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NC State’s men’s footballing team participated in yet another game match contest on the field of play. The results of said competition continue to befuddle the viewing audience. On the recent episode of the Lotcast, the gathered gaggle of a panel reached a point of frustration with having to repeat the same points raised as to why this team seems to be falling short of their lofty preseason expectations.
Look, I still have faith that Dave Doeren isn’t going to allow this team to quit. There have been too many years of evidence to show that he can adjust as a season progresses and have a team focus on what is working well and jettison that which isn’t. I think it’s one of his most underrated strengths as a coach. Winning nine games last year with multiple flips to who the quarterback was, not to mention almost winning nine with Bailey freaking Hoffman as your QB, Doeren is now a veteran at spinning up a new QB midstream. He was asked about this in a recent press conference and admitted it’s not something he necessarily wants to be good at, but he’s learned how to do it, nevertheless.
The CJ Bailey-of-it-all is what everyone expected. He’s a true freshman starting at QB when nearly everyone expected him to be redshirting. And the result is what everyone expected: he’s playing like a true freshman. He will likely get better, and by the time he plays UNC in the season finale, I’d bet he looks like a different guy. BUT, and this is a big but (not the Sir Mixalot kind), NC State entered this season in a “win now” situation. In years past, you could reasonably expect that this young core of players would build chemistry this year and come back next year ready to take a leap together. But in the new world we’re living in, nothing is guaranteed. And the thing that is for certain is that there will most certainly be change. That’s why it was so key to strike this year.
MOST CONCERNING – Effort and WANT to
It appears some of the primary fears I had going into this year are coming true. The new pieces brought in are either not performing the way they did in their last school, or cohesion is not building as quickly as it needs to. Or, and even more worrying, it is simply coming down to execution and effort. Now, I have never played college football. It’s easy to hide behind my keyboard and say that these guys need to try harder. I’m not questioning their effort compared to mine, because I choose to eat Oreos instead of going for a jog. But are the guys on this team being out-efforted in comparison to their opponents? That’s the real measuring stick.
In each of the Wolfpack’s five games thus far, there were stretches (or entire games) where it felt like their opponent was more invested in the outcome than NC State was. Alec has exhaustively described how the offensive line isn’t to blame, and the play calling from the coaches isn’t to blame. Apropos of those, it must come to execution. The game plan was decently solid to handle Northern Illinois. Plays were available that seemed inches from breaking for big gains, but one extra move to make a guy miss or missing a tackle stood in the way. Shot plays down the field were called, but execution at one point in the chain or another prevented it from connecting. Either the pocket collapsed, or the QB didn’t step up in the pocket, or made an inaccurate pass, or the receiver didn’t create separation, or dropped the ball.
There is not one specific reason why things aren’t working right…But they aren’t working right.
Is there a RIGHT way to win??
As often happens after games like this, there is a backlash, then a backlash to the backlash, then a backlash to the backlash to the backlash, and so on, etcetera, etcetera...
The backlash to the win was honestly justified. NC State should have won by more and played in a manner that would convince the fans that this team is ready to make a run in the back half of the season. The backlash to that came from people saying you shouldn't complain about winning, that's not what good fans do. SO, everyone should simply be good little fans and take this win at face value?
The reason people got upset was it is a bad portent of games to come. The meat of the ACC schedule is beginning, and NC State does not look well suited for it. While I get it, "a dub's a dub", we are looking at what we see and using that to predict what will happen in the coming weeks, and let's just say we are less than enthused.
I don't think the staff can get salty with the fans for wanting more, they are the ones who said publicly what the expectation of this season was. Fans are well within their rights to be frustrated with that. Now, it'll be a fascinating science experiment if Doeren has the team win its remaining games 24-17. They'd finish with 10 wins, and nobody would feel good about it. He should do this, you know, for science. But my heart wouldn't be able to take this week in and week out.
It wouldn't be NC State if it weren't the Cardiac Pack, so would we really have it any other way. What do you think, should there be a "right" way to win a game? Do fans have room reason to complain about performance when the ultimate result of scoring a greater number of points than your opponent is the one stat that really matters? This is not the first time fans have wrestled with this conundrum under Doeren, and it won't be the last. That's just how he rolls.
Vibe Check: Silver linings (in the) playbook
Not all is lost, not yet at least. NC State is 3-2, with three must-win games in October. I say must-win because Wake Forest, Syracuse and Cal are teams NC State should not lose to under any circumstances. The Pack absolutely must go into their bye week already bowl eligible in order to compete for a strong finish. The schedule is still in their favor, that’s one positive.Another positive is the play on defense showed signs of life heretofore absent. Davin Vann brough energy to the field to set a tone that had been sought after. And then he brought supplies to hard hit communities that were also sought after. He’s an all-around great guy. I would expect this energy level to continue on defense. For these reasons alone, there are slight vibes to note this week. The offense still seems limp and lifeless with objectively poor execution, but hey, we’re focusing on the positives here.
Vibe rating: 1.25 🐺 / 5
Not sure I like partial wolves as a vibe scale.