It's Only September, And We Already Have Our Craziest Finish Of The College Football Season
It's Only September, And We Already Have Our Craziest Finish Of The College Football Season
Andrew Powell Sun, September 20, 2026 at 3:16 AM UTC
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It's Only September, And We Already Have Our Craziest Finish Of The College Football Season ©(Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)
What the hell was CJ Bailey doing?
Or maybe Vanderbilt worked some kind of dark magic Saturday, because the Commodores pulled off their own version of a Music City Miracle in an unbelievable 35-31 last-second comeback win over NC State.
With just six seconds left in the game, the Wolfpack had a 31-28 lead and were in a fourth-down situation while in dangerous territory at their own 5-yard line. NC State quarterback CJ Bailey tried to lock up the win by attempting to run out the clock with a scramble prior to taking a safety. (RELATED: Jeremiah Smith Breaks Ohio State's Career Receiving Yardage Record To Solidify Himself As Potential No. 1 Draft Pick)
Well, Bailey ended up getting clipped by three Vandy defenders in the end zone, and in the process, EDGE Miles Capers knocked the ball out of the QB's hands, leading to a fumble recovery by cornerback Cayden Daniels that gave the Commodores the go-ahead touchdown.
And the college football world the best finish of the season, easily.
WATCH:
And like one Twitter user explained perfectly, "Tim Beck knows he used up one of his nine lives here":
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I'm just going to call a spade a spade: this was one of the most brain-dead, catastrophically boneheaded blunders in the history of college football.
All CJ Bailey had to do was sprint out the back of the end zone. That's it. That is the entire instruction manual for taking an intentional safety with six seconds left on fourth down. You take the snap, you burn a few seconds, and you step out of bounds. You give up two points, kick the ball to the opposing team with just a couple of ticks left on the clock, and you lock up the 31-28 victory from there.
It was literally that easy.
Instead, Bailey wanted to be a hero and tried to milk every millisecond like he was dodging traffic on I-40, and I'm sorry, but that is just completely asinine against SEC pass rushers — the same SEC pass rushers who smell blood on a weekly basis.
But I don't want to just go after Bailey; NC State's coaching staff deserves some criticism as well.
If your quarterback doesn't have the situational awareness drilled into his skull that holding the ball in a live pocket is a million times worse than giving Vanderbilt two points, you failed to prepare him. You're up three. A safety still wins you the game. Why give the defense even a slight chance to rip the rock out?
It's going to be a long week for the Wolfpack because they have nobody to blame but themselves.
Source: “AOL Sports”
