Sunday Superlatives: NC State cruises past Stanford in dominant fashion

After coming off its first open week of the 2024 season, NC State cruised past Stanford 59-28 on Saturday afternoon at Carter-Finley Stadium. 

Here are TheWolfpacker.com’s Sunday Superlative Awards from NC State’s fifth win of the 2024 campaign.

Offensive MVP: QB CJ Bailey

Even though it was just his fifth-career start, freshman quarterback CJ Bailey appeared as if he was a seasoned veteran in the pocket against Stanford. He was 18-of-20 passing for 234 yards with three touchdowns and no turnovers as he dazzled in front of the Wolfpack’s home crowd. 

Bailey completed his final 14 passes in a row, which included all three touchdown throws, as he consistently diagnosed coverages and made the right decisions in the process. He posted an elite 237.8 passer rating in the victory in the process. 

The Miami, Fla., native also rushed for 19 yards as he was able to take what the defense gave him. 

Bailey’s most impressive pass came on his first touchdown pass, in which he scrambled to allow his receivers to get open, before throwing across his body to an open tight end Justin Joly in the back of the end zone. The quarterback made that tough play look easy, setting the tone for the rest of his afternoon. 

Bailey also completed touchdown passes to freshman Keenan Jackson and sophomore Kevin Concepcion during the win. 

Defensive MVP: DE Davin Vann

In his second-to-last game inside Carter-Finley Stadium, senior defensive end Davin Vann more than impressed. The do-it-all defender and leader of the Wolfpack logged six total tackles — one off the team lead — with two for a loss, including a sack, and a forced fumble in the process. 

Vann extended his national lead in forced fumbles to five on the year. 

Vann’s standout play on the defensive line picked up where he left off at Cal, where he logged a pair of sacks in the fourth quarter to pace NC State to victory. He now has a team-best 4.5 sacks on the season after adding one against the Cardinal. 

Special Teams MVP: KR DK Kaufman

Graduate safety DK Kaufman has been an elite kick returner throughout his football career, including in his high school days in New Orleans, but he has not had many opportunities to showcase that at NC State. 

Until the Pack played Stanford. 

Kaufman took the opening kickoff 45 yards to set the tone for the afternoon before he returned another 91 yards, nearly finding pay dirt in the process. The defensive back helped set up two short fields for the Wolfpack, both of which ended with touchdowns. He averaged 55 yards per return with three attempts for 164 yards in the process. 

Mr. Reliable: TE Justin Joly

Joly has become one of Bailey’s favorite targets as the Wolfpack’s leading receiver, and he maintained that against the Cardinal. The UConn transfer caught four passes for 66 yards and a touchdown on four targets in the win. 

Bailey was able to find Joly over the middle consistently, allowing the tight end to pick up crucial yardage, including 42 after the catch in the victory. Joly now has 30 receptions for 513 yards and three touchdowns in his first season at NC State. 

Most surprising for NC State: Only one punt

NC State punter Caden Noonkester was likely a bored person on the Wolfpack’s sideline in the win over the Cardinal. Why? His services were not needed often. Noonkester, who logged seven punts in a game earlier this season, was needed once — when the Pack’s backup offense was in the game. 

With the first-string defense in, NC State scored on its first nine possessions of the game, which included eight touchdowns and one field goal. Not bad for the Pack, which was facing one of the ACC’s top run defenses, and it was still able to score five rushing touchdowns in the process. 

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