News is kind of slow this week, so StateFansNation will take a few minutes to ponder a few obvious scheduling opportunities raised by the forthcoming 12th game.
It’s important to strike while the iron is hot, since everybody’s newfound scheduling flexibility won’t last long. Both from a fan interest standpoint and from a practical standpoint (attractive matchups with “history” are less likely to get cancelled at the last-minute than games against random opponents like Navy, Temple, and Louisville). I’ll throw a few names out, and you can propose other ideas in the comments section:
1) South Carolina.
Yes, their rabid fans can be a little frightening. But unlike the ECU folks, I’m not aware of the Gamecock faithful being responsible for actual rioting or extreme property damage. It’s a long, storied, remarkably even-matched rivalry. Unless I’m mistaken, I think State leads it all-time by a 50-49-1 mark.
With Visor Boy strolling the sidelines, any game with USC will garner national attention. It’s a great opportunity for NC State to have Chuck Amato match wits with the Ol’ Ball Coach (and impress some South Carolina recruits in the process). Spurrier loves a good rivalry, and has mentioned that he’d like to play NC State. But he’s also mentioned UNC and Georgia Tech, so we need to wrap this deal up fast before the dance card is full. A 3-game series, with one game in Raleigh, one in Columbia, and one in Charlotte would start things off nicely.
State/USC also provided perhaps the 2 most dramatic Wolfpack games of the 1980s —
The first game, in Columbia, saw Erik Kramer, having missed the first three quarters with a double hernia, tossing 2 long 4th quarter TDs to give State the lead, which the defense makes hold up on downs inside the 10 yard line.
The following year (1986, I believe), the Gamecocks seem to have won the game, but are offsides on the last play. On the untimed down, Kramer lofts a beautiful 33-yard Hail Mary pass to Danny Peebles, who gets away with a blatant push-off (which still doesn’t explain why he was single covered) and secures the prayer and a Pack win. This was especially sweet for me (age 13), on the grassy hill with my brother and cousins amidst a sea of stunned, open-mouthed Gamecock fans.
Of course, karma – and revenge – are a bitch. Kramer hurts his ankle on the extra play, misses the next game, and lousy QB play leads to a loss at putrid UVA that costs NC State the ACC title. The following year in Columbia, it is declared “Black Saturday” (fans all dressed in black) and the Gamecocks beat us like a rented mule – something like 56-0. I didn’t enjoy listening to the beatdown on the radio, but had to respect the creativity and spirit of the USC faithful.
2) Penn State.
For you old-timers (or young folks with a sense of history), this needs no explanation. Chuck Amato is quite familiar with the epic clashes of the 2 “States” in the 1970s. My very first Wolfpack memory is of the 54-yard field goal that Penn State kicked in Carter Finley to beat us with no time on the clock. I was in the stadium, and still have never heard such a sharp contrast between rejoiceful pandemonium and stunned, absolute silence. It would be nice to supplement that memory with a happier one.
We don’t have any concrete information to lead us to believe that Penn State is interested – but why not?
Certainly the folks in (not too) Happy (of late) Valley would like a stroll down memory lane to the glory days of Nittany Lion football. Seeing NC State on the schedule might do that. The game would no doubt be a nice complement to our PA recruiting efforts. And, if by game time NC State has pulled itself out of its funk of the last 2 seasons and Joe Paterno is still stubbornly refusing to retire (as he should have at least 3-5 years ago), the game will give Caulton Tudor something to write about (the once popular rumor that Amato would succeed JoePa when he retires or croaks). We gotta have CT’s back, don’t we?
These are my humble suggestions for keeping the schedule fan friendly and competitive.
There are some who will claim that the schedule should revolve around making sure NC State is bowl eligible, no matter how poorly we perform in ACC play. IMHO, that’s a losing mentality, and will certainly not hold the fans’ interest if we aren’t regularly competing for the ACC title (as we have seen in certain other sports, it’s very, very bad when fan apathy sets in). And if we ARE competing for the ACC title in a given season, a fun nonconference game only makes things better. Thus, it’s a mistake not to consider fan friendliness when making the schedule.
Everyone remembers the buzz leading up to last year’s Ohio State game, and it would be nice to have at least one nonconference game on the schedule every year that the fans really look forward to. Adding USC and PSU (not necessarily the same season, at least not for years when we have a UT on the schedule, for example) would accomplish that, and neither one is a Top 10 program that would unduly burden the schedule strngth or qualify as a probable loss – even on the road. Fan enthusiasm and giving are essential in sustaining momentum and building the conference and national contender we all want.
