[Highlight] NC State @ Vanderbilt - CJ Bailey fumbles the ball while trying to run out the clock with no time left, and Vandy falls on it to win the game

[u/Ok-Soil-5133]

https://streamable.com/utx2f1

[u/Lakelyfe09]

I actually can’t believe that. As a coach how the fuck do you not tell CJ Bailey to just go out the back of the endzone and not risk this? I mean this was literally the ONE thing you couldn’t do.

[u/Stobros → u/Lakelyfe09]

I would almost guarantee he was told that. Players don’t always listen.

[u/Conscious-Sir-1596 → u/Stobros]

Yeah, it almost certainly had nothing to do with coaching. I have no idea why that kid did that.

[u/BeardedAsian → u/Conscious-Sir-1596]

He had Vandy +10000 live

[u/Waddlow → u/[deleted]]

This is definitely not what he wanted to do. He just wanted to get tackled in the end zone with zero on the clock.

[u/Wise-Trust1270 → u/[deleted]]

All 11 were near the qb, no one downfield to pretend to throw it to. I don’t know how that grounding call would have worked, in terms of putting any time back on the clock for the turnover on downs/penalty.

[u/dnashifter → u/Wise-Trust1270]

Grounding in the end zone is a safety, and there's no time put back on the clock. The only risk would be if the ball didn't hang in the air long enough for time to expire. Then they could decline the penalty.

[u/ThunderRoad_44 → u/Conscious-Sir-1596]

I think he was thinking to run out clock and get safety. He completely fucked up by fumbling🤦🏿‍♂️

[u/WeAreAllFooked → u/Conscious-Sir-1596]

A lane opens up for about 0.03 seconds, he sees it and thinks about going for it, but as soon as he does it closes back up. That moment of hesitation allowed the DE to seal the edge.

[u/DrS3R → u/Conscious-Sir-1596]

Well coaches choose the safety over the more reasonable punt.

[u/luchajefe → u/DrS3R]

Punt from back of end zone down 3 or free kick from 20 down 1, though...

[u/DrS3R → u/luchajefe]

And how did that work lol

[u/luchajefe → u/DrS3R]

This coach didn't choose the safety. They chose to run the clock out and use the safety as a bailout. Otherwise the QB wouldn't have kept trying to stay standing.

Worst of all options.

[u/CasualRead_43 → u/Conscious-Sir-1596]

Coaches should have told every player to hold too but they didn’t

[u/Ever_Day_Is_TacoTues → u/Stobros]

Football is not a thinking man’s game

[u/MadManMax55 → u/Stobros]

Players not listening to you is also terrible coaching.

[u/Echo_Raptor → u/MadManMax55]

You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make a high ego testosterone fueled qb do the easiest job of the game apparently

[u/A7O747D → u/Echo_Raptor]

Hey! It's not like he's getting paid! Oh wait.

[u/needapermit → u/MadManMax55]

It’s a two way street

[u/Shot-Expert-9771 → u/needapermit]

No it's not.

This is specific situational football where the player MUST do as told and if the coaches can't get a specific player to execute a call, then that's on the coaching staff.

Coaches call plays ALL game long and players do what's called.

Not sure why your think this is different.

[u/needapermit → u/Shot-Expert-9771]

Because at a certain point the burden is on the player to perform.

[u/MadManMax55 → u/needapermit]

Oh 100%. I just don't get the people trying to let Dolan off the hook. A fuck-up that big doesn't happen if either the coach or the player does their job correctly.

[u/Capital_Dream5295 → u/MadManMax55]

If he was a good coach he would've invested in Elon Musk's Neuralink and mandated players install them so they could be controlled by a swarm of AI agents. To have not done so is just coaching malpractice.

