Wednesday Traveling – TOB’s Return

I’m traveling today. We’ve been very active posting entries on the site over the last week, so please take some time today to scan through all of the entries & conversations that you may have not have had time for. I think the conversations being had here recently have been very insightful.

Real quick — This link will take you to Pack Pride’s webrun that will guide you to some interesting articles in today’s media that focus on Coach O’Brien’s return to Chestnut Hill to face his old team led by a new offensive coordinator.

If you REALLY want to get a relatively fair picture of an educated BC fan’s perspective on TOB then you should click here and do your research Man, it sounds a lot like Herb Sendek’s time in Raleigh. As a Wolfpacker, you HAVE to take advantage of a BC fan who is level-headed and realistic enough to carry on a decent sports conversation; as most of you have experienced on internet message boards there doesn’t seem to be very many of those out there.

At BC, (O’Brien) brought the football program a sense of stability and a degree of success that was not there in the Dan Henning era, which was tainted by a gambling scandal that could have mushroomed into something much bigger if not for a major housecleaning not only in the football offices but the entire athletic department.

In other football news, UNC travels to ECU this weekend in what I term “The Nuclear Bowl”.

Feel free to discuss whatever interests you in our comments section.

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'07 Football General

56 Responses to Wednesday Traveling – TOB’s Return

  1. choppack1 09/05/2007 at 11:32 PM #

    Didn’t TOB himself predict a bowl game?

  2. packwolf90 09/05/2007 at 11:39 PM #

    I odn’t remember him promising a bowl game. I do remember him promising a win over carolina. And to be honest as long as he delivers on that promise we can go 1-11 and i’ll be happy.

    I still think we’ll sneak up on a few teams and maybe push for 5 wins.

  3. wallacepark 09/05/2007 at 11:43 PM #

    TOB said “Our goal is to go to a bowl. That may not happen this year, but that’s our goal.”

  4. bTHEredterror 09/06/2007 at 2:21 AM #

    Sippin on the Raspberry Rush, is yours truly.

    And I reserve the right to watch a few more games before I kick my can home like some might have already. It’s a long season, and I honestly did see improvement from half to half. If these guys have shown anything over the last couple of years, it is capable of beating/losing to anybody. Like anything, you have to take the bad with the good. The only reason I might lower my expectations based on the last week, is the injury to TB. You can’t say “I told you so” unless RB depth was your primary concern, and I saw none of that. TB is the one player I felt was absolutely dependable, if not irreplaceable. AB has the big play capability, but he will lose 5 yards trying to bounce out when a 2-3 yard gain up the gut is still possible. I never had any high hopes that State would be in a BCS bowl, I felt their ceiling was 8-4 and I expected 7-5. If ya missed it, Uva fell flat as well, and FSU and Wake are already behind us in the conference standings. And the team that looked best last saturday, GT, is not on our schedule. UMD, UNC, and Miami all beat up on lesser teams. You may think one game tells you what you’ve got, I’ve learned that to be fallacy.

    I’ll stand by my seven and five prediction, and I won’t care if I’m drastically wrong. As long as I see more of the second half vs. UCF, and less of the first, we’ll be on course and I can stomach the growing pains.

    I want to see more of Beck as the rest of you do. The last two years we’ve been right here, new QB in a desparate situation, and it always seems great for a couple of games. Let’s hope third time is the charm and Beck grows up this season.

    The way the last game ended will likely mean a focus on two-minute drills this week, even though it seems unnecessary, because the memory is fresh. Sometime this year, that will bear fruit.

  5. TNCSU 09/06/2007 at 8:22 AM #

    bTHEredterror,
    Good post. I will agree with you. I’ll stand by my 7-5, too. I think we could easily beat one or two of the teams that I originally didn’t pick us to win. Football is a crazy game, and one or two plays can make a big difference. I look forward to Beck getting his chance to start – that is what he wanted.

