The Holiday Bowl was officially canceled on Wednesday after NC State failed to find a replacement for UCLA. The Bruins had to drop out of the game, originally scheduled for Tuesday, just hours before kickoff due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
However, it won't be a total loss for the Wolfpack. NC State coach Dave Doeren told ESPN's Andrea Adelson that Holiday Bowl officials presented the team with the trophy during a meeting. Not only that, but the team will be counting the canceled game as a win in the record books.
If this is true, NC State will finish the season with a 10–3 record. This would be the program's first 10-win season since the Wolfpack ended 2002 with 11 wins, and just the second 10-plus-win season in program history. It would be a strange way to claim such a historic mark. NC State also hasn't won a bowl game since the 2017 Sun Bowl.
This would be Doeren's most successful season since taking over the program in 2013.
