Triangle Race To Futility

'06 Football Chuck Amato General NCS Football15

As the football season mercifully winds down, all 3 Triangle football programs are racing towards their place in school history – futility wise, that is. Since Duke, UNC and NC State all play at least one game against each other in the next 2 weeks (and for Duke and UNC, 2 games), someone is going to fall out of this race to history. But for the “winner” – a spot in the all-time record book could easily be within grasp.

Let’s start with NC State. Luckily for Coach Amato, there was enough early October magic to prevent a finish with double digit losses, which would have been the first in NC State football history. The previous records for most losses in a season is 9, achieved in 1953 (1-9) and 1959 (1-9). Amato’s team still has a shot to tie the school record for most losses, if they fail to close deal against both UNC and ECU.

Now, on to UNC. Oh what glories could be in store for Coach Bunting and his place in the great history that is Tarheel football. UNC has had 3 double digit loss seasons in its history. Oddly enough, demi-god Mack Brown owns 2 of those, 1-10 in 1988 and 1-10 again in 1989. Bunting owns the other, finishing 2-10 in 2003. However, not only can Bunting tie Mack with the most double digit loss seasons in school history with a loss against either NC State or Duke, but he can cement his place in Tarheel lore if he can manage to lose both games. If that happens, UNC would join Duke and ECU as the only programs in the state of NC to achieve an 11 loss season.

Which now brings us to Duke. My, oh my, is there some serious school history just waiting out for Ted Roof and his Blue Devils if they can “take care of business” against GT and UNC. Duke owns 4 double digit loss seasons in school history – 0-11 in 1996, 0-11 in 2000, 2-10 in2002 and 1-10 in 2005. However, a 12 loss season is right there for the Blue Devils’ taking. Duke could become the first program in the state to achieve this magical milestone – 12 losses in one season! Good luck Coach Roof.

And for you Wake fans filled with visions of the Orange Bowl – congrats on a great season – but remember, as of right now, you still have the record within the state for the most double digit loss seasons at 5.

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'06 Football Chuck Amato General NCS Football

15 Responses to Triangle Race To Futility

  1. highstick 11/17/2006 at 1:16 PM #

    This is “off topic” but the link and article is so good, I thought all State fans might enjoy the humor.

    http://www.heraldonline.com/109/story/9112.html

    Read Andrew Dys article before the Tarhole-Winthrop game. Scooter, Skipper or Wellington?????

  2. redfred2 11/17/2006 at 1:43 PM #

    Thanks highstick! That is funny stuff!!! But oh so true, all the way around!!!

    Whether true in reality, or not, that’s the mindset that drives the little powder blues crazy!!! Too bad NCSU runs away from that attitude and is trying to follow them down the path of wine and cheese now days. It used to be the motivation to stomp them up one side, and down the other.

  3. smfrank 11/17/2006 at 2:24 PM #

    Speaking of which… let’s not forget things going on in Florida. They’re not nearly as bad as North Carolina – but who could have imagined Miami & FSU looking at the face of .500 seasons in the same year? Both actually are looking at the same ACC record as NC State.

  4. redfred2 11/17/2006 at 4:14 PM #

    ^Going back to my earlier post about that attitude being a motivational tool, it also once helped to bring in the more determined recruits out there. Those recriuts who weren’t following the majority and who had always wanted to beat the crapola out of the Tar Hewels just to shut them, along the media, up for a change.

  5. db321 11/17/2006 at 4:36 PM #

    Good article by Delong. The majority of State fans have been saying that they want coaches with a lot of fire, like Amato. However, as Delong points out, Amato shows a lot of fire and while doing so can’t keep his cool. If players truly take on their coaches personality, as Delong suggests, then maybe that explains why Amato and his teams have performed so inconsistently and why his players have such a hard time keeping their cool and not committing so many stupid penalties, which has cost them many games over the years.

    Maybe State fans need to ask themselves if personality is so important. Is having a lot of “fire” and showing so much emotion truly important. Afterall, Dean Smith was a pretty damn good coach and he didn’t act like a clown on the sideline. Maybe there’s more to coaching than just “showing a lot of fire”.

  6. redfred2 11/17/2006 at 4:36 PM #

    ^I think V used that motivation a lot, which was something to take pride in back then, when he was recruiting Lowe and Whittenburg, if I’m not mistaken. It may have been Rodney Monroe who said something about it in an interview???

  7. PAPacker 11/17/2006 at 4:42 PM #

    Thanks so much highstick. I remember in third grade when kids were getting construction paper and everybody ran to grab dark blue until they realized UNC was light blue so everybody suddenly switched. (There was plenty of red for me.) How old it gets watching North Carolina’s darling university be swaddled by the adoration of its journalism school graduates. How sad that State’s administration has no memory of how much excellence in its sports can mean to a university’s image. Live forever oh Sidney!

  8. redfred2 11/17/2006 at 4:45 PM #

    I’ve kinda lost all my enthusiam for the old pigskin right now. Who would have ever thunk it just a short while back, the excitement and possibilties are on the hardwood right now, AT NCSU?

    Sorry to derail, I’m gone.

  9. ChemE79a 11/17/2006 at 5:35 PM #

    Redfred – V never recruited Whittenberg and Lowe. Those two, as well as Thurl, were freshman on Sloan’s last team. Sloan recruited all of one of the 74 chanpionship team and the nucleus of the 83 championship team and deserves more credit than he gets for that fact.

  10. redfred2 11/17/2006 at 6:21 PM #

    ChemE79a

    Just checkin to see if anyone was paying attention. 🙂

  11. tractor57 11/17/2006 at 6:27 PM #

    Those who remark about Dean Smith’s cool don’t remember him in his younger days. Without Lefty he would have been the most “firey” coach in the ACC at that time. True, in his later years he toned it down a lot.

  12. legacyman 11/17/2006 at 6:32 PM #

    Dean didn’t have time to rant and rave as he was continuously talking in the ears of the referees….telling them which call to make.

  13. Elrod 11/17/2006 at 8:58 PM #

    Funny thing about coach’s bench reputations. An old, long-time ACC referee spoke about it this way: When talking about the subject in an informal group, he asked the group, “Who do you think is the referees’ most favorite coach to call a game for?” Lefty Driesell, because when he got on the referees, he usually had an arguable point. The majority of his vocal demonstrations were to his players. Then he asked the group, “Who do you think is the referees’ least favorite coach to call a game for?” Dean Smith, because all he did was curse the referees as they passed by. He did not do it demonstratively so as to not call visual attention to himself, but he continually let the referees have it for no reason except to aggravate / intimidate them.

  14. highstick 11/17/2006 at 10:02 PM #

    I heard a weird rumor tonight, Baddour to get the axe and Bunting will be the new AD. That would really be strange!

  15. redfred2 11/18/2006 at 1:11 PM #

    highstick

    I have heard Bunting speak to the media and in person on a couple of different occassions, he holds his own and comes off pretty well.

    I know it’s hard for all of us, but try to break free of the Raleigh syndrome, sometimes change is good.

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