Akron @ NC State

'06 Football General154

ESPNUad

We’re going to use this entry as our game entry.

For pre-game, we urge you to check out the following pieces:

* Weekend #2 Television Schedule

* What the hell is going on at the N&O?

* Preparing for Akron

* A Tip for Saturday

* Rebate? 18.3 Plays Per Game Lost!

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'06 Football General

154 Responses to Akron @ NC State

  1. GAWolf 09/10/2006 at 8:04 PM #

    VAWolf and Noah brought up something I’ve been saying for years now. Amato is not totally to blame for the out-of-control hype machine. Pack fans are the world’s worst fans for being optimistic to a fault.

    I chuckled to myself but said nothing as I left the App game and heard several guys talking about “but for x we’d have blown them out… but for y it would have been over in the first half.” Based on what I saw in our first game I had absolutely no expectations of seeing anything better than what I saw yesterday. I even told a friend that I hadn’t had a feeling this bad about a game we’re “supposed to win” since last year’s UNC game. To say I called a loss would not be accurate. But to say I expected pretty much nothing to cheer about would be dead on.

    Anyone who went to the App game and paid attention had no reason to think we would be successful against the Zippers. As fans filed out of Carter Finley at the half yesterday grumbling and cursing and shaking their heads, I again had to chuckle to myself. All I could think was “what a bunch of suckers.”

    The sad thing is… prior to last Sunday I was as big a sucker as any.

  2. packpigskinfan23 09/10/2006 at 8:59 PM #

    obviously there are far too many posts here to read them all, so I am just gonna voice my opinion on what I have read so far…

    anyone who says our defense just “wore down” at the end of the game is WRONG… they played horrible the WHOLE GAME. They could not stop the run for anything. the secondary didnt do so hot either.

    anyone who says our turnover are all Stones fault is WRONG… the fumbles can not be blamed on him, and the interception was a tough one, but thats football. He probably should not have thrown into the double coverage, but he DID try to make a down the feild play that you guys are always bitching about.

    anyone who wants to blame Stone for all horrible passing yardage int he first half needs to go back and watch how many dropped passes we had. Our reveivers need to be held accountable SOME F-ING day!!!! you cant blame Stone for everything.

    blame the coaches. blame the AD. blame the defense. blame yourselves for not having any faith in your team. blame Akron’s determination. blame amato’s glasses…. blame Rivers for graduating… I dont give a shit who you blame.

    I am just so sick of everyone trying to pin this all on Stone. He’s not Rivers… GET OVER IT. He showed a TON of determination at the end of the game… he really shows how much he hates to lose, and what he will do the pull his team back up. give him a break. he may not be a good first half QB. we have all known that from the beginning. He only plays well when we are behind… maybe Evans should be in the game, until he makes 2 or 3 interceptions(cause he will, with his inexperience and trying to throw the long ball), and then put Stone in to bring us back.

  3. Wulfpack 09/10/2006 at 9:07 PM #

    It just occurred to me we lost to Akron because we didn’t want to show Southern Miss too much.

    If Chuck would just come out and say “You know, this program pretty much is in the dumper, the studs I recruit don’t do squat on Saturdays, but we’re doing everything in our power to change that”, then I’d be much more likely to cut him a little slack. Instead, all I hear about is how freaking strong this program is and how we’re headed in the right direction. It only makes the man even look more of a fool. If we’re so darn tough, then how in the hell did we let AKRON go 96 yards to win the game? Answer me that.

  4. packpigskinfan23 09/10/2006 at 9:20 PM #

    dosnt that sounds a lot like Sendek? Amato after the game- “I will never blame the players. They played tough all day” when will he take the blame? when will he say that he IS going to change some things… not just TRY too?

  5. tvp 09/10/2006 at 9:34 PM #

    “A perfect example of this is Frank Beamer, this guy turned a laughing stock into a national power. By simply out coaching people with D and special teams.”

    Of course, the tremendous irony in this statement is that Beamer didn’t win over 6 games until his seventh season.

  6. Spin Wolf 09/10/2006 at 9:59 PM #

    ^And that’s what stumps me about Amato. VT broke through due to consistency. I think Amato has many good attributes to head a program and so I was torn between sticking with him and starting over. But the fact that he can’t keep assistants, his teams are seldomly prepared, means that getting rid of him would be worth the steps backward we may take in starting over.

