Weak Florist And Da Big Head

General75

What a difference two weeks makes.

After the Southern Miss debacle most of us were writing off the team and slitting our collective football throats. Now we ride high after the team pulls itself together for two huge victories.

And we should be worried sick about the Wake Forest game this weekend.

We’ve been here before, you see. The Pack gets a huge victory – or victories- as the underdog (in fact, we’re the only team in the country to knock off two ranked teams while unranked). Then it falls flat against an opponent supposedly far inferior to the Goliath it whipped like a pizened dog the previous week.

I know, I know. There are cases where this hasn’t happened. But the trend is too obvious to ignore. It’s doubly worrisome when the upcoming game involves the Florists.

Yeah, the Florists haven’t won in Carter-Finley since, well, forever. But in 2004 they nearly did. And as for away games, as if last year’s debacle wasn’t enough, recall the 2003 Winston-Salem horror: shocked Pack fans filled that high school stadium at Wake and watched the Florists dismantle our nationally ranked team. Trust me: suffering the lisp-ridden taunts (“Go Wake THAWEST! State THHHUCKS!”) of Florist fans after that game was absolutely no fun.

No, no. The Florist fan base may have large numbers of those Southern small-town rich kids who take piano lessons and are said to have “tendencies.� The Florist football team, though, is for real. And for State to have any pretensions of success this season, the Florists are one of the teams Chuck Amato’s boys simply must thrash and thrash soundly.

Now on paper, they should do so. The odds-makers are already spouting their nonsense and making us six point favorites. But – cliché alert – the games aren’t played on paper. That’s particularly the case with the Florists; paper football games don’t factor in the absolutely greatest danger facing State, fan and player, as I write this: Da Big Head.

We went to Weak in 2003 with Da Big Head and were beaten senseless. We invited the Florists to Carter-Finely in 2004 with Da Big Head, and had to take it to overtime after being down by 14 points. Even last year, with the Jay Davis saga winding to its agonizing end, Da Big Head chirped subconsciously: good God, I know we stink, but these are the Florists. Come on.

Haven’t you, like me, seen signs that post-FSU-win “Da Big Head” – the feeling that we “shouldn’t lose” to a team like Wake – begins to return? And that, my friends, is a recipe for disaster. We as fans and the players themselves must regard this game with utter seriousness. Win and we are on track to have a special season as well as breaking the Letdown Curse that dogs Wolfpack football like Inspector Javert. Lose and it’s another year of “Go Wake FOWEST! State THUUCKS!â€? Then, they’ll make tractor noises.

Look at is this way: When a guy whose whole contribution (and what a kilderkin it is) to this site is making jokes tells you it’s time to be serious, it probably is. It’s like a leprechaun putting down his beer, staring you in the eye, and saying it’s time to stop all that assing around and pay attention.

Lose Da Big Head. Take this seriously. And let’s give those presumptuous SOB Florists such a beating that they walk from the field knowing that their pretensions of gridiron glory are just that.

General

75 Responses to Weak Florist And Da Big Head

  1. cfpack03 10/09/2006 at 3:24 PM #

    Big head syndrome is completely separate from aiming high. BHS is when ego interferes with performance. These kids don’t need to their heads filled with Peach Bowl dreams or to hear how great they are. They need to hear that they still have A LOT to prove and that every single week they’re going to face a tough opponent worthy of knocking them off their high horse.

  2. BoKnowsNCS71 10/09/2006 at 3:27 PM #

    For us — every game is a big game this year.

  3. WolfRed 10/09/2006 at 3:39 PM #

    MOC got the first win over FS then lost to Baylor.
    Enough said.

  4. Pack Laddie 10/09/2006 at 3:46 PM #

    I went to that Baylor game. It was the hottest football game I think I have ever been to. It was an 11:00 Waco time kickoff and it was pushing 100. We just mailed in the first half. Rallied in the second but a couple of Kent Passingham missed FGs helped seal the loss.

