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By Stephen Cheek
SouthernPigskin.com State of North Carolina Columnist
SouthernPigskin.com State of North Carolina Columnist Stephen Cheek reflects on the fourth week of college football in North Carolina.
Old North State Pigskin is a blog focused on the North Carolina schools in the ACC and Southern Conference. Referencing the state’s Revolutionary War nickname to include all the schools with its borders (and not just the Tar Heels with the state’s civil war nickname) this blog is written from a fan perspective, nothing more, nothing less. I am not a current or former coach, administrator or player of any university. I am not a professional journalist. While I am a graduate of the University of North Carolina, I am also the son of a lifelong Duke Football fan, and the son-in-law of an NC State alumnus. I just make observations as I see them…and try to leave the bias out. Comments, criticism, suggestions and corrections are all welcome at .
This Might Just Be the Year Where the Stars Align for the Wolfpack
NC State fans have long felt snake bitten. No matter the season or sport, just read any NCSU blog and you will see many a self-loathing post about why State can’t seem to put everything together at once in the athletic arena. Even in the best of times for the Wolfpack, things seem to go wrong. In basketball, State dominated the ACC in the early years under the legendary coach Everett Case, yet always got tripped up in the NCAA tournament after battling though the conference. Arguably the best basketball team in school history, the 1973 team, was on probation so they could not contend for an NCAA title despite going unbeaten on the season. In football, during the Philip Rivers era, the defense could not stop teams despite an incredible offense and State never finished higher than 4th in the conference. After Rivers left for the NFL, the offense could not match a top 10 defense featuring first round draft picks like Mario Williams and Manny Lawson. Those years left fans wondering how so much talent could not be coached to more than minor bowl wins in December. Even State’s last ACC Championship football team suffered its share of heartbreak while winning the conference. The year was 1979 and Bo Rein was the coach in Raleigh. After starting the season 4-0 and leading Auburn 14-0 on the Plains, State lost five starters to injury on one play and ended up losing the game 44-31. Later that year, State led Penn State 7-6 in the final minute in Raleigh. The Nittany Lions proceeded to convert a 36 yard reception on 4th and 26 to set up a game winning 54 yard field goal that bounced over the upright. Then, despite winning the ACC with a 5-1 conference record, the Gator Bowl awarded its bid to rival UNC who beat the NC State head to head, but lost 3 conference games. The 1979 ACC champion Wolfpack stayed home that holiday season in what was a much different bowl era than today. After so many years of the breaks going against the Pack though, the tide might be turning in Raleigh. This could be the year the ACC Atlantic opens a path wide enough for the Pack to march right up to Tampa and vie for its first conference football title in 30 years.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying NC State is a top 10 team. On paper, I don’t think they are in the top 3 in the ACC, but sometimes in sports it is about schedule and timing and I think both of those are in the Pack’s favor this year. NC State is presently 3-1 and has yet to face an ACC foe this season. Division foes FSU, Clemson, BC and Wake all have a conference loss already. Maryland is terrible. Through no fault of their own, State already has a leg up on the competition in the ACC Atlantic. Also, no other team in the Atlantic seems to be particularly good this year, as preseason favorites FSU and Clemson have been erratic at best. BC looks decent but beatable while Wake has shown a propensity to make costly mistakes at critical times to give the games away. There is no doubt that the powerbase of the ACC has shifted drastically to the Coastal side of the house. The Wolfpack will even get a shot at the best team from that division in the second to last game of the regular season. While it is doubtful that State would win that matchup in Blacksburg in November, it might serve as a warm-up for a rematch in Tampa if things break right. Rematches tend to favor the loser of the first game in college football, which could bode well for the underdog Wolfpack. So, before playing a down in conference play, a favorable road to Tampa Bay can be mapped from Carter-Finley Stadium in west Raleigh.
All of this is not to say State has been handed the silver spoon enroute to the ACC title though. They will still have to prove it on the field, but there is plenty of positive trends there for the Pack too. Despite losing to South Carolina in the season opener 7-3, State proved that they have a good defense that is capable of stopping teams when they need to. In fact, after 4 games, State leads the nation in total defense despite losing its star player Nate Irving before the season began. While that stat is padded with two games over weak lower division competition, those games against Murray St and Gardner-Webb provided the NCSU offense with the spark it needed. Russell Wilson, the mobile and elusive Pack QB, has returned to 2008 form after a rough opener and has passed for 12 TDs in the past three games with no interceptions. On Saturday, against a quality Pitt squad who will vie for a Big East title, Wilson looked stellar in leading his team to victory after trailing the entire game. There is more to the offense than Wilson though as the offensive line has improved to allow the development a potent rushing attack from the combo of Jemelle Eugene and Toney Baker that was absent against the Gamecocks. The receivers have also improved to become a dependable and deep bunch after dropping too many passes against South Carolina.