  7. bigwolf 09/10/2006 at 10:11 PM #

    I know it is easy to look at a loss against Akron as a “huge loss”, but I have to admit…the “knee jerk” response to one loss/game is way over the top for me. This team has shown that they “want to stand up”. The defense had not given up a touchdown on ther own accord for almost 2 full games and our offense was non-existant until the second half against Akron. That changed. As WOLFPACK fans, we owe our tean the chance to prove that they are on the right track. Even after the first half of the Akron game…I saw positives in both the offense and Stone. He proved me right in the second half and he will prove me right for the balance of the year. Get OFF Stone and Amato and get BEHIND them. This is my first attempt to enter this site…after 2 years of reading. Did anyone not see that Marcus not only started to see that the tight-end was his “friend”….but continued to give his best as the QB and a leader. I’m tired of the negative “vibe” sent out to both Marcus and the team….that they are not adequate. They can be and will be solid…period. If you don’t believe…..you will not receive. Stand up and believe…..
    I talked with one defensive player after the game and he was discouraged….he even made the statement to stick with us……what????? We are Wolfpack for life and anyone who does not feel that way needs to keep their mouth shut or SUIT UP!!!

  8. jaxpacker 09/10/2006 at 10:29 PM #

    The Zips for crying out loud. I’m just sick and tired of losing to these kind of teams.

    It seems clear that Marcus isn’t ready for the job. The scary thing is that the other QB’s behind hiim must not be any better or they would be playing. Does State have a reputation in the high schools about QB’s that we are not a place to go? Why do the ones with promise transfer?

  9. Slader4881 09/10/2006 at 10:52 PM #

    Beamer is and was a success bc he had mainly the same staff throughout. Chuck can’t keep anyone for too long. Plus VT was in far worse shape than NCSU was when Chuck took over.

    All I know is every time I think about UNC I am soo glad that Frank decided to stay at VT and not come to UNC, bc if he did they would be tough to handle.

    Bottom line we will be lucky to get to .500 this year and beyond that who knows.

  10. bigwolf 09/10/2006 at 11:07 PM #

    What is this “Beamer stuff”….does he have ANYTHING to do with Wolfpack football this year???? The Southern Miss. game will show whether this team is together or not. There will not be 55,000 pulling for the Pack and they will have to pull together on their own to get a win. I go to 9-10 games a year and hate that this is not one of the road games we chose to attend (Clemson, Holes and Maryland are on MY ROAD schedule). The team will have to put Akron in the past and move forward….

  11. Wolfpack4ever 09/10/2006 at 11:12 PM #

    The university will hang on to Chuck because Chuck has not committed a “sin” of sufficient magnitude to justify his firing. For some of us failing to win the conference title or go to a major bowl is a cardinal sin but it is not to the university administration. And it should not be.

    We’ve had “vacancies” before in our head coach position. The list of applicants qualified to guarantee national or conference titles has been, to be generous, rather short.

    Chemistry is spoken of often in sports, an intangible difference that carries the day. What’s missing here, the presence of which would make a difference, is trust and unity – sort of chemistry between us the supporters of NCSU and the athletic staff we have in place. What we have instead is a justified lynch mob.

    I disagree with my head if not my heart, that seven years is enough time to overcome a lifetime of third and second tier football programs. We have the facilities. One possible missing is stablity. We have chosen Chuck Amato to lead us to prominence in football. Fire him because we are dissatisfied with the way it’s going now and we will be the source of failure to attrack the best for years to come. Stability is important now as a key to the future.

    If NCSU ist to have the chance of a snowball in hell of achieving excellence in football, we had best start demonstrating to the bright prospects of tomorrow that we know how to treat our coaches today. We need to look beyond the immediate record and start to demonstrate we are a quality fan base for a coach to covet.

    Hold Coach Amato to account. He’s big enough to take it. Screaming for his head because he looked bad losing to a good Akron team in not holding him to account. Got criticism of the job he is doing as coach, let’s hear it. Personal attacks and the same old crap week after week about how this team is doomed to failure for this reason and that reason is BORING.

