ESPN.com Insider/Blue Ribbon NC State Preview - StateFans Nation StateFans Nation

Some of us at the site are going into the season with the attitude of “show me something”. This means that we aren’t going to over hype the season, or get to excited until we see what is on the field. ESPN.com Insider published their NC State preview yesterday. It was surprisingly optimistic. It is a premium article (Insider is well worth the money) so we just copied the last 3 paragraphs of a long article. Also note that this article was written by the Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook. It will be interesting to see if Scouts,Inc will write a preview at some point in the pre-season. They are the best in the business, and are usually dead on with predictions on games and teams.

The opportunity to contend for the ACC title is clearly there for NC State. The Pack has beaten the eventual ACC champion each of the last two seasons — both times on the road. But Amato’s team has also finished 3-5 in the league in both seasons.

To do better than that this year, the Pack’s offense will need to improve more than the defense declines. The improved discipline — the reduction in penalties and turnovers — that the team showed late last season will have to continue.

The chance for success is still there for the Pack. It’s just that the margin of error is smaller this season than in the past.

29 Responses to ESPN.com Insider/Blue Ribbon NC State Preview

class of 74 07/18/2006 at 5:34 PM #

We are either pretenders or contenders and the OOC suggests we are pretenders! We should have no more than one cupcake per season if we intend to become a real football school. We do not have the luxury of a storied past like a Texas, Tennessee or Ohio State we must make our name by playing those guys not Akron, ASU or EKU! Rick Flair had it right when he said “to be the man you’ve gotta beat the man.” Except for FSU, we have not played much less beaten any real football schools.
redfred2 07/18/2006 at 7:48 PM #

Like I’ve said before, if you can prepare a high school football for their conference opponents by beating up on the junior high boys, have at it.

Hey, I didn’t start the many conversations about the OOC, but since no one seemed reasonably optimistic about discussing real division I teams, or even beating Carolina, I figured what the heck.
bTHEredterror 07/18/2006 at 9:04 PM #

To add on to Uncle. This OOC schedule is not the Toughest. Nor does it contain any relelvant match-ups. But it is far from easy.

Bama fans (my pops is hardcore) sweat out a toughie with Southern Miss every year. They use this ECU-esque rivalry as a leading season indicator. A solid win, and buckle-up for a good championship run. We’re not Bama, and these guys play two or three SEC teams a year. We should watch out. Don’t forget that the SoMiss game last year was the turnaround game where we found our team (Andre Brown). I hope not only for last year but for the program as a whole und CTC.

ECU will pull out every stop in the extensive Holtz repertoire, for this program make-or-breaker. We’ve been here before. They must be dealt with harshly and mercilessly. We must remind their fans that they really DO NOT want to play this game. Ever again. Chuck, I must insist.
redfred2 07/19/2006 at 12:16 PM #

Another, broad statement made there by bTHEredterror.

So. Miss may present somewhat of a challenge but we should be able to wear them down with the running game. We should absolutely drub ECU and make them regret they ever stepped out onto the field. Same with App. at the beginning of the season. If we can’t do that, I don’t have any idea if anything has really been accomplished in improving the overall program over the past six years or where the program will eventually be heading.