2006 NC State Football Schedule

'06 Football General NCS Football34

Updated @ 10pm ET

GoPack.com has released NC State’s 2006 Football Schedule. Please don’t hold it against them if they don’t update the schedule ever again, it wouldn’t be “nice” to expect anything like that of them. (Evidently, the website’s listing of last night’s basketball game against Seton Hall did not include the television listing for ESPNClassic and some Wolfpack fans missed watching the game).

The 2006 schedule can be seen by clicking here. The N&O is talking about the schedule here. We’ll clean it up and have more discussion on it in the future. But, just wanted to put it out there for now. Some quick bytes accompany this at the bottom of the entry.

09/02/06 Appalachian State

09/09/06 Akron (12noon – ESPNU)

09/16/06 @ Southern Mississippi

09/23/06 Boston College

10/05/06 Florida State (Thursday night – ESPN)

10/14/06 Wake Forest

10/21/06 @ Maryland

10/28/06 @ Virginia

11/04/06 Georgia Tech

11/11/06 @ Clemson

11/18/06 @ North Carolina

11/25/06 East Carolina

Quick Observations

* The home vs away component of the schedule is very unbalanced. State plays five of their first six games in the friendly confines of Carter-Finley Stadium. That also happens to be the hottest part of the season. I hope that the geniuses in Raleigh remember that there are no rules against playing games at night.

* It is nice to see the Carolina game moved closer to the end of the season. It adds to relevance, magnitude, and excitement to both the game, and the entire season.

* Scheduling the ECU game (against the Ugliest Uniforms in America) so late in the season does nothing but add more relevance & magnitude to a series that doesn’t deserve. What a mistake.

* No Miami…no Virginia Tech…but, no Duke. We play the meat of the Coastal Division and we play 2 of 3 games vs the Coastal Division on the road.

* One Thursday night game against Florida State in Raleigh.

* From September 16th until the end of the last game of the season…this schedule is brutal.

* Open weekend is the end of September (9/30).

* A seven-win or six-win season in 2006 will indicate the program has AT BEST stalled. Less than six wins and the program is in very deep trouble.

* The last time that NC State ended a football season with back-to-back games against North Carolina and East Carolina, NC State fired coach, Mike O’Cain.

* For real shits-and-giggles, ‘what if’ Skip Holtz was having a fantastic year at East Carolina and Chuck Amato was having a horrible year at NC State. Could we be watching Skip’s last game on the sideline in Greenville prior to taking the head job in Raleigh? It is not beyond the realm of possibility…but, it is nothing more than fun fan talk right now.

* To ^that same point – is it 1999 again? Remember in year seven of Mike O’Cain’s tenure at NC State the Wolfpack ended the season with back-to-back games against Carolina and East Carolina. State lost them both. O’Cain was fired. After three years of under-achievement compared to talent and expectations, is Chuck Amato on strong enough footing to weather a similar fate if he were to lose both of these games?

Flashback
For kicks — last year’s football schedule was announced on January 20th and the entry (and conversation) can be found by clicking here.

'06 Football General NCS Football

34 Responses to 2006 NC State Football Schedule

  1. BJD95 01/26/2006 at 9:14 PM #

    It’s a schedule that a GOOD team would walk all over. No Miami, no Virginia Tech, 3 bunny non-conference games, and no marquee OOC opponent (the best in Southern Miss, which will be a “pick ’em” on the road). Very possible to make a bowl despite going 2-6 in the league – and believe me, the kool Aid drinking faction would still crow “6 bowl games in 7 years!!!!!!” It also includes (if what I heard is correct) the travesty of a home game on fair weekend (meaning I’ll likely sell my tickets rather than spend 2-3 hours in traffic trying to get in), and a ridiculously-timed season finale vs. ECU. A holiday weekend, the de facto “bowl game” for the Pirates – did Fowler want to ensure a sea of purple at this game or what? Or maybe he lost a poker game to Terry Holland?

    The home Thursday nighter against the Noles should be fun (hopefully more interesting than 2 years ago) – but other than that, it’s a series of pedestrian games against the middle of the pack. 7 ACC contests against teams that should be in the 5-7 win range.

    Good point by Jeff – Napoleon could certainly meet his Waterloo the last 2 weekends of November. Whatever happens on the field, I’d recommend that Amato not hug Bunting afterward.

  2. Jeff 01/26/2006 at 9:26 PM #

    Fowler knows NOTHING about the ECU situation. He was cheating at Memphis when the rivalry was starting to boil and has never attended a State-ECU game in Raleigh or Greenville.

  3. RickJ 01/27/2006 at 7:53 AM #

    Another interesting “what if” – Could the UNC-Chapel Hill game turn out to be “Coaches Roulette”?