  6. BoKnowsNCS71 09/06/2007 at 9:46 AM #

    “Have season win projections changed for anyone after Saturday’s game?”

    After the first half last week and then the second half — I realized I don’t have a clue as to who these guys are and what they can or cannot do.

    Last year they lost the games I thought they would win and won the ones I thought they would lose. This year is just as crazy trying to pin down what the personality and character of this team truly is.

    There is talent there. There is spirit. But there seems to be something that is “between their ears” that is self defeating. Once TOB can hose that cancer out and get their minds right — then we’ll see better performance on the field.

  7. burnbarn 09/06/2007 at 9:53 AM #

    SFN gets the nod on 850 this morning as a fan site he reads..just not the comments section.
    I guess you have arrived?
    I was 4-7.. i still like that right now.. we will win a game we shouldn’t.

  8. lush 09/06/2007 at 9:58 AM #

    well my 9-3 is certainly looking delusional. as well as my prediction of not losing to louisville by 23 at halftime (thats for you cpt crap). hopefully we can build and continue to improve on the 2nd half performance and put the first half behind us for good.

    i dont think bc will get the head start that ucf did, but im scared of the logan/ryan combo. well need to create some easy points off turnovers, and great play from the secondary to win this one

  9. partialqualifier 09/06/2007 at 10:05 AM #

    Well since we are on predictions…..

    Here are mine: We will start 1-5, beating Wofford and losing to BC, Clemson, Louisville, & FSU. What I want is for us to improve every game. After going 1-5, hopefully TOB will have broken down all the bravado and “me-first” attitudes on this team…then we can face the final 6 games…UNC, ECU, Miami, Wake, Maryland, UVA with a chance to win 5 of the 6. Of course we could lose all 6 as well…so maybe we will get 3 or 4 of those and win 4 or 5 games. That would also give us a little momentum going into next year.

    Also let me add this:

    I don’t give a horses a** about anything BC fans say about their coach. Anyone with half a brain can see this guy can coach. He knows what good disciplined football looks like, and he is a program builder. He will not take short cuts, and AT WORSE he will give us something NC State has NEVER had in football…..CONSISTENCY!

    As for his comments after leaving BC:

    He is a marine. If you fire at at a marine….the marine will fire back. Period.

    As for Steve Logan:

    He knows offense. And yes…for one year with the best QB in the ACC he will look damn good and many people will be mocking the TOB days up there. But give him time. As successful as he was at ECU….I cannot find one Pirate fan (and I live around many in Eastern NC who are lifetime Pirate Clubbers) who likes the guy. His head coach in NFL Europe had some issues with the guy…and despite being considered one of the best offenses coaches in NFL Europe no one in the NFL would touch the guy. He used to say on his radio show that the reason he was not a NCAA head coach was because he didnt wanna move out of NC. Um…well…we see that wasnt true. Again…he is great offensive coach…but his is a candle that burns out fast.

  10. noah 09/06/2007 at 10:10 AM #

    I’m on record as saying both…we’ll go 3-9 (I hope we get three wins) and saying that there’s talent on this squad.

    The problem is that the last few teams have been critically flawed. It doesn’t matter how much talent you have at RB and WR if you suck at QB and along the OL.

  11. graywolf 09/06/2007 at 10:34 AM #

    I said from the beginning that UCF would be one of the toughest games we play and they scared me as much as anybody on our schedule.
    Secondly, we need improvement at QB which we might have found but our most important need is OL improvement. We haven’t scored 24 points since when…………
    Its going to take great recruiting and time to change the problems we have with the football program at NC State.

  12. VaWolf82 09/06/2007 at 10:44 AM #

    VA, as one who thought months ago that a winning record wasn’t impossible, I think it’s rather unfair to call folks like that “Koolaid drinkers.”

    There’s a big difference in saying that something is possible (or hoping for the best) and saying that 7-9 wins was likely, a valid prediction, or expectation for this year’s team.