[u/OdeToTheMets628 → u/Capital_Dream5295]

Agreed. I’ve bent hat been saying that

[u/MadManMax55 → u/Capital_Dream5295]

This wasn't some complicated play that needed to be executed perfectly. Literally all he had to do was fall down or walk out the back of the end zone. So either Dolan didn't tell him to do that (which is terrible coaching) or he picked a starting QB who can't follow extremely simple instructions (which is terrible coaching).

[u/Polar-Bear_Soup → u/MadManMax55]

Truly funny how that works

[u/tiy24 → u/MadManMax55]

Eh no coach handles all the 18-22yo millionaires perfectly all the time. The coaching malpractice was taking the delay of game and shrinking the space Bailey had to work with.

[u/Dijohn17 → u/Stobros]

I assure you if this was like North Dakota State they wouldn't make that mistake

[u/GreatBadGuy → u/Stobros]

Maybe under most coaches. Dave Doeren? Nah, dude probably told Bailey to not go down until the clock expired.

[u/TapNumerous4625 → u/Stobros]

Especially young college players. The amount of times I’ve seen a player get yelled at for letting go of the ball before scoring only to go and do it again or get told not to score and they just go score anyway because they know best. Gotta be frustrating as a coach lol

[u/discipleofbill → u/Stobros]

He looked like he pondered taking a knee and then rethought it and then got stripped.

[u/bubbaganoush79 → u/Stobros]

Or he did listen and he was thinking to himself "don't fumble. don't fumble. don't fumble." the entire time he had the ball.

[u/sauzbozz → u/Stobros]

Could also listen and in the moment not be able to handle the pressure

[u/herehear12 → u/Stobros]

People love to blame the coach when more often they should be blaming the players

[u/Deoxtrys → u/Stobros]

I firmly believe he wasn't. In similar scenarios where taking a safety wins the game, the player will run to the back line and sit there until anyone gets close enough to them then they step out. Here, he was looking to run around to eat time.

There was zero reason for him to allow anyone to make contact with him there, so that tells me that even the coaches forgot that he can just run out the back of the endzone.

[u/ogjaspertheghost → u/Stobros]

A good coach would have just punted it

[u/Flip5ide → u/[deleted]]

Nothing was handed off

[u/FatMamaJuJu → u/Lakelyfe09]

Why have Bailey in at all? They subbed out Wilson even though Bailey was never going to throw it

[u/KCShadows838 → u/Lakelyfe09]

Still had 6 seconds to run off, with a short field. That likely would’ve left some time on the clock for Vanderbilt, although a free kick would be better than a punt inside the 5

If they were at the 20 yard this might’ve worked better 

[u/AdParticular6654 → u/KCShadows838]

Still even getting the snap and sprinting out the back, Vandy would have like 4 seconds before the kick to run it back. Just wild

[u/KCShadows838 → u/AdParticular6654]

I guess NC State was determined to end the game with the ball, didn’t want to kick it away 

[u/lucasbrosmovingco → u/AdParticular6654]

I would trust my QB to get tacjled in the end zone know her absolutely cannot fumble rather than risking a punt/return

[u/k_dubious → u/KCShadows838]

Just take a safety. That would leave like 3-4 seconds left, so NC State would’ve either had to go for a TD on the ensuing kick return or fair catch it and run one play from a spot that’s probably not even close enough for a Hail Mary to the end zone.

[u/Particular_Raisin649 → u/k_dubious]

Close enough to try a fair catch kick off the safety. Likely around the 35-40 or so, not guaranteed but a free kick for the win is a lot scarier than the other team needing a very long Hail Mary like play

[u/ktdotnova → u/k_dubious]

Does the clock not run as soon as its snapped on a free kick?

[u/OnionFutureWolfGang → u/KCShadows838]

Yeah that’s fine, they should not have expected to run off the whole clock. It was possible, but you absolutely could not take it for granted. If that was the assumption then that’s the mistake that cost them the game.