    I got ideas galore about what we ought to do on offense. I’m not obsessed with the notion that because I think think it then it must be the truth and the team is doomed to lose every game if the coaches don’t rush out and execute my notions.

  12. WestCoast 09/11/2006 at 1:04 AM #

    Pat Hill from Fresno State sure would turn some heads in the ACC. He doesn’t get the talent at Fresno, but is in every game no matter who they play. With the talent he could get at State….you never know.

  13. Astral Rain 09/11/2006 at 1:41 AM #

    “You know, this program pretty much is in the dumper, the studs I recruit don’t do squat on Saturdays, but we’re doing everything in our power to change that�

    Such a line is not going to help you win games in the future that year. Blaming your players is something Sendek would do.

    Personally, I’m not going to call for Amato’s head until after the season- I had a high opinion of Akron before the game, so I wasn’t shocked at State losing. I still think Akron will end up ranked, with a 10-2 record, so the loss won’t look so bad at the end of the year. I’d say they’re the 4th best team on the schedule this year (behind FSU/BC/Clemson).

    From what I’ve heard, the QB situation will be much better next year, so if State gets to 6 wins this year, I’d have some hope for the future. Recruiting busts at QB will knock any program down a couple of notches- sometimes it just happens (if the QB situation doesn’t improve next year, I would say look for Amato’s head)

  14. WolfRed 09/11/2006 at 1:49 AM #

    Who do we have a good chance of beating for the rest of this year? Unless we improve greatly very, very fast, we are looking at a losing season.

    We have two very good quarterbacks on the team, but one of them cannot play until next year and the other probably is not ready.

    I have no idea what Evans can do, but if Stone has one or two more first halves like this one, we should find out.

  15. dabigdog 09/11/2006 at 2:15 AM #

    The problem is not that State can’t complete a pass. The problem is that since Phillip Rivers left, the teams have had no identity whatsoever. Last year was the worst joke ever. You’ve got a backfield with three really good running backs and what do you do? Take on an offense where you pass 50 or 60 times a game. I absolutely could not believe that Chuck Amato wanted to bring in a version of the old ‘Chuck and Duck’ offense. That whole thing got dropped four games in and all of the sudden, running the ball became important again.

    The problem State has right now is a coaching staff that doesn’t understand how to make the most of its talents. The problem is a coaching staff that can’t score when it’s at the Carolina 2 right before half. The problem is a coaching staff that has lost the faith of a great number of high school coaches in North Carolina.

    I know what I’ve heard and I know what I’ve seen and it hasn’t been good.

  16. Astral Rain 09/11/2006 at 4:34 AM #

    Games NCSU should be favored in:
    So Miss
    UNC
    ECU
    Maryland

    Wake and Virginia I see as a slight underdog, GT a moderate underdog
    FSU,BC,Clemson Heavy Underdogs

    6 wins is doable, a lot of these teams we’re playing have huge problems, as big as the ones here, or worse.

  17. class of 74 09/11/2006 at 6:28 AM #

    Let’s say Amato is a salesman for your company and you look at his record. He started out with three good years and then somehow the last three his performance is not up to par. All the while you’ve given him better pay and benefits. You’ve done everything you could to make him successful and yet the trendline is pointed downward. One year of disappointment that’s to be expected from time to time but three in a row?

    Now, those of you who say we should shut up and blindly support this man I ask. If he was your employee would not the thought cross your minds to terminate this guy? If the thought doesn’t cross your minds I just hope you are my competitors in business.

  18. vtpackfan 09/11/2006 at 7:55 AM #

    “Stability is important now as a key to the future.”
    Normally I wouldn’t but this kind of thinking, but take a look around you and tell me if you see the same trend going on that I do. Every head coach thats not named O’Brien,Beamer or (Bobby) Bowden is on the hot seat (Dook should be settled as well. The forest from the trees saying comes into play if you want to see a forest fire. Consider-

    (some like it hot…)
    The Fridge @ UMd., Bunt Cake @ UNC, and the Gail wind that blows @ GT
    The Croaker @ UM

    (Second guessing hiring a relative)
    Chucky @ State, Groh @ UVa, (Fridge @ UMd. fits this kitchen as well)

    (The Starsky syndrome)
    Bowden @ Clemson, Bow down as OC @ FSU

    Will we see a fire that burns down the ACC coaching Forest, and if so will it go fast or smolder. Our Chucky will be right in its path for sure and so that is why I found the comments above about stability so interesting. There is plenty of fuel on the ground and it all has to do with those mysterious winds now.