    I’m all for hoping for the best, but some State fans take it to extremes. Here’s another example…..I saw alot of predictions that switching to a zone defense would produce more interceptions. I never saw a single comment on the possibility of blown coverages due to switching defenses. Against UCF I saw alot of blown coverages (that UCF failed to take advantage of), but no interceptions.

  13. Mr O 09/06/2007 at 10:44 AM #

    We have a really difficult schedule. We are likely to be favored in three games the rest of the season – home vs. UNC, home vs. UVA and home vs Wofford.

    Any game against UNC scares me and depending on what happens with UVA the rest of the year(they returned 18 starters from a 5-7 team with a very good defense) we may not be favored in that game either.

    Seriously, there was no reason to predict more than 5 wins prior to last week. I started with 4-8 counting UCF as a win and assuming we would split with UNC and ECU. However that split doesn’t seem as probable because of how those two teams played on Saturday(UNC’s QB is 7th in the country in passing efficiency after one game) and obviously we have already lost to UCF.

    3-9 seems like our most likely result at this point.

    I am going to Boston this weekend and it should be very interesting to see and hear the reactions of BC fans to TOB’s return. I expect to hear a lot of upset people and dislike for our current coach.

    Choppack: You make a great point with Wake winning the ACC last year as showing that about anything is possible at any ACC school(except for maybe Duke). But IMO that is only if ACC football remains mediocre. Wake was absolutely pounded by Va Tech at home last year and there is no way they would have beat them in the title game had Va Tech made it. If the ACC continues without any dominant programs, then anything can happen.

    But it is hard for me to see that happening when you look at the traditions and resources of schools like Miami, FSU, Clemson and Va Tech.

  14. newt 09/06/2007 at 11:03 AM #

    My predictions haven’t changed a bit. I predicted UCF would be close, because they had experience and excellent coaching, but that our superior talent should win out. We came up just short, but totally dominated UCF once we made the change at QB.

  15. noah 09/06/2007 at 11:06 AM #

    I think O’Brien’s point was that you can’t CONSISTENTLY win more than that at BC.

    You can’t CONSISTENTLY win 11 games at Wake Forest. If we had the Gator Bowl squad (was that 2002?) in uniform last year, would we have lost a game?

    We had the misfortune of having our best team in decades during the ACC’s best year in decades.

    Wake the good fortune of having a very good team during a strangely bad year for the ACC.

  16. RickJ 09/06/2007 at 11:48 AM #

    What number of games should NC State expect to win consistently? I would think 8 or 9 would be a terrific accomplishment – about what O’Brien did at BC.

  17. noah 09/06/2007 at 11:53 AM #

    Considering we’ve only won more than nine games in a season ONCE (and had to beat two I-aa teams to do it), I’d agree with you.

  18. TNCSU 09/06/2007 at 12:13 PM #

    ^^^But it is hard for me to see that happening when you look at the traditions and resources of schools like Miami, FSU, Clemson and Va Tech.

    Besides Miami and FSU, which are both very recent, I don’t think we’re talking Alabama, USC, Oklahoma or Notre Dame type football history with these schools. Prior to 1995, Va. Tech had one conference championship in its history – 1963 Southern Conference. They won the Big East 3 times – 1995, 1996, 1999, and won the ACC in 2004 (their first year). Beamer has built a great program, but I’m not sure if I’d consider them a football powerhouse. I know at least in basketball saying that multiple coaches would have had to had success (i.e. Case, Sloan, V) to consider it a dominant program. As far as Clemson, they’ve had successes – a share of a National Title, but we can easily compete and win more than Clemson year in, year out. Same with FSU and Miami. I think TOB saw the potential at N.C. State, and the one loss to UCF in his first game does not dimish that potential at all. I easily think State could become the next Va. Tech 8-10 years from now with TOB at the helm. We will have to wait and see – I optimistic, but realistic.

  19. tvp 09/06/2007 at 12:14 PM #

    noah: plus Wake won virtually every close game it was involved in, which historically is not sustainable from year to year.