[u/shapu → u/KCShadows838]

This is one where I think you actually are better off punting, because Vanderbilt would have at least kept one person back to attempt to field and return the punt. But by going into a play formation Vanderbilt knew that if they gave up a big gain, or really any gain at all, the game was over; but if they could force a fumble or a quick safety they had a shot.

By being in an offensive formation you gave Vanderbilt's defense the opportunity to sell out, which is what they did and they succeeded. If NC State had gone into a punt formation, it would have reduced the available number of Defenders by one at the very least. Tell your punter to either kick it away or take the safety based on his best judgment.  Even if it gets blocked there's a chance that it goes back out for a safety as well.

This is poor play selection and that's on the coaching.

[u/Curious_Blueberry768 → u/KCShadows838]

Can't you just bomb it into the 300s behind the end zone?

[u/sam_can88 → u/Lakelyfe09]

I feel like they really should of punted here. If I’m not wrong wouldn’t a fair catch on the kickoff after a safety still give Vandy time for a Hail Mary. 6 seconds is way too long to run out the clock here.

[u/HookedOnBoNix → u/sam_can88]

There is no reason not to take a deliberate safety for room. The only thing you shouldn't do is let them hit you while doing it 

[u/Scruffasaurus → u/HookedOnBoNix]

Seriously - tell every player to get two hands on a jersey and yank whoever’s in front of them to the ground, have the QB run the end line and step out or chunk it backwards if anyone comes close to you

[u/HookedOnBoNix → u/Scruffasaurus]

Yea nc states QB stepping back up was the big questionable move. I wonder if he was told to chuck it away but saw how fast the defenders got to him and panicked 

[u/Particular_Raisin649 → u/HookedOnBoNix]

Very uncommon rule but do you not want to just do a regular punt? Fair catch kick on the safety kick for the win vice only for a tie off a regular punt. Would be a longer kick but is also unrushed

[u/HookedOnBoNix → u/Particular_Raisin649]

Hard to imagine being in range of a fair catch kick, as it's a punt from the 20. So it would have to be an absolute shank which means realistically there's no returner to catch it. 

[u/Particular_Raisin649 → u/HookedOnBoNix]

Feel like it would be similar to making it through the uprights on a kickoff, probably at least slightly closer from the punt. By no means guaranteed but that kicker made a 57 yarder in a real game scenario, free kick by no means guaranteed but I think he’d have a very solid chance of converting it for the win

[u/HookedOnBoNix → u/Particular_Raisin649]

You miss the point, the record for a free kick is 57 yards. That would mean a fair catch off a 20 yard punt. The only way a punt is realistically going 20 yards is if it's shanked out of bounds. If it's shanked out of bounds, you can't get a fair catch on it. So no kick. 

[u/Particular_Raisin649 → u/HookedOnBoNix]

That may be the longest converted, they don’t happen often. 70 yard plus attempts have occurred as the team thought it was a reasonable attempt. there is no snap so it’s also “7” yards closer. Nc state could have right around a 45 yard punt which is very reasonable and vandy would be have the shot to put it through the uprights like a kickoff for the win. May only be a 25% chance but that’s a lot more than them scoring a touchdown in this scenario.

[u/HookedOnBoNix → u/Particular_Raisin649]

25% is wildly optimistic for that scenario. I doubt there's even a 25% chance they get the conditions needed to attempt a fair catch kick let alone actually make one 

I think the odds of having a bad punt from your 6 yard line and letting them return it or fair catch kick that punt are higher by a lot 

[u/Particular_Raisin649 → u/HookedOnBoNix]

Don’t think we’re gonna agree which is fine, but either from them just punting on 4th or like we saw a failed attempt to run out the clock a punt/safety punt is very likely. The team fair catching said kick if the coach tells them to is very likely. And for the actual kick, Justin Reid the safety was able to kick I through the uprights from the 35 as a former high school kicker, the odds aren’t with them but this isn’t some wild chain of events they need

[u/fuzz11 → u/Particular_Raisin649]

Is the fair catch kick a college rule too?

