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Aug 28, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack tight end Justin Joly (7) looks on during the warmups prior to the game against East Carolina Pirates at Carter-Finley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

NC State Handles Adversity in Season Opener

Originally posted on NC State Wolfpack on SI
By Daniel Rios | Last updated Aug 30, 2025 3:00 PM ET

Adversity strikes often during football games. Especially college football. Adversity struck the NC State Wolfpack sideline during its season opener against East Carolina. Multiple missed field goals and an interception struck the Wolfpack. The biggest moment of Adversity for the Wolfpack? A fourth and short, with the game on the line.

Fourth Down Rally

The ball snapped, and boom. Temple transfer defensive back Jamel Johnson made the tackle on a quick screen, sealing the game for NC State. In all the ups and downs of the game, all the adversity. The sideline of the Wolfpack remained the same with a certain calming presence.

“I think just the poise the guys had as ECU started creeping back in the game,” head coach Dave Doeren said. “There was no panic. There was nothing. The guys just kept playing and finding a way to win.”

Starting Fast

NC State jumped out to a quick 17-0 lead, and they even extended their lead to 24-7 late in the third quarter. But multiple missed field goals led to long drives by the Pirates' offense, eventually leading to the fourth down. Like Doeren said, “there was no panic.”

It’s a testament to how this team has prepared and the type of characters the program brought in this past offseason. A lot of battle-tested guys who may not have come from a Power Four conference, but guys who have seen action and found adversity before.

“It was never a moment in the game where you felt like anybody on the sideline didn’t believe that we were going to win the football game,” Doeren said. “They were all locked in. It was a much different feel on the sideline then we had on our sideline a year ago.”

Fight at Military Bowl

Months ago, the program had one of its darkest moments it’s had under Doeren. It wasn’t even the losing season as a whole, but how the losing season ended. The team was a part of a massive brawl at the end of the Military Bowl as ECU was trying to kneel the game out.

#1Pack1Goal pic.twitter.com/wAxHz6N5S2
— NC State Football (@PackFootball) August 29, 2025

Multiple players threw punches, and even a ref got injured in the process. Doeren has expressed his feelings multiple times about the moment, even going as far as mentioning that it set the program back. Now the culture is rebuilt. New leaders have taken control, and a new mindset is going into 2025.

“They’re so able to take constructive criticism that they want to be better football players and better men,” Doeren said. “They know that we love them and we’re coming from the right place, and they take it, they listen, and they work hard, and it paid off tonight.”

It’s still early in the 2025 season, and it’s only been a game. But the Wolfpack looks to have a different mindset for this season.

This article first appeared on NC State Wolfpack on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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