Weird Blog Post on WRAL.com

WRAL.com is starting to venture into different waters. It holds the rights to NC State broadcasts and marketing, and it has also started a sports radio station. So it is weird to see poorly written articles slamming the Wolfpack.

The problems that State has are surely one of talent and depth but c’mon if Stanford can beat USC, can’t State hang with ECU? Tom O’Brien certainly knew what he was in store for when he came to State but this? I don’t buy it. He couldn’t have thought that this rebuilding project could be so tough. He’d never admit it but these are indeed tough times for a football fandom who never envisioned this at the beginning of the decade. These were supposed to be the “contention years” as Chancellor Fox once said. The only contention lately has been for worst program not only in the ACC but in the state of North Carolina.

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'07 Football General Media

92 Responses to Weird Blog Post on WRAL.com

  1. RabidWolf 10/18/2007 at 8:56 PM #

    noah Says:

    “did anyone else see Adrian Wilson’s hit on Steve Smith this past Sunday?”

    How about Wilson walking down D’angelo Williams?

    That just shows what consistant conditioning will do for you, not to mention Wilson is an absolute FREAK! I miss him almost as much as I miss PR!

  2. choppack1 10/18/2007 at 9:22 PM #

    “I think that this is a symptom and not the real problem. State has two real problems…..the defense is bad and the offense is much, much worse.

    Everything else is merely ways to document the real problems……TO margin, TD/INT, sacks, sacks allowed, points scored (for and against), rushing yardage (gained and allowed), etc. Alll of these stats tell the same story.

    You don’t have to like the story and you don’t have to like the way they are ending (this year and probably next)…..but it is silly to pick one stat and say: “If we could just change that….”

    I didn’t say “if we could only change one thing” – what I said was that I expected to see some progress in this area – because I believe that TO margin is an indication of good execution and good coaching.

    I expected us to struggle on offense – but not as bad. I expected us to struggle on D. I didn’t expect that our TO problem would be worse than it was last year.

    Bottom line – in this first 5 games, I’m not terribly surprised at our record. I thought our guys would do a better job of taking care of football. That’s all – I didn’t say there’d be a difference in the records. The only thing a change in the TO would show is that we’re making some progress as a football program on the field.

    Thankfully the season isn’t over yet. I hope I see some kind of improvement. Keep in mind, this doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll win another game.

  3. StateFans 10/18/2007 at 11:18 PM #

    technical test, nothing to see here, move along.

  4. VaWolf82 10/18/2007 at 11:40 PM #

    Bottom line – in this first 5 games, I’m not terribly surprised at our record. I thought our guys would do a better job of taking care of football. That’s all

    I guess that I’m just not following your logic. As soon as no one could beat out DE at QB….then it was obvious that QB play would be a major weakness of this team (just like it has for far too long). If you are not suprised at the record, then you probably shared my opinion of the QB pos’n.

    Once I arrived at this point, then it’s hard for me to be surprised at any of the horrible offensive stats…including TOs.

  5. noah 10/19/2007 at 12:06 AM #

    Hey look, the counters work!

    USF…not #2 anymore.

    BC…is.

  6. highstick 10/19/2007 at 12:38 AM #

    Not that it’s likely to happen, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to cap this nasty season off by beating Butchy and his Tarholes! It might all be worth the torment!

  7. old_pcorone 10/19/2007 at 3:07 AM #

    Considering that the N&O/WRAL people sleep with powder blue pijamas I’m not surprised at all.

    It is really sad that WRAL got the rights for Wolfpack sports. It maybe a good $$$$ for NC State but for me it was like giving Dracula the Blood bank… WPTF guys were far more commited.

  8. PacknSack 10/19/2007 at 3:16 AM #

    We should go ahead and draft two stories for the Carolina game. Assume the final score is the same — say 24-22, with a late 2-point conversion denied to preserve victory — how would they read the next morning? Please, share in all the hyperbole you can muster.

    State wins:
    N.C. State salvaged a small part of its worst season in more than two decades with a 24-22 victory over North Carolina on Saturday.
    The Tar Heels scored in the closing seconds, but their two-point conversion attempt came up short.
    Carolina dominated almost every facet of the game, but the Wolfpack kept it close with a couple big plays … et cetera.

    Carolina wins:
    The future of North Carolina’s football program continues to look brighter with each passing week after the Tar Heels stopped N.C. State on a late 2-point conversion to beat the woeful Wolfpack 24-22 on Saturday.
    First-year coach Butch Davis has breathed new life into the floundering Tar Heels program, and the team is already thinking big for next season despite still having games left this season.
    Carolina dominated the game, but the Wolfpack kept it close with a couple big plays … et cetera.

  9. Par Shooter 10/19/2007 at 9:04 AM #

    VaWolf,
    I see your point about root causes, but do you honestly think it would be unrealitic to expect to be better than dead freaking last in TO margin? Being the worst in the country in anything goes deeper than not enough players, IMO. Do we not have enough talent to at least be in the 10th percentile?

    I think what I find the most frustrating is our inability to cause any TO’s at all, which is a carryover from the Amato days. I recall that the rationalization of Archer’s putrid yardage stats at UK was that they forced so many TO’s as a function of his scheme. It makes some sense in theory but we certainly have not seen it in practice at all. I guess we have to hope that when he “gets his guys” that we’ll produce some TO’s.

  10. VaWolf82 10/19/2007 at 9:28 AM #

    do you honestly think it would be unrealitic to expect to be better than dead freaking last in TO margin?

    Have you looked at all of the national rankings for State?

    Rushing Offense……106
    Passing Offense…….70
    Total Offense……….105
    Scoring Offense……106
    Passing Efficiency…114
    Sacks Allowed………98
    Turnover Margin…..119

    Without even watching a single second of any of State’s games, you could quickly categorize State’s offense……wretched.

    Given this undeniable sad state of affairs, I just don’t understand why people are obsessing over TO margin. It’s simply one of many ways to demonstrate just how bad State’s offense is.

  11. VaWolf82 10/19/2007 at 9:36 AM #

    Being the worst in the country in anything goes deeper than not enough players, IMO.

    And this conclusion ignores the success that TOB had at BC while at the same time ignoring the fact that the 2007 team is the direct result of a 3-9 team that lost more talent than was added. Blaming any part of this horrible year on the coaching staff is simply not logical (With the exception of the decision to go for 4th and 6 against UCF.)

    You will not convince me that this year proves anything more than how poorly Amato recruited QBs and OL during his tenure. (And I was a big Amato supporter until the last several games of 2006.) For example, therre is no evidence existing today that Amato EVER recruited an ACC-quality QB. He recruited some highly ranked high school QB’s…..but so far, none of proven capable of stepping up to the next level.

  12. noah 10/19/2007 at 9:53 AM #

    “Given this undeniable sad state of affairs, I just don’t understand why people are obsessing over TO margin. It’s simply one of many ways to demonstrate just how bad State’s offense is.”

    As several of us have said…it’s polishing the brass on the Titanic.

  13. noah 10/19/2007 at 10:00 AM #

    BTW, in case none of you have heard…Julian Willams, out with a sprained knee according to the official injury report.

    Lemme go ahead and say it for everyone:

    “You gotta be f—in’ kiddin’ me!”

  14. primacyone 10/19/2007 at 11:09 AM #

    This is a post from James Henderson at Pack Pride on the Pack Pride forums. I thought it was worth quoting on here. Shout out to Mr. O as well.

    “This is a list that Mr. O has done a great job putting together and I believe it is accurate. Listed are the current scholarship players. Walk-ons have not been listed as O’Brien mentioned at a previous press conference that he hasn’t made decisions on walk-ons regarding scholarships, but still a gauge of recruited scholarship players is a better idea of the state of the program. When you’re down to 66 healthy scholarship players, that isn’t good folks.

    I just thought it was interesting because when I was watching the USC-UNC game much was being made of the fact that UNC had 42 of 84 scholarship players who were freshmen. I knew NC State had been hit by attrition and injuries, but I didn’t know it was this bad. 72 scholarship players is bad, but having just 65 available is really tough, especially when nearly 30 are freshmen.

    1 Barnes, Thomas LB Fr.
    2 Bryan, George TE Fr.
    3 Byers, Justin DB Fr.
    4 Cole, Audie LB Fr.
    5 Crawford, Wayne DL Fr.
    6 Golder, Jr., Mike OL Fr. — INJURED
    7 Howard, Steven WR Fr.
    8 Kuhn, Markus DL Fr.
    9 Lawson, Henry OL Fr.
    10 Rieskamp, Jeff DL Fr.
    11 Roberts, Desmond OL Fr.
    12 Simmons, Jimmaul S Fr.
    13 Smith, Jay WR Fr.
    14 Spencer, Owen WR Fr.
    15 Sweezy, J.R. DL Fr.
    16 Underwood, Curtis RB Fr.
    17 Vermiglio, Jake OL Fr.
    18 Wilson, Russell QB Fr.
    19 Augustin, Audi DL RFr.
    20 Burke, Justin QB RFr.
    21 Czajkowski, Josh PK RFr.
    22 Davis, Darrell WR RFr.
    23 Gregory, Gary OL RFr.
    24 Hickman, Cedric LB RFr.
    25 Irving, Nate LB RFr.
    26 Morgan, DeAndre DB RFr.
    27 Phillips, Rashad TE RFr. — INJURED
    28 Walker, Javon DB RFr.
    29 Williams, Jarvis WR RFr.
    30 Ware, John LB RFr.
    31 Bowens, Donald WR So.
    32 Ruiz, Jeff P So.
    33 Barbee, Andy OL RSo.
    34 Beck, Harrison QB RSo.
    35 Cash, Alan-Michael DL RSo.
    36 Eugene, Jamelle RB RSo.
    37 Kushner, Matt TE RSo.
    38 Larsen, Ted DL RSo.
    40 McCuller, Jeraill OL RSo.
    41 Michel, Ray LB RSo.
    42 Williams, Julian OL RSo. — INJURED
    43 Young, Willie DL RSo.
    44 Baker, Toney RB RSo. — INJURED
    45 RJ, Armstrong TE Jr.
    46 Brown, Andre RB Jr. — INJURED
    47 Crouch, Curtis OL Jr.
    48 Holmes, Antoine DL Jr
    49 Bedics, John DL RJr.
    50 Evans, Daniel QB RJr.
    51 Gray, Jeremy DB RJr.
    52 Morgan, DaJuan S RJr.
    53 Neal, J.C. CB Jr.
    54 Willis, Keith RJr. — REDSHIRTING
    55 Hill, Anthony TE RJr. — INJURED
    56 Blackman, Darrell WR Sr.
    57 Dunlap, John WR Sr.
    58 Pressley, DeMario DL Sr.
    59 Scott, Miguel S Sr.
    60 Bedics, Patrick RB RSr.
    61 Brown, Martrel DL RSr.
    62 Dervil, Guerlin LB RSr.
    63 Heppe, Kalani OL RSr.
    64 Jones, Ernest LB RSr.
    65 Kline, Garret OL RSr.
    66 Martin, II, James LB RSr.
    67 Ojo, Yomi OL RSr.
    68 Rumph, LeRue LB RSr.
    69 Stone, Marcus TE RSr.
    70 Sutton III, Jimmie DB RSr.
    71 Wright, Littleton DL RSr.
    72 Holloman, Phillip DB RGr.
    *72 Lathan, Luke OL RSr (moved from soph.)

    6 players out likely for the year with injuries; 1 redshirting
    18 Srs
    11 Jrs
    13 sophmores
    30 freshmen”

  15. VaWolf82 10/19/2007 at 12:57 PM #
  16. primacyone 10/19/2007 at 1:44 PM #

    ^I had remembered that, but could not exactly remember the context, etc., and did not take the time to go back and look. At the spur of the moment this morning, I thought the above must be something new. Now after taking the time to look back I see Pack Pride just copied everything including the context from that thread!!!!

  17. VaWolf82 10/19/2007 at 1:52 PM #

    I see Pack Pride just copied everything including the context from that thread!!!!

    Not exactly. Mr O gave his roster to JH. Based on some comments Mr O had made, I know that he had done the large majority of his work (maybe even all), before I posted the roster of SFN.

    The main point is that people need to see the many issues that exist on State’s FB team….and that the road to recovery may not be quick.

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