NC State (3-3, 1-2 ACC) at Stanford (3-4, 1-3 ACC). Friday, Oct. 23, 7:30 p.m. PT (10:30 p.m. ET), Stanford Stadium, Stanford, Calif., ESPN.
Your hosts are Rutherford "Ruff" Pegram, a Wake County engineer who grills in the same Carter-Finley lot every home game, and Ignatius "Iggy" Yamamoto-Ross, the founder of three failed apps and one great Cardinal model.
Ruff: Wolfpack, howl! That's my one howl for this segment. Engineer-approved.
Iggy: Love the energy, Ruff. Let's pivot to the run game.
Players to watch
NC State quarterback CJ Bailey has thrown for 1,507 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions while completing 66.7% of his passes. Wide receiver Keenan Jackson leads with 27 catches for 400 yards and five scores. Running back Jayden Scott has 358 yards and four touchdowns. Linebacker Popo Aguirre leads with 54 tackles, and Elijah Satchell leads with three sacks. The Wolfpack convert 51.1% of third downs, 15th in FBS.
Stanford quarterback Davis Warren has 1,630 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Running back Micah Ford has 529 yards and eight touchdowns. Wide receiver Caden High leads with 337 receiving yards. Jay Green leads with 43 tackles, and Gabe Kaminski leads with two sacks.
Iggy: Ford is pure product fit. Ship it twice.
What happened last week
Stanford beat FCS Elon 34-7 on Oct. 17. Ford ran 19 times for 179 yards and four touchdowns, including an 81-yard score, and his four touchdowns tied Stanford's single-game record. Warren went 27 of 39 for 279 yards. Coach Tavita Pritchard said he challenged the team at halftime after a flat first half.
NC State had a bye after a 38-14 loss to Wake Forest on Oct. 10. The Wolfpack led 14-10 at halftime, then gave up the game's last 31 points and ran for only 15 yards. Bailey completed his first 16 passes, which is the part Ruff keeps on the fridge. Afterward Aguirre said, "We got to be a little bit more disciplined."
Ruff: Fair quote. The thermometer dropped in the second half. We had two weeks to recalibrate.
Injuries and availability
The ACC's first availability reports post three days before kickoff. After the Wake loss, Dave Doeren said NC State needed to get some injured players back, and the bye gave them time. Check the official report before kickoff.
What the coaches are up to
Dave Doeren is in his 14th season at NC State, after coaching Northern Illinois in 2011 and 2012. His team hasn't played a road game since Sept. 19, and this trip is the Wolfpack's first ever to Stanford.
Tavita Pritchard is in his first season as Stanford's head coach. He's a Stanford alum who played quarterback on the 2007 team that upset USC, then coached the Cardinal and later the Washington Commanders' quarterbacks from 2023 to 2025. All three Stanford wins have come at home.
Iggy: Founder returns to the company. Best origin story in the deck.
Player storylines
Ford's record-tying day makes him the player to watch against an NC State defense allowing 27.7 points per game. For the Pack, the matchup is Bailey and Jackson against a Stanford defense that allows 452.0 yards per game, 134th, and allows scores on 96.4% of opponents' red-zone trips, 136th.
Ruff: Engineer-approved trash talk: your red-zone defense has a 96.4% failure rate, Iggy.
Iggy: We call that a known bug. The patch ships Friday.
What's happening on The Farm
Stanford has made Friday its Heroes Appreciation game, saluting Bay Area police, fire, military and first responders. There's a 3 p.m. Heroes Appreciation tailgate on Ueland Field, plus a free reusable water bottle giveaway at Gates 2, 5 and 10 before kickoff, while supplies last. Stanford already held its Reunion Homecoming earlier in the season, against Elon.
Anything else fun and true
This is only the second meeting. NC State won the first 59-28 in Raleigh on Nov. 2, 2024. NC State opened its season with a 34-8 loss to Virginia, then beat Richmond 73-0. Stanford's 2026 recruiting class ranked 37th.
Ruff: Run with the Pack. And Iggy, I measured: it's 2,800 miles of runway for one howl. Worth it.
Iggy: Ship it. Go Card.
The Cover Window
My call: NC State Wolfpack 33, Stanford Cardinal 24.