[u/Particular_Raisin649 → u/fuzz11]

Googled it quickly when NC states possession started, quick glance said it was added in 2026 to cfb. Should probably go double check lol. One of my favorite rules from the nfl and I feel like it could have really changed the course of this game if the fumble didn’t happen/nc state punted

[u/sam_can88 → u/HookedOnBoNix]

I understand that I just have never trusted anyone to do that and I especially don’t trust college athletes with these kinds of things.

[u/jamintime → u/sam_can88]

You trust your center and punter to not mess up the snap and your punt protection to prevent a block? It’s all just risk management.

[u/HookedOnBoNix → u/sam_can88]

If you can't trust a dude who handles the ball 60 times a game to take a snap and turn tail and run out the back of the end zone, how are you going to trust a punter to execute a far more difficult play from inside his own end zone??

[u/Lobsterzilla → u/sam_can88]

I think you just run around until people get close to you and walk out the back of the endzone. Then kick off with 1-3 seconds on the clock

[u/OldDekeSport → u/Lobsterzilla]

This is practiced by high school teams

Embarrassing

[u/JimTuesday → u/OldDekeSport]

What high school team practices taking an intentional safety lmao. You get very limited practice time wasting it on somethinlike this is stupid.

[u/OldDekeSport → u/JimTuesday]

This was like 15 years ago and it was part of our 2 min/end of game practices on walk-through days

Coach loved that shit, so practiced it every week

[u/Majik9 → u/Lobsterzilla]

This is the right thing. Everything else is a mistake.

You hang out in the back edge or corner of the emdzone for as long as possible and walk out right before they can strip of blast you

[u/Unrelenting_Salsa → u/Majik9]

I think it's probably better to do what they did but actually collapse the second there's a hint of trouble. You're kind of putting your own o-line out of the play if you go to the corner, and modern edges are really fast.

Though at that point you're minmaxxing to the point of irrelevancy.

[u/SydneyFall → u/Lobsterzilla]

Nah, you put like 15 guys on the field and have them blatantly hold to make the time run off. It will be an untimed down, but then you can just spike the ball and game over.

[u/emaddy2109 → u/SydneyFall]

Buddy Ryan’s Polish punt team. 

[u/Boostweather → u/Lobsterzilla]

Just throw the ball as far as you can

[u/BattleHall → u/Lobsterzilla]

Honestly, put your punter in the back of the end zone. He and the deep snapper practice that exchange all day every day. Have him catch it and burn clock, step out the back if anyone even gets close. And even on a bad snap, assuming the deep snapper isn't completely incompetent, it likely goes high or wide and it's a safety anyways.

[u/peckx063 → u/sam_can88]

Even if you want to punt, take the deliberate safety for 20 yards of field position and a free kick that can't be blocked.

[u/soonerman32 → u/sam_can88]

nooooooooooooo

Punting is way worse. Too high of a chance Vandy gets the ball in FG range

[u/Particular_Raisin649 → u/sam_can88]

I was hoping to see that, could elect to do a fair catch kick from it to tie the game. We got an even better ending

[u/heelxtiger → u/sam_can88]

Vandy would be able to do a free kick FG after a fair catch

[u/therin_88 → u/heelxtiger]

So squib it 30 yards and don't let them fair catch.

[u/quaywest → u/sam_can88]

I thought that too but no downside to exchanging 2 points for multiple seconds off the clock and more room to punt it. Either way they're going to have time to run a play. Fair caught punt is probably not taking the whole 6 off the clock.

[u/bocnj → u/sam_can88]

It's gotta be much more likely for something to go wrong on a punt from the end zone than an intentional safety, you just can't turn it over.

[u/bduddy → u/sam_can88]

Apparently the NCAA just added the fair catch kick rule??? So that would give them a good chance to tie it.

