So, NC State is currently 4-4 (0-4 in the ACC). Not what NC State fans would want after a grueling 2013 year under then 1st coach Dave Doeren. But hey, it's 1 more win than last year right? Right?....Let's back track and talk a little bit about those 4 conference losses shall we?
Florida State (home game):
This game was huge, I mean HUGE for NC State. FSU was ranked #1 at the time and NC State was coming into the game 4-0 (2 newly FBS teams, 1 cupcake FBS team, and a FCS team). NC State had the momentum from winning 4 games, already surpassing last year's wins. In the first quarter, NC State managed to jump ahead 24-7. Before the end of the first half, FSU closed the gap 24-21. Now, NC State still had momentum going into the 2nd half, or so we thought... FSU went on a 35-17 run in the 2nd half. FSU won 56-41, crushing the Wolfpack's chance to win it's first ACC win. The nation gave NC State some respect after almost defeating then #1 Florida State and fans thought the football program was heading in the right direction.
Clemson (Textile Bowl - away game):
Clemson almost beat Florida State as well and NC State had the respect that it wanted after a pretty good performance against them the week prior. NC State fans weren't expecting a win, but they were expecting a good game against the two textile schools. In the first half of the game, Clemson went ahead 31-0. NC State could not get a rhythm going at all. They were constantly going 3rd and long, every possession. Clemson did have one of the top defenses in the country, but who knew their freshman quarterback would walk the dogs on us? I mean really? Clemson went on to score 10 more points while NC State never manage to get on the board. The worse thing about this game was that NC State never managed to get more than 8 offensive yards. Now, this is when us fans began to tell themselves that NC State used up all their energy against Florida State. That may have been the case then, until the next game.
Boston College (home game:
This was the chance for the Wolfpack to redeem themselves and prove that they were better than last year. Their chance was against a pretty good Boston College team. They already beat USC when they were ranked #9 at the time. If we couldn't beat FSU and Clemson (no one ever thought we would), then we would settle with a win against BC. Throughout the first half, NC State and BC were good offensively, but not defensively. They went into halftime trailing 21-14. Then the storm came and pretty much washed away our hopes in beating them. After a 30-45 minute lightening storm delay, BC came out and put up 9 more points to secure the win for the Eagles and the Wolfpacks 3rd conference loss and a 4-3 overall record.
Louisville (away game):
Recently, Louisville has been an above average football team. They are playing under a new coach this year, since their previous coach took the Texas job. So far, they have been playing well. They have not allowed a touchdown in 17 quarters since meeting the Wolfpack in ACC play (please correct me if I am wrong). But NC State is known for surprising people. In the first quarter, Louisville got on the board first and soon followed by an NC State touchdown. Unfortunately, Sade missed the extra point to leave Louisville ahead 7-6. Louisville added 10 points before halftime. In the 4th quarter, the Wolfpack got within 8 points trailing 20-12. The rest of the 4th quarter, Louisville added 10 more points compared to NC State's 6, defeating NC State 30-18.
It looks like NC State is on it's way to another winless conference record. Their remaining schedule is @Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and @UNC. In order for a bowl game, the Wolfpack needs to beat 2 out of the remaining 4 teams. Wake Forest might be win. The remaining 3, not so sure. NC State had it's bye week so fans expect a well rested, healed up Wolfpack team traveling to Syracuse. Hopefully that is what they needed, especially after playing two top 25 teams in a row, and beefed up BC and Louisville teams. We will see what Doeren is all about during the Syracuse game and see what he is capable of.
As always, Go Pack!!!
