that this feels like a pretty standard thing you’d prepare for and know might have to happen in a game. So your starter should be perfectly equipped to handle it.

9/21/2026 9:20:46 AM

^The reason I feel that way is that they literally put Will Wilson in for every play that they expect the QB to bang around (not just this game, but every game the last 2 seasons). If Bailey played all of those plays like a normal QB, that'd be one thing. But, when was the last time you saw Bailey so much as run a QB sneak? They just don't let him do that stuff for whatever reason.

Wilson was also already in there, running it up the middle repeatedly. I dunno what they told Bailey, but if the goal was to stay up as long as possible, Will Wilson was the guy to do that.

I do think people talking about benching Bailey need to chill though. He screwed the pooch, but he didn't screw it that bad, lol. It is definitely a weird ass play to run. He also may have been doing exactly what he was told, who knows.

I am really curious what the instructions from the coaches were. Like, if you're taking the safety, why not take a big 7 step drop to the back of the end zone, and then launch it 70 yards for an intentional grounding call? 3 seconds for the drop. 3 seconds for the hang time. Unless there's a nuance in the rules I'm missing, the resulting intentional grounding doesn't give penalty yards, it just triggers the safety (which appeared to be the plan!).

[Edited on September 21, 2026 at 9:55 AM. Reason : Oh, I see it above now]

9/21/2026 9:53:34 AM

Will Wilson’s usage is because he’s good at short yardage situations and also it limits the beating Bailey takes on a game to game basis. It’s fine that he was in for the first 3 plays. That’s what he normally does. Takes the snap and runs into the pile. The 4th down play was different. Take a snap, run around, then take a knee or go out of bounds (sounds like Doeren has said “go down”). The plan shouldn’t have been for Bailey to take any contact. Just surrender yourself. Don’t try to stay up as long as possible. I have not heard Doeren say this specifically, but the goal is not explicitly to run the clock to 0. The goal is to give the other team 2 points and not fumble. It’s ok if there’s a second or 2 or 3 left. Then you’ll punt and have to defend a Hail Mary or a punt return for 1 play.

Yes, if you could run the clock to 0 and take a knee then that’s the best of both worlds. But safely surrendering yourself for the 2 points takes priority over killing off every second.

It should be something they practice and have a plan for. I know it’s different if there’s 2 seconds vs 6 seconds. There’s some nuance there. But DD and Bailey had 3 plays and 2 Vandy TOs to get on the same page leading up to that. I don’t know how those conversations went. I blame Bailey for the terrible execution. And I blame Doeren if he didn’t spend the entire time leading up to that play explaining exactly what Bailey needed to do. The entire possession was spent playing for the safety…you could see the difference between game clock and play clock, it was all coming down to that.

And for that matter, the OL should’ve been holding and grabbing and doing anything to prevent CJ from being touched. Again, a penalty does not matter. The “just throw a moon ball” thing is fine too. But I guess there’s a slim chance if you get hit as you throw and it’s tipped for an INT. Safest thing to do is just run out the back.

9/21/2026 10:51:17 AM

For those saying that 6 seconds was an eternity, It looks like there were 2 seconds left when they started to wrap Bailey up. If he would have kept the football secure, there is just not a lot Vandy could do on a wobbly punt from us in 2 seconds.

9/21/2026 12:15:42 PM

Fair catch and a Hail Mary is the most likely scenario. Unless on the punt, the clock starts on the kick. On kickoff clock doesn’t start till the ball is touched. On a normal punt it starts on the snap, but not sure about in this situation

9/21/2026 12:48:36 PM

On a kick after a safety it would start on the first receiving team touch

9/21/2026 1:11:38 PM

So then likely a fair catch then a Hail Mary

9/21/2026 1:32:53 PM

^ You squib it so they can't fair catch. They could still try and fall on it and never let the clock start, but it is a weird situation so you'd probably hope some dumbass catches it and takes a second to down it.

Quote :

"Take a snap, run around, then take a knee or go out of bounds (sounds like Doeren has said “go down”)."

Yeah, it does kind of sound like Bailey just tried to do too much then.

It drives me nuts watching the replay and seeing the huge hole to the back left corner of the end zone he could have run into. The blockers were doing exactly what they needed to do, all he had to do was keep rolling to his right like he started off doing. It was almost like he decided to try and run it out of the end zone instead. But why the fuck would you do that if you were told to get down.

[Edited on September 22, 2026 at 12:28 PM. Reason : .]

9/22/2026 12:22:20 PM

I hope we have another game come down to the exact same situation later this year

9/22/2026 2:02:43 PM

Dump Doeren

9/22/2026 2:23:41 PM

Fire DD. At this point we could be better coached by a retarded monkey that was dropped on it's head as a baby.

9/22/2026 2:31:59 PM

Do you mean a monkey that was dropped on his head when he was a baby, resulting in retardation? Or a monkey that was born retarded, but then adding insult to injury, was dropped on his head?

9/22/2026 2:46:52 PM

I think Doeren is a fine program builder and solid evaluator of talent. His weakness is in game coaching and (imo) lack of innovation/creativity. At some point all coaches (unless they’re winning titles left and right) run their course and a refresh is needed. I think we’ve reached that point. Somebody is gonna say “I knew in year 1 that he sucked”. That person is stupid.

9/22/2026 2:56:30 PM

This didn’t cost us the game, I’m sure Vandy punches it in on the next play anyways. But I was surprised this didn’t receive any attention in real time. SEC homer announcers didn’t really mention it and I didn’t see any commentary online about it. But yeah this was a terrible call

https://x.com/tjmcaulay/status/2102405462515683671?s=46&t=lHWRQcd88WhEW7wh4gQSIw

9/22/2026 3:17:28 PM

Yeah, I figured that maybe I just didn't know the rules. Because it was pretty obvious the ball didn't cross the goal line, and the ball was out of bounds before he hit the pylon with his inside hand.

I also remember being perplexed when the referee said he touched the pylon with the football, because he obviously didn't. But then I promptly tried to forget the game as soon as it ended.

[Edited on September 22, 2026 at 3:54 PM. Reason : ]

9/22/2026 3:48:46 PM

Actually, I guess if they ruled him down then Vandy would have to run at least 1 more play…running time off the clock…meaning we win! I’m counting this as a win!

We’re 2-1

9/22/2026 3:58:34 PM