NC State 31, Cal 10: 21 unanswered points after a 10-10 half

NC State and Cal went to the locker room tied 10-10 at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday. Only one team scored after that. The Wolfpack put up 21 unanswered points in the second half to win 31-10 and get back to .500 at 4-4.

CJ Bailey threw two long touchdowns, Davion Gause ran for 104 yards, and the NC State defense held Cal to 5 of 18 on third down. Cal kept the ball longer, 31:29 to 28:31, but finished with 269 total yards and no points after the break.

How it was won

NC State struck early. At 13:29 of the first quarter, Bailey found Deandre Desinor for a 49-yard touchdown, his only catch of the game. Kanoah Vinesett added a 43-yard field goal at 9:28 of the second quarter for a 10-0 lead.

Cal answered. Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele hit Chase Hendricks for a 30-yard touchdown at 4:58 of the second, and T. McGough kicked a 38-yard field goal with one second left in the half to tie it.

The third quarter decided it. At 9:40, Bailey connected with Chance Robinson for 38 yards and a 17-10 lead. With 11 seconds left in the quarter, Darius Johnson ran in from 2 yards out to make it 24-10. Gause closed the scoring with a 6-yard run at 9:05 of the fourth.

Bailey was efficient rather than busy: 13 of 25 for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Robinson caught four passes for 76 yards. Gause carried 19 times for 104 yards, the bulk of NC State's 135 on the ground. The Wolfpack converted 7 of 15 third downs and outgained Cal 327 to 269, with a 19-15 edge in first downs.

Sagapolutele threw 45 times, completing 29 for 196 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Hendricks led Cal with seven catches for 67 yards, and Taimane Purcell added four for 33. The run game never got going: 73 yards total, with Adam Mohammed at 27 yards on nine carries and Anthony League at 29 on three. Each team turned the ball over once.

Against the number

NC State closed as a 9.5-point favorite and covered by 11.5. The moneyline had the Wolfpack at -325 and Cal at +260, and the favorite held.

The total closed at 56.5. With 41 points scored, the under came in comfortably. The first half reached 20 points, and Cal's second-half shutout kept the pace well below what the market expected. Full pricing history is on the game page.

For NC State, it was a rebound against the spread after a 31-28 loss at Stanford and a 38-14 home loss to Wake Forest. Cal has now lost three straight, by scores of 41-7 to No. 21 Wake Forest, 59-20 at No. 23 SMU and this 31-10 result.

What's next

NC State is 4-4 and hosts Duke on Saturday, November 7. The Wolfpack have won all three of their home games against FBS opponents this season besides the Wake Forest loss, beating Louisville 31-28, App State 41-31 and now Cal.

Cal falls to 3-6 and plays next on Saturday, November 14, at Virginia. The Golden Bears need wins to salvage the season, and the offense has scored 37 points across the three-game losing streak.