    This is no gimme Saturday. Better be ready to play.

  5. RAWFS 10/09/2006 at 3:54 PM #

    We can win — or lose — any game left on our schedule.

    Confidence is great, but cockiness is not. Hopefully, the team will continue to reflect the blue-collar humility it seems to have shown since SMU handed them their rear ends in Hattiesburg. Somehow, I think Evans is the guy to do it.

  6. Cardiff Giant 10/09/2006 at 4:28 PM #

    ^^ You went to that game, huh?

    I watched it at Northside Sports Bar in Asheville. I was pretty much the only person in the place. Baylor had some fullback I’d never heard of before or since who absolutely tore the Pack defense up. We looked absolutely hapless against that kid.

  7. redfred2 10/09/2006 at 4:28 PM #

    RAWFS

    I do not want to see cockiness, I want to see confidence.

    What I get tired of seeing is when the opposing team is moving and breaking off long runs or passes left and right, then when the D stops them one time, a single player starts acting like he is God’s gift to football. It is especially irritating when the team is behind on the scoreboard. Same goes for the offense. Individual celebrations when the team is struggling are totally stupid. They aren’t any more attractive when the team is up either.

    Confidence is when you pound someone into the ground and then just walk away, like it’s the routine. Just play the game.

  8. redfred2 10/09/2006 at 4:48 PM #

    “Let’s not get our expectations so high that we end up disappointed in a good season.”

    Hell, with the BC and FSU wins, they’ve already exceeded all of my expectations for the season. This is time to have fun and let ’em play. I’m thinking they can get it done if they stay focused and play up to their potential of late. I’m just enjoying the moment and hoping for more.

  9. Cardiff Giant 10/09/2006 at 5:08 PM #

    ^^ Absolutely. I am sick and tired of seeing players go through this classless “dance routine” every time they do – precisely what they are put on the field to do. It’s as if I danced in the middle of Fayetteville Street every time I filed a motion to dismiss.

  10. toph23 10/09/2006 at 5:13 PM #

    [Trust me: suffering the lisp-ridden taunts (“Go Wake THAWEST! State THHHUCKS!�) of Florist fans after that game was absolutely no fun.

    No, no. The Florist fan base may have large numbers of those Southern small-town rich kids who take piano lessons and are said to have “tendencies.� ]

    Trust me. With State being as big a school as it is, there are tens of thousands of gay alumni who love State football and really enjoy your site. Way to slap us in the face.

  11. NCSUDude17 10/09/2006 at 5:16 PM #

    I am always worried about playing Wake, I would rather play FSU than Wake. Hopefully our boys get it done.

  12. wayofthemaster 10/09/2006 at 5:46 PM #

    SORRY! I know this is off the subject, BUT… can we please have a scoop on the Chris Wright news conference. Anticipation is killing me!

  13. Cardiff Giant 10/09/2006 at 5:50 PM #

    ^^^ Which assumes, of course, that only gays act feminine and lisp. Is that your claim (see Brady, Cindy)?

    Simmer down, Francis.

  14. redfred2 10/09/2006 at 5:53 PM #

    Cardiff

    If this team is not jacked up, playing harder than ever before, and on an unbelievable high after the last two great wins, then something is fundamentally wrong with the philosophy.

    No way they can come out flat mentally. ??? I just hope they don’t over do it and burn themselves out physically at practices this week.

  15. Cardiff Giant 10/09/2006 at 6:06 PM #

    ^ I hope not, but we have seen it too many times before. I hope there’s a TCB attitude afoot this week.

  16. packpigskinfan23 10/09/2006 at 6:22 PM #

    1)nothing wrong with a little trash talking between plays… but doing a jig after a talkle is absurd. Its like celebrating because as a McDonalds worker you got the order right… ITS WHAT YOUR THERE FOR- JUST DO IT, DAMN IT!!!!

    2)PLEASE no Peach Bowl talk!!!!

