RALEIGH, N.C. — Justin Joly had a clinching fourth-down touchdown catch with 1:47 left — coming after Florida State committed turnovers on back-to-back late punt returns — to help N.C. State hang for a 21-11 win Friday night and become bowl eligible.
It marks the 11th time that N.C. State reached bowl eligiblility under 13th-year coach Dave Doeren, coming a week after an ugly loss at No. 14 Miami.
“There’s no quit here,” Doeren said. “Hopefully by now you guys know that. My teams don’t do that.”
The Wolfpack (6-5, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) grinded to this win behind a defense that allowed one TD and got a huge showing from cornerback Devon Marshall with two interceptions and five pass breakups for an injury-hit secondary. The offense did its best work on a 15-play drive lasting nearly 9 minutes, ending with Will Wilson plowing through the left side for a 1-yard keeper and a 14-3 third-quarter lead.
But it was the special-teams miscues by the Seminoles (5-6, 2-6) that stood out most in what coach Mike Norvell called “catastrophic.”
Trailing 14-11, they forced the Wolfpack to punt near midfield, only for Caden Noonkester’s short kick to hit the helmet of FSU blocker K.J. Kirkland — then bounce about 25 yards back to Noonkester, who dove on the ball near the original line of scrimmage with 3:53 left.
“Football’s that way,” Doeren said. “There’s all kinds of bounces in games. Sometimes they go your way, sometimes they don’t. And that’s football.”
Florida State wide receiver Jayvan Boggs (15) catches a pass over North Carolina State defensive back Devon Marshall (6) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. Credit: AP/David Yeazell
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” FSU quarterback Tommy Castellanos said.
FSU again forced a punt, only to see Squirrel White muff the catch and have it bounce right to N.C. State’s Tra Thomas with 2:21 left. C.J. Bailey followed with his second TD throw on the 12-yarder to Joly for the 21-11 lead.
Duce Robinson had a 9-yard TD catch from Castellanos midway through the fourth for FSU’s lone touchdown.
The takeaway
FSU: That caps another rough year in league play. FSU is 3-13 in ACC play since the start of last year.
Florida State wide receiver Jayvan Boggs (15) catches a pass over North Carolina State defensive back Devon Marshall (6) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. Credit: AP/David Yeazell
“No, we have not lived up to expectations,” Norvell said. “We’re a fully capable football team. That’s not good enough. And it’s not been good enough for the six losses that we have.”
N.C. State: The Wolfpack went from handing No. 15 Georgia Tech its lone loss on Nov. 1 to the Miami loss, only to regroup for a fourth straight win against FSU.
Postgame worry
FSU had a brief scare when Norvell said a player “went down” as the team came off the field. Wolfpack cheerleaders near the tunnel took a knee as trainers and medical staff crowded around with a cart near the tunnel, but Norvell said the player was eventually able to get back up and walk back for further evaluation.
He said it
“Lucky is when a ball bounces off a guy, back to us and your punter recovers it. That was lucky. And that’s God’s blessing, is what that is.” — Doeren
Up next
FSU: The Seminoles visit instate rival Florida on Nov. 29.
N.C. State: Rival North Carolina visits the Wolfpack on Nov. 29.
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