NC State 42, Wake Forest 13: Wolfpack runs its way to bowl eligibility

NC State is back in the postseason after a blowout 42-13 win over Wake Forest on Saturday. The Wolfpack never trailed during the contest, and despite some inconsistency from the offense in the first quarter, State had the game well under control by halftime.

The story of the game was the Pack's rushing attack, which accumulated well over 300 yards against Wake's defense despite Jacoby Brissett's rough day throwing the ball. Bryan Underwood even made a cameo, taking the ball 75 yards for a score to open the third quarter.

It was a great collective effort on the ground, with four players going for at least 50 yards rushing and one eclipsing 100. Matt Dayes was back in the little-bit-of-everything role he gave us in September, finishing with 60+ rushing yards, 40+ receiving yards, and three total touchdowns. Both Tony Creecy and Shadrach Thornton made some big plays with their legs, while Brissett had a few chunk rushes as well.

The Deacs came in with some solid defensive numbers, but they quickly wore down without support from their offense. They're used to it by now, though. I don't think there was much will left to break as State put Wake away with a 21-point third quarter. Those poor kids just got the dang can-do spirit knocked out of them by the whole season.

Brissett finished his afternoon with a little over 80 yards passing, as he missed on several big touchdown connections down the field. (This, unfortunately, has become all too familiar.) Fortunately that didn't matter the least bit, so we don't have to dwell on it.

What we can dwell on is where we're going bowling woooooooooooooooo