RALEIGH — NC State and head coach Dave Doeren have won 48 games over the last six seasons, trailing only Clemson and Miami among ACC schools. But the Wolfpack still hasn’t reached an ACC football championship game ever nor won 10 games in a season under Doeren, a source of frustration among the faithful.
“We’re here to do more,” Doeren said this summer. “That’s what drives us.”
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NC State certainly has a chance to do more in 2026 with a third-year starter at quarterback in CJ Bailey, a team praised for its leadership and a schedule that has been ranked the easiest in the nation among power conference teams.
But NC State doesn’t get to ease into things. It opens Saturday at Virginia, a veteran team that reached the ACC title game in 2025. It is the first time NC State has opened the season with an ACC road game since 1974. The conference game in Charlottesville — which was originally scheduled as part of a two-game nonconference series and then was scheduled to be played in Brazil — could have a major impact on the ACC standings down the line.
Win and the Wolfpack is set up nicely.
A loss and some of those who have been frustrated with Doeren and the program’s ceiling will be howling once again. A columnist for the Technician, NC State’s student newspaper, called Doeren’s tenure at NC State “nothing more than an expensive illusion.”
“Give the guy a break,” NC State athletics director Boo Corrigan said earlier this month. “We’re winning a lot of games and no one wants to win more than him. I can tell you that. ... I can assure you, as disappointed as fans are when we lose a game, no one’s more disappointed than Dave Doeren. No one cares more about us being good than Dave Doeren. No one cares more about us doing things the right way than Dave Doeren.”
Doeren is entering his 14th season at NC State, making him the fourth-longest tenured head coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision behind Kirk Ferentz (Iowa), Troy Calhoun (Air Force) and Dabo Swinney (Clemson).
“He’s a great fit here,” said Corrigan, who this offseason saw a splashy men’s basketball hire leave after just one year. “He’s a great football coach. He understands who we are as a university. But I think Dave’s also done a great job of adapting to this new world.”
NC State held onto Bailey, who took over as the team’s starting quarterback early in the 2024 season. Bailey’s 22 starts at one school are the fifth most in the country among active quarterbacks. He ranks No. 1 at NC State in career completion percentage and passing efficiency and is in the top eight all-time in passing yards per game, rushing yards by a quarterback, passing yards and passing touchdowns.
”Why would I go elsewhere to learn a new offense, build a new relationship with other people when I got a good home right now, right here?” Bailey said this summer. “They’re going to prepare me for the next level. I’m ready to win with those guys.”
Bailey cited his relationships with Doeren and offensive coordinator Kurt Roper as part of the reason he turned down transfer opportunities. The Wolfpack did lose key offensive pieces in the portal, including leading rusher Hollywood Smothers (Texas), wide receiver Noah Rogers (Alabama) and offensive tackle Jacarrius Peak (South Carolina).
To replace them, the Wolfpack found players with a bond with Bailey. He played youth football and high school football in Miami with running back Davion Gause (a transfer from UNC) and wide receiver Jojo Trader (a transfer from Miami). Their team won two youth titles and two high school state championships.
“You lost a good player, but we've added a good one, and they've known each other longer,” Doeren said. “That's how it goes.”
Gause and Trader are among 51 newcomers on the NC State roster, which has just eight returning starters.
That’s the nature of the game in this era. Virginia has 31 transfers — leaving a lot of unknown entering the first game. Doeren is 4-0 against Virginia in his career, including a 35-31 nonconference victory last season. The ACC rivals have played just seven times since the league expanded in 2004.
“That’s a lot of guys that we didn’t play against last year that are going to be in this game,” Doeren said. “The coaches are all the same, but how they use the pieces are different and so we got to figure out how they’re going to use them. Who are the guys? Are there matchup problems? And they got to do the same thing for us.”
NC State at Virginia
Records: NC State (8-5 overall, 4-4 in the ACC last season); Virginia (11-3 overall, 7-1 ACC)
Where: Scott Stadium (capacity: 61,500), Charlottesville, Virginia
When: Saturday, Aug. 29, 3:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN (Wes Durham, Max Browne, Madison Fitzpatrick)
Radio: 101.5 FM in the Triangle