    That BC fan posted something else about TOB that was so patently ridiculous I felt compelled to comment:

    http://atleagle.blogspot.com/2007/09/beware-of-motivated-tob.html

  20. Mr O 09/06/2007 at 12:39 PM #

    I have read a lot of that guys stuff. He acts like BC should never lose a game. Every loss is “inexplicable”.

  21. Mr O 09/06/2007 at 12:42 PM #

    TNCS: Agree that Clemson and Va Tech aren’t top tier, but right now Va Tech is the class of the ACC and certainly with the right coach Clemson has the potential. I was just referencing those schools as to why it is unlikely the ACC will ever go through a prolonged period where they have seasons of mediocrity like last year strung together.

  22. TNCSU 09/06/2007 at 12:58 PM #

    Mr. O,
    Agreed – the one thing about the ACC is that just about every team (except Duke) has the ability to “win” the ACC. My point is that there is no clear cut favorite – other than the recent histories of FSU and Miami. There is no USC (Pac-10) or Texas/Oklahoma (Big 12) or Michigan/Ohio State (Big 10). Chalk it up, one of those teams will probably win their conference. The ACC is more evenly balanced – therefore, sometimes called mediocre. I just think TOB and N.C. State have a good chance to break out in the next few years. If we play in a New Year’s Day Bowl game, it will be a first for us, so we definitely have an uphill climb.

  23. choppack1 09/06/2007 at 1:20 PM #

    Mr O – You’re right about that’s the best he can do consistently. But I think that their fans – like ours – weren’t disappointed w/ the consistency. What likely bothered them was the lack of that “special” season – no championships, no BCS bowl games, no conference titles.

    I’ve always thought that what really hurt Sendek (aside from years 2-5) was his inability to win the big game and beat our rivals. I think fans love consistency if that consistency is mixed in w/ a title here and there. The problem w/ Sendek and part of the problem w/ TOB was that there were no titles. One year, he was in position to win the title and his squad was blown out by a mediocre Syracuse team. Last year, if they beat Wake – at Wake – they win their division.

    To repeat – I think that the biggest difference between Sendek and TOB is that there was evidence TOB was the most successful coach in Chestnut in the “integrated” college football era. The same can’t be said for Sendek. Also, it bears repeating that I will be thrilled if TOB can duplicate at NC State what he’s done at BC.

    TN – regarding Clemson – Clemson is a football school – and they are building facilities that will be the equal of ours. I think that Clemson will always have at least a slight advantage over us unless we can start putting 70K in the seats.

  24. partialqualifier 09/06/2007 at 1:48 PM #

    Just a little note:

    I read the above blog from BC Eagle, and it caused me to do some fact searching. I posted it on their page and now I wanted to share it with my fellow wolfpackers. So here we go:

    In the 10 years b4 TOB, BC was 51-62-2 and averaged 22.3ppg.

    In TOB’s 10 years, BC was 76-45 and (that horrible offense) averaged 26.1ppg.

    From 1987-1996 BC had 3 winning seasons!
    From 1997-2006 BC had 8 winning seasons!

    In the entire history of BC football…since 1893…114 years….they have had 8 or more consecutive winning seasons a grand total of 2 times! Once from 1913-1925…and again in the last 8 seasons under TOB.

    Now I am not above coach bashing, but clearly some of these clowns at BC are very misinformed!

  25. TNCSU 09/06/2007 at 1:56 PM #

    I agree, Clemson is a football school, I grew up very near Clemson. However, they haven’t been exactly dominant lately. I do think that we can stay on par with Clemson – even without 70K in the stands – as long as we keep our ~58K filled! I’m not sure I’d say Clemson has an “advantage” over us. Have you ever been to Clemson??? I’ll take Raleigh anyday!! Just kidding, Clemson is a great college town, but that ORANGE — at least their uniforms aren’t as bad as the Bengals!!

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