The “We Lost To Duke” Post Game Entry

'09 Football NC State Tom O'Brien170

Rock Bottom.

It might be time to let Ari Gold buy out the NC State Athletic Department.

You're fired.

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'09 Football NC State Tom O'Brien

170 Responses to The “We Lost To Duke” Post Game Entry

  1. MrPlywood 10/10/2009 at 8:02 PM #

    Damn. The FB coaching staff is making Sid Lowