What are we watching for against Vanderbilt?

Welcome to Week 3, everyone.

1.) You get one mulligan. CJ Bailey looked like a freshman in the Virginia game, and the team overall was so bad that I have to think that it’s front of mind as they get ready for Vanderbilt—that performance was not just bad, it was embarrassing. State was DOA at Virginia because Bailey looked like he’d hardly played a game before. The execution was bad, Bailey’s mechanics were bad, and they crumbled under pressure. You could reasonably put that entire game on Bailey, who left his defense hanging for 60 minutes.

CJ Bailey is paid to make a difference, but in a good way. He needs to start doing that.

2.) Cry havoc and let proliferate the passing downs. So far this has been a repeat of last season for NC State’s defense—no surprise given the lack of investment up front—which has struggled to create havoc plays. That’s going to continue being a problem, but to what extent it’s a liability is unclear. This game is going to say plenty about that, and the answer probably is unpleasant. But we’ll hope for the best.

3.) Can I get like two turnovers? I don’t think this is asking for too much. I just need like two turnovers and I’ll be good. But you really can’t get into the turnover-getting position without some game pressure, and this will require NC State being competitive for more than five minutes. We’re going to have to see about that, apparently.