The major liabilities of this years’ State team seem to be the injury bug that continues to bite the players forcing constant lineup shuffles, and the fact that team tends to commit costly penalties and errors at inopportune times. An example of which was seen on Saturday where a bad snap gave Pitt a chance to tie the game up from the 8 yard line with 2 minutes to play. This has bothered Wolfpack coach Tom Obrien so much that he was quoted in his postgame press conference saying “"We're just not a very good football team right now, there's too many mistakes, and I've done a bad job coaching them. Anytime you have 12 penalties, and most of them are before the snap, that's just a bad job." While that is undoubtedly coachspeak in an attempt to motivate his team, O’Brien knows that those are the type of details that cost teams dearly down the stretch.
The fact that O’Brien coached teams tend to improve as the year wears on though, as illustrated by the previous two late season win streaks that State has embarked on, bodes well for the Wolfpack. Now is the time to work out the kinks before heading into the conference and that seems to be exactly what this team has done. With a winnable ACC up for grabs and potentially 2 shots at conference heavyweight Virginia Tech, maybe this is the season for NC State to work out the bad karma that has plagued the program and the school’s sports teams over the years. The road begins this Saturday against Wake Forest, interestingly enough, just like it did 30 years ago the last time the Pack won the ACC. Could this be the year? Bear Bryant once said he would “rather be lucky than good anyday.” Maybe this year the Red and White from NC State might just be both for once.
Old North State Preseason Power Poll
1. NC State – The Wolfpack take over the top spot this week by virtue of beating a quality opponent for the first time this season and North Carolina losing to one. See above to for reasons why this might be the Pack’s year. Record 3-1 Next up: at Wake
2. North Carolina – I predicted at the start of the season that the Tar Heels would lose to GT so Saturday was not a surprise. I did think the Tar Heels would play better though so there is definitely plenty to work on in practice this week. Saturday, the Wahoos come to town and that should be just the elixir the struggling UNC offense needs. Look for the Heels to be 5-1 going into the Thursday night showdown with FSU.
Record 3-1 Next up: Virginia
3. East Carolina – ECU has not been able to spring the upsets against the BCS foes, but that doesn’t mean they can’t still make a run in Conference USA. Defeating UCF was a start, and the Pirates should be able to get a win streak started after a trip to Huntington, WV
Record 2-2 Next up: at Marshall
4. Wake Forest – Two TD passes in the final minutes of regulation and a 1st down at the 4 yard line were not enough to overcome a broken play fumble in OT at BC last week. The Deacs have got to be frustrated with their start this year due to the fact they seem to have shot themselves in the foot repeatedly. Saturday will not be any easier for Wake but I would count the Deacs out just yet this season. Record 2-2 Next up: NCSU
5. Duke – North Carolina Central came to Wallace Wade on Saturday and provide a good show with a loud crowd for the first ever Bull City Classic. Central’s band provided a better show though than the football team though, and Thad Lewis finally got on track this season in the Devil’s blow out win. VT wears the same colors as Central but something tells me the score might be Record 1-2 Next up: North Carolina Central
6. Appalachian State – It looks like the Armanti Edwards show is back after the win on Saturday. Just that fact alone is enough to catapult App ahead of Elon, despite the losing record. The road to the SoCon championship still has to come up the mountain through Boone until someone in the conference beats App. Record 1-2 Next up: at The Citadel
7. Elon – Scott Riddle passed for 338 yards and a touchdown on Saturday to set Southern Conference records with 705 career completions and 7,893 career passing yards. The Riddle to Hudgins connection makes Elon a championship contender this season for sure, but App is the title holder and someone is going to have to beat them for Elon to move ahead again this season. Record 3-1 Next up: at Furman
8. Western Carolina – The game was never in doubt on Saturday. Unless something changes, I am afraid that the Cats are looking at 0-11 this season after what I thought might be a year of progress. At least the recruiting class was strong so maybe there is hope for the future in Cullowhee. Record 0-4 Next up: at Samford
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Old North State Pigskin is a blog focused on the North Carolina schools in the ACC and Southern Conference. Referencing the state’s Revolutionary War nickname to include all the schools with its borders (and not just the Tar Heels with the state’s civil war nickname) this blog is written from a fan perspective, nothing more, nothing less. I am not a current or former coach, administrator or player of any university. I am not a professional journalist. While I am a graduate of the University of North Carolina, I am also the son of a lifelong Duke Football fan, and the son-in-law of an NC State alumnus. I just make observations as I see them…and try to leave the bias out. Comments, criticism, suggestions and corrections are all welcome at .
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