  19. Wulfpack 09/11/2006 at 8:24 AM #

    Astral Rain,

    Are you nuts? Do you honestly think this team can win a game? I attended the App State game and it was unbearable to watch. I watched the Akron game and cringed at the majority of the snaps. So Akron ‘may’ end up ranked. So what? What does that mean for us? Do we have a shot in hell against the majority of the teams on our schedule?

    And bigwolf, I’ve been behind Chuck’s Pack for his entire tenure. I have turned against him because he’s been letting us down time after time these last few years, all the while telling us how it’s going to change. Well it better change fast. This may well be his worse team yet.

  20. packpigskinfan23 09/11/2006 at 9:12 AM #

    WulfPack~ and you havent let your team and your coaches down by acting like a TarHole by whining about a tough lose like the one to Akron?!?!?! If watching your team play makes your “cring” or is “unbearable to watch” THEN DONT. Akron was a good team that a lot of you underestimated. They probably will be ranked by the end of the year… something we would never have even thought about our own team at the beginning of the year.

    “we had best start demonstrating to the bright prospects of tomorrow that we know how to treat our coaches today.” VERY true!!! why would a top ranked player coming out of highschool want to be on ANY of our teams after seeing the way we treat our coaches?!?! even after the way some people treated Julius Hodge his senior year!!!

    we have the ability to win every single one of those games left on our schedule if our defense plays like they did against App St, and our offense plays like it did in the second half against Akron.

  21. redfred2 09/11/2006 at 9:20 AM #

    Wulf

    Just wait until next year, we have some recruits…

    There is a strange and VERY noticable flip flop in your evalutions of different the NC State coaches.

    We all know how NCAA basketball tournament appearances we’ve been in recently. Boy do we ever!!! Now just how many bowl games have we been involved in recently?

    You say that you are let down over football. But you were in heaven over comparable results in basketball. Just substitute FSU, and UM in football, for Duke and Carolina in basketball, and then tell me how you expect so much more out of Amato then you did for a decade in the other sport.

    I hate the loss to Akron and the win against Appalachian was nothing to write home about, but I saw basketball players giving up and quitting with plenty of time still on the clock because of a proven history of nothing coaching in the later stages of games. The decision making may not be any better in football, but it’s no worse, and I have never seen a Chuck Amato coached kid hang his head and give up before the final whistle sounds.

  22. Wulfpack 09/11/2006 at 9:26 AM #

    ^Appalachian State is a I-AA program. Our defense had better play well against an inferior opponent.

    I will cheer for the Wolfpack through and through. And I will also hold our coaching staff accountable when the product on the field falls well short of my expectations. And yes, I do have expecations. I expect to see some sort of improvement. Something. Anything. I’m so tired of “waiting until next year”.

  23. Wulfpack 09/11/2006 at 9:35 AM #

    Red, good to hear from you. I never thought you’d be so quiet after such a performance. We’ve been begging for your wisdom!

    Let’s keep this one focused on football. I wish I had found this blog during the old basketball coaches’ tenure, not the culmination of it. You would be surprised to know I was very critical, very outspoken, of him after many performances. At the same time, taking a look at the whole picture, we were consitently in the upper echelon of the league, consistently beating our peers (just not the ones in the shades of blue). Doesn’t make anything “right”, just barely acceptable. This football program, on the other hand, has not been consistent. It has regressed and, unless something changes fast, will continue to regress IMHO. Of course I am willing to wait out the season and see what happens. But these first 2 games give me absolutely no hope that we can compete with the big boys. I have watched two miserable performances. 3-4 years ago, we crush those same two teams.

  24. packpigskinfan23 09/11/2006 at 9:39 AM #

    your expectations aside, we have always(except for 2 certain years) been JUST a mediocore team. how does that make us superior to ANY ONE?! App St is on the verge of being a I-A talent. please stop trying to dumb down our opponants. it only makes US look worse.

  25. redfred2 09/11/2006 at 11:35 AM #

    Wulf

    Agreed, not much to brag in either football, or BASKETBALL, lately.

    But I still love you!

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