    3)We need to realize that this game is going to be a tough one… we as a fan base need to be as loud as possible! I GOT A TICKET!!!! so I will be there and completly without voice afterwards…

    4)I like the way Evans handled the interviews at the end of the FSU game. Admits that it was an incredible game, but they HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN against Wake Forest…

  17. Woof Wolf 10/09/2006 at 6:51 PM #

    You can’t win around here. I wrote the “Peach Bowl” post to the people who have been talking about getting to the conference championship game. I said in the post we needed to lower our expectations. I ended by saying , or at least trying to say, that getting to the PB would be an overachieving fantastic season.

    Half of you get after me for not aiming for the top and the other half misinterpret what I was trying to say and shoot at me for aiming too high.

    I guess that why this place is so much fun.

  18. packpigskinfan23 10/09/2006 at 6:59 PM #

    Woof Wolf… it wasnt you I was directing that comment to…

  19. Woof Wolf 10/09/2006 at 7:17 PM #

    A couple of people had earlier. I don’t have a problem with people disagreeing and talking shots. That’s what this place is all about.

    We take what we already know or think we know and add all the information we get here. Then we discuss it, cuss it and sometime some people get passionate about it. It’s informatove and fun or I wouldn’t be here.

  20. wufpaxno1 10/09/2006 at 7:19 PM #

    The satire’ behind the “Weak Florist� label is not lost on me but before we start to judge our conference brethren from the West we need to take a closer look at their prospective, and to do that we need to take a look inside ourselves.

    Friday morning I was feeling that sense of pride that in recent years seems only to have surfaced after the Pack has played F.S.U. We never seemed to achieve that feeling following games with lesser opponents such as UNC and, dare I say it, Wake Forest. So I wandered into a Florida State football blog just to see what they were saying about our most recent conquest of their vaunted gridiron warriors. What I read slapped me in the face. They had the audacity to title the blog “Another loss to a Sorry A$$ team!� and followed that up with “The funny thing is that State Fan’s probably think they just won a big game!� There was a total disrespect for a program that has beaten them the past two years, 4 of the last 6, and 5 of the last 9 meetings; a fact of which, after registering and logging in (Anonymously of course) to their nasty little vine, I politely proceeded to remind them.

    I was so upset that I even added: “That after our recent record against FSU, beating them was nothing big and that it had become somewhat routine.� That still did not feel like quite enough so I also added, with all due respect, that “Florida State had become NC State’s BEE-Yatch, a fact that they might as well accept and move on!� Well those Semi-Nole fans have no sense of humor and promptly responded by threatening to ban me from the blog.

    Move forward one week and put the words NC State where the words Florida State were, and the words Wake Forest where the words NC State where and I bet you will have a pretty good sense of where the Deacon fans are coming from. Wake Fan (and their team) see’s us as arrogant and disrespectful of their program. Whether this is true or not, it is how they see us and with this vision they have absolutely no problem getting motivated for us.

    They will come in here unintimidated, focused, and extremely well prepared; just as we have done when facing Florida State for the past several years. But what makes Wake Forest so dangerous is that we are tailor made for what they do. This team is built around the idea of taking NC State’s biggest advantage and turning it squarely against us. They will try too negating our speed with cut blocking and misdirection, luring us into over pursuing, and taking advantage of our aggressiveness. Don’t be fooled for one minute by the normal appearance of their offence last week, a leopard does not change its spots. They only adapted based upon injuries to key offensive players, but their replacements have had time to adapt and last week got a taste of the speed that they will see this week.

    To be successful the defensive line must occupy all of the offensive line, if you let yourself be sucked in they will cut block you, and the line backers must stay at home and make the stops, if you get caught chasing the ball you will over pursue and the play will end up behind you going the other direction.

    The difference between past Pack teams and this one is discipline and balance. We can and will beat Wake Forest if we remain disciplined, stay with our areas of responsibility, and remain balanced in our attack. I think that the humbling early defeats will work to our ultimate advantage and that the Pack will remain focused and grounded for the remainder of the year. The only thing that worries me now is injuries. But that is a subject for another novel.

