NC State: Wolfpack hosts Wake Forest at noon Saturday after Bailey's career day beats Louisville

NC State welcomes Wake Forest to Carter-Finley Stadium at noon Saturday, a week after quarterback CJ Bailey had the best passing day of his career in a 31-28 win over Louisville.

The Wolfpack (3-2, 1-1 ACC) never trailed against the Cardinals on Oct. 3 and picked up its first conference win of the season, staying unbeaten at home, according to NC State Athletics.

How NC State beat Louisville

Bailey completed 24 of 40 passes for 373 yards, a career high, with two touchdowns and one interception, according to the official box score. He threw touchdown passes of 19 yards to Keenan Jackson and 34 yards to Tyran Warren. Will Wilson added a 1-yard touchdown run, and Davion Gause caught a two-point conversion.

Louisville tied the game 28-28 early in the fourth quarter on a 70-yard touchdown run. NC State answered with a 10-play, 76-yard drive that ended in Kanoah Vinesett's 28-yard field goal with 5:30 to play, his third field goal of the day.

The defense did the rest. NC State forced four fumbles, and linebacker Popo Aguirre recovered three of them, the most fumble recoveries by an NC State player since 2019, according to the team. With the score still tied, edge rusher Harvey Dyson III chased down a Louisville ball carrier and stripped the ball, and Aguirre fell on it. Dyson then sacked the quarterback on third down on Louisville's next possession, and NC State's offense ran out the final 2:03.

Bailey was named a Manning Star of the Week for the game. He has 6,784 career passing yards, 24 yards short of passing Devin Leary for sixth place in school history, according to the team's game notes.

Running back Jayden "Duke" Scott left the game with an injury in the first quarter, and Gause stepped in with 114 yards from scrimmage, the notes say. The team has not said whether Scott will play Saturday.

Saturday: Wake Forest at NC State

• Kickoff: Noon Saturday, Oct. 10, at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh
• TV: The CW
• Radio: Wolfpack Sports Network (flagship station 101.5 FM)
• Records: NC State 3-2 (1-1 ACC); Wake Forest 4-1 (2-1 ACC)

This will be the 120th meeting between the two schools, and NC State leads the series 70-43-6. The teams have played every season since 1910, which NC State says is the longest continuous rivalry in the ACC and the second-longest in major college football.

Wake Forest won 34-30 the last time the teams met at Carter-Finley, in 2024. NC State won last season's meeting 34-24.

The game will be NC State's 31st straight sellout at Carter-Finley, a streak that dates to September 2022, according to the school.

The National Weather Service forecast for Raleigh calls for a mostly cloudy Saturday with a high near 72 and gusts up to 20 mph. Rain chances rise Saturday night as moisture from the remnants of Hurricane Isaias moves in.

What's next

After Wake Forest, NC State has an open week before traveling to Stanford for a Friday game on Oct. 23 at 10:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.