  4. class of '74 01/27/2006 at 7:54 AM #

    Three thoughts on next year, the Cliff notes version: 1. the schedule sucks; 2. our prospects for success sucks; 3. the present coaching regime sucks. I can see anywhere from as few as 3 wins to as many as 6 wins. In either case this should not be accepted given the attention and commitment the program has been given by the alummni.

  5. Washington Wolf 01/27/2006 at 8:53 AM #

    Another ho hum non conference home schedule again in football, just like basketball. Once again, us LTR holders have to pay a thousand dollars(in my case, at least) for games against the likes of App State and Akron. Those LTR’s are the best scheme since Amway. I’m stuck paying thousands of dollars to watch middling opponents at best in C-F and the RBC. Maybe since I’m fairly young, I’ll be around after those patrons of mediocrity, Fowler, Amato Sendek, Murphy, Dail, Da, Stroud et al are long gone.

  6. BJD95 01/27/2006 at 9:13 AM #

    WW – I’m over $1,000 in ticket costs, too. I’m hoping the Greenville lunatics create a secondary market for the ECU tickets. I have no intention of breaking up a holiday weekend for that game. Fowler apparently has no problem with a sea of purple in the stadium for our home finale – so I’ll do my part to see that it happens. Got to find a way to cut my losses, especially since the Wake tickets might go unused due to the fair traffic nightmare.

  7. Herb 01/27/2006 at 9:48 AM #

    Are we ever going to play Duke in football again?

  8. Washington Wolf 01/27/2006 at 9:58 AM #

    BJD: I’d skip the ECU game, but my wife is an ECU grad. With our continued mediocrity and loser schedule, going to games doesn’t excite me much anymore. Here’s hoping some of the games are on TV.

  9. Sam '92 01/27/2006 at 10:04 AM #

    The schedule is boring, like last season, but we’ll probably manage 6 or 7 wins because of the cupcakes. the seventh win depends on playing another toilet bowl. i’d like nothing better than to be proven wrong, but there it is.

  10. Jeff 01/27/2006 at 10:59 AM #

    I don’t have as much of a problem with it in football because:

    (1) the number of “bad games” represents a smaller percentage of overall games of the home schedule as happens with basketball

    (2) the overall “enjoyment” of the 5-hour game atmosphere and experience helps insulate

    (3) the number of “bad games” equates to 2 or 3 (based on your perspective of ECU). At $30 a ticket, that’s $60 or $90 per seat of “bad OOC games” compared to about $250 a ticket in basketball for so many bad games.

  11. SaccoV 01/27/2006 at 11:54 AM #

    The major problem with this schedule is again it falls so short of fan expectations that State might well have had a third grader from Burlington make it. Despite ASU’s national title from last year, these three (ASU, Akron, and So. Miss) should NEVER be the complete OOC schedule for a team in the ACC. If ASU was ARIZONA STATE, then maybe. None of these schools are near the size (including conference or overall student population) to make any of them a true match for State’s ability. I agree with those of you who think the team will probably slide into a 7-win tidy bowl opportunity again. Seven years and seven wins a season is all we have from our football team. Unfortunately for Chuck and Leef Owler, we won’t play FSU six times in one season. We should be scheduling like Wake Forest is, who last year had Nebraska and Vanderbilt. Why can’t NC State get either of those teams to play football?

  12. class of '74 01/27/2006 at 12:33 PM #

    It will take drastic measures to have this adminstration upgrade our football schedule. They are perfectly happy to take the path of least resistance in scheduling. In doing so they are using the mine shaft method of customer service. They got mine (LTR and tix) and I am getting the shaft.

  13. BJD95 01/27/2006 at 12:41 PM #

    I think 42% of the 2006 season ticket package being “bad” games is pretty awful (more in line with how basketball is set up). Akron and Appy State are relatively worthless tickets, and ECU only has value b/c Pirate fans will buy the tickets. That leaves FOUR conference home games, one of which is on a Thursday night (OK with me b/c I live 25 minutes from the stadium), and a second of which is a hellish fair weekend conflict. So, we get two appealing Saturday home games (Boston College, Georgia Tech). Given the LTR commitment plus ticket costs, that sucks pretty bad, if you ask me.

    Just compare that to a season with SIX home games, one of which is Texas Tech or Ohio State (and only one “bad” game). Didn’t you feel like you got a hell of alot more value from that?

  14. Mr. O 01/27/2006 at 12:58 PM #

    If you are complaining about schedules, then I recommend going ahead and giving up your LTRs. We aren’t going to see marquee OOC opponents in CF except with a rare exception. It is what it is.

  15. Waxhaw 01/27/2006 at 1:17 PM #

    Does ECU have a rabbit’s foot for scheduling us? With one or two exceptions, the last several times they have played us were in “bad” years.

    This will be their game of the year. Please don’t ever schedule those jerks again.