  21. Wolfpack4ever 10/09/2006 at 8:36 PM #

    ^ Sunday night Chuck talked about gap responsibility and discipline, citing Wake’s misdirection as being as effective as the option.

    The pass action run that we used out of the shotgun gave FSU fits and I hope the same thing for Wake. Trestman’s O is well suited for both running and passing. Our pass-action run is the opposite of the play action pass with the same effect. Very well designed O for our outstanding running backs.

  22. Cardiff Giant 10/09/2006 at 9:06 PM #

    One of the things that drove me absolutely nuts about the 2003 loss is that it was so damned unneccessary. Wake could not stop Philip. At all. And yet a certain offensive coordinator insisted that we try to “establish a running game” – when we were down over 20 points.

    Somebody – Purdue – beat Wake the next week by just throwing on them.

    I still get mad when I think about that game.

  23. bTHEredterror 10/09/2006 at 9:30 PM #

    I’m scared of this game as long as Grobe as the coach. He’ll get them up for it, no matter what. If we play it right though, strike deep early to steal points, and then run heavily with the lead they’ll have no answer. They shouldn’t (there’s that word) be able to put up more than 13-17 points. I feel Trestman is comfortable with Evans, and will likely open the playbook again. Wake likes to gamble with the zone blitz, so this is the game where Evans should be able to audible IN to some big plays, rather than out of bad ones, but only if Trestman gives him that green light.
    The real matchup concern for me is our run defense. This is the best running team we’ve played and we have given yards on the run in every game. This could go like the USM game real easy if the D isn’t focused. I want to see our LB’s in the backfield, and they will have to make plays, due to cut blocks (though not quite as much as in the past) on the line. I like our odds with the young QB throwing with our corners on their receivers. We held the BC and FSU receivers in check, and Wake isn’t blessed with a lot of outside speed beyond Idlette, who can be managed. Our safeties will be able to roam and support against the run. Look for some big hits early on fills against that trade sweep they try to hit off tackle. I honestly believe Davis, and the young-uns will handle their pass-catchers even on play-action.

    I rule out a heartbreak hangover for the Geacs, just because its us on the menu next morning. But I expect the way things went for both teams last week, if things do go badly and we are close at the end, we’ll know we can win it. Meanwhile they’ll be as nervous as A-rod on the D-Train.

  24. Woof Wolf 10/09/2006 at 9:47 PM #

    I loved the game plan Thursday night. The three razzle dazzle plays in a row, I thought were a little bit much. But if any of them had worked…

    After that we were almost perfect. The twenty yard fade, let the receiver go up and get it routes, were the difference in the game. If we keep running, I won’t say wide open, but an agressive passing game, I think we can have a good season. There is going to be an occasional interception, but the yards we gain and the way it opens up the running game is well worth the downside.

    If Daniel and the receivers play like they did Thursday, there is not going to be much of a downside.

    There have been several questions about, “How did Daniel fire up the defense?” I agree with the comments about the effectiveness of the offense takes the pressure off the defense and allows them to play their game without worrying that one mistake may cost us the game.

    But I think there is another reason that the defense has been so much better. Tank screwed up in Hattiesburg. It embarassed him. He had to sit out the 1st quarter of the BC game. When he did get in the game, he came in on a mission. He was fantastic. Everyone saw what he was doing and he become the unquestioned leader of the defense. Everyone got involved to the max.

    It carried over into the FSU game. I think the “chemistry” has changed on both sides of the ball. If we can keep it up we can have a very good year.

  25. PackBacker001 10/10/2006 at 9:22 AM #

    A little off topic, but has anyone noticed that the N&O is still featuring the “Hard Out There For A Couch” video? It’s under the heading Most Popular Stories for the last 7 days — but it’s dated September 1st. Give it a rest, already.

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