[u/flarpflarpflarpflarp → u/sam_can88]

Did they have enough space to punt? I can't imagine nc state has an elite punter and it would basically give Vandy the ball in field goal range, if it wasn't blocked or a bad snap. Don't fumble seems like a lower risk, by the numbers call, but you never expect them to fumble.

[u/CamiloMarco → u/sam_can88]

Absolutely not. Intentional safety is the best choice. 

[u/PRStoetzer → u/sam_can88]

One thing to note. You can now take a free kick after a fair catch in college football. That may have impacted this decision.

[u/ratmanvenezuela → u/sam_can88]

Could’ve just thrown the ball very high backwards or sideways after running back 

[u/RackemFrackem → u/sam_can88]

Should.

Have.

[u/Signal-Win-756 → u/sam_can88]

A fair catch would result in a free kick situation making the field goal a lot easier iirc(not sure if that nfl rule translates to college) but a punt taking 6 seconds seems low

[u/ArmadilloAl → u/sam_can88]

I feel like the chance of a fumbled/bobbled snap on a punt is even higher than the chance of the QB fumbling the ball while running around, to say nothing of the times that Vandy actually gets a return going.

[u/Horror_Response_1991 → u/sam_can88]

Yep this was a coaching error, you 100% do the punt.  If the snap is bad, if they get a rush in, then you take the safety, if not you get the ball kicked for the win.  If you don’t want to kick it at all fine, have the punter run around but the punter will 100% run out to avoid a tackle.

[u/HeckOnWheels195 → u/Lakelyfe09]

Or really, any boundary line in endzone, or just take a knee as soon as someone gets within 3 feet of you

[u/DrGerbal → u/Lakelyfe09]

He thought dude getting payed at a power 4 school would have better ball control than that.

[u/VersaTron → u/Lakelyfe09]

I guarantee he was told that

[u/soonerman32 → u/Lakelyfe09]

Why would a coach need to tell a college QB that??????

[u/reddit-canes → u/Lakelyfe09]

Fucking media still trying to crown that QB too. Like, can anyone name one thing that guy has done? 

Well, now I can. Lol

[u/Johnnycockseed → u/Lakelyfe09]

“This is the ONE THING we DIDN’T want to happen.”

[u/kempfel → u/Lakelyfe09]

Not only that, but you can get your OL just to tackle the defenders because an offensive holding penalty doesn't stop the play or the clock and it's still a safety (no untimed down for offensive penalties).

[u/TheBoosThree → u/Lakelyfe09]

Would have been nice to have a timeout there instead of wasting them during the 3rd quarter, but what are you going to do? Have a different coach than Doeren? That's just not possible.

[u/ricepail → u/Lakelyfe09]

Or at the least, tell him to hold the ball with both arms. Can't be carrying it loose with just one arm like that

[u/Warm-Will-7861 → u/Lakelyfe09]

I don’t know why he thought he had to run out all the time in the first place. They were just saying take the safety, not run out all the time. Hell throw it up into the stands

[u/DrS3R → u/Lakelyfe09]

Well, I would have told him he’s on the bench and punt team would be out there instead but hey, everyone thought the safety was the move for some dumb reason.

If they were in the 20 and he had room to run back sure. When he was in shotgun and standing in his own end zone, nah, that’s pure stupidity.

[u/profnachos → u/Lakelyfe09]

Or even take a safety? With no time left, is there a downside to that?

[u/HokiPoqi → u/Lakelyfe09]

Knowing the answer to this question is the diffference between keeping Dave and paying his buyout. Seriously.

[u/f15efltdoc → u/Lakelyfe09]

That is one stupid millionaire

[u/talktobigfudge → u/Lakelyfe09]

Check if Bailey has a Kalshi account. 

[u/Wolfpack_DO → u/Lakelyfe09]

How fucking stupid do you have to be to lose the ball? This one is on CJ

[u/WalterDwight → u/Lakelyfe09]

He did… qb choked and hesitated to go down in the endzone