  16. Waxhaw 01/27/2006 at 1:18 PM #

    ^ Just wanted to add that we obviously don’t know if next year will be one of those “bad” years but it sure seems possible.

  17. BJD95 01/27/2006 at 1:39 PM #

    I’ve paid my money, and will complain all I want. I’ve sunk a good deal of money into my LTRs already. If Fowler and company think the best policy is to give the shareholders less value (and therefore have them grumbling and unsatisfied), then I think they are batshit crazy. To give us LESS quality despite adding an extra “cash cow” OOC game – that’s simply absurd.

    I understand that we won’t get a marquee opponent every year. But the rotating home and home series MUST have better teams in the #1 and #2 slots than Southern Miss and ECU (FWIW, I think Southern Miss is an ideal team for slot #2 – just not our BEST game).

  18. Jon Smith 01/27/2006 at 2:12 PM #

    In terms of getting games to be played at night remember that TV calls all the shots for most games. They can probably play ASU and Akron at night since they are very unlikely to be on TV.

  19. Mike 01/28/2006 at 8:35 AM #

    The scheudle is pretty bad. The 1st thing I noticed was the top heavy home games and the long road trip at the end of the season. Might be tough to pull out all those road games at end of year to earn our 7 cupcakes.

    As for App St. – Charlie Cobb is AD there. I don’t have a problem wiht this game for Charlie’s sake, helping out an alum, but wouldn’t that be the pits to lose this one. If memory serves me correctly App beat Wake a few years ago, and Wake promptly kicked us. Anyway, App is fine but do it in a year with some other marquee games. What happened to Tennessee and Notre Dame – weren’t they supposed to be coming? Ohio St provided two great games, but we lost both so I guess they are gone. Personally, I would rather watch a loss against Ohio St in close games than a blow out against Akron. Oh by the way, dont overlook the Zips. QB last year was very highly rated and the QB before him is playing on Sundays now (playing for Cleveland so I could not say professionally).

    The whole mindset is to get the required number of wins, go to the Clorox Antibacterial Toilet Bowl game and keep spiking the Kool-Aid, great comment BJD. The cupcakes get us the wins, and keep uninformed fans happy.

  20. Jeff 01/28/2006 at 9:39 AM #

    To be fair….I believe that this was one of the years that we had scheduled Virginia Tech to be an OOC game. Obviously, that series got changed when the ACC expanded.

    Additionally…we should be getting close to the years that Notre Dame cancelled on us. Was that this year?

    It is much harder to “fill-in” with tough games at later dates in football than it is in basketball (which is traditionally scheduled within a year of the season).

  21. class of '74 01/28/2006 at 12:34 PM #

    It is total BS to think we can not have one high quality OOC game each year. In the distant past we had Penn State on the schedule for many years. We had Texas once or twice and the Ohio State games were great. This low rent scheduling is so wrong in so many ways. The more I ponder this the more I think we have mental pygmies running our athletics.

  22. Jeff 01/28/2006 at 12:46 PM #

    Texas once – BCA Classic game that was scheduled at the last minute and is not allowed anymore.

    We scheduled Virginia Tech, Louisville, Central Florida and Notre Dame for the last couple of years.

    They all backed out.

    How is that NC State’s fault?

    I criticize our Athletics Department more than most. But, I don’t understand the overwhelming desire to criticize the department for every single thing in the world that is beyond their control.

  23. BJD95 01/28/2006 at 1:05 PM #

    With all due respect, all indications were that South Carolina wanted to play us. ESPN also wanted that to happen. Lee Fowler chose the bunny win and the suck up factor, opting to sign up for an EXTRA game with East Carolina instead. Completely unacceptable.

    An OOC schedule with South Carolina, Southern Miss, Akron, and Appy State would be just about perfect. And it was completely achievable. It’s not like ECU was the only school looking for a home and home series with the conference switch-related cancellations and extra 12th game to fill.

  24. class of '74 01/28/2006 at 1:10 PM #

    Have all the ACC schools had this much contract cancellation as NCSU? I understand with the league’s additions scheduling has had some difficulties but I don’t remember the others with as many problems. Besides a contract is a two way street and if we WANTED those games bad enough I have to believe the contract could be enforced.

    I just don’t think our athletics admin is serving the customer base (alumni) very well while at the same time demanded more from us than ever before.

  25. SaccoV 01/28/2006 at 4:12 PM #

    Well, again, O’Cain had home-and-homes with Texas, South Carolina, and Syracuse. Not exactly the toughest OOC in history but significantly improved over Southern Miss, App State, and Akron. Others have made the point that regardless of State’s opponents next year, NO ONE expects a big season. I know that I certainly am not anticipating a nine or ten win season even with the weak OOC. There’s something rotten in the Murphy Center, fellows!

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