We are one game into the season, and NC State’s season already has red flags written all over it. NC State went to Virginia and got trounced 34-8. Virginia got up 17-0 and just cruised the rest of the way. Most concerning was how badly NC State got beat up front. It was a total mismatch in the trenches.
NC State lost a lot of skill position talent, but QB CJ Bailey was back, and there was a fair amount of optimism that’s now gone.
The Wolfpack have a fairly soft schedule where they avoid SMU and Miami. They are likely going to find their way to a bowl, and win 6 or 7 regular season games. Sure, going on a run and finishing the regular season 9-3, 10-2 could change the narrative, but did the team we saw Satruday really look equipped to pull off something like that?
Dave Doeren has been at NC State since 2013 and has been to 11 bowl games. There have been 8 8 or 9-win seasons. NC State is rarely terrible, usually pulls off an ACC upset somewhere along the way, and by the end of the year the results are reasonable.
This season, even through just 1 game, already has that feel that this won’t be the year NC State truly turns the corner. Unless the bottom just falls out on the season, which I don’t expect will happen, then the NC State administration will have a decision to make at year’s end.
What’s good enough at NC State? Mediocre to decent football? There’s always a risk in changing coaches. NC State could end up with a Geoff Collins-like Georgia Tech disaster, or a Dabo Swinney program-changing one. The alternative is to remain completely average. It’s simple: potentially great > average > potentially terrible.
I think NC State is going to have that decision at the end of the year.
Make sure you follow the All Sports Discussion Twitter account at @AllSportsDACC and please like our Facebook Page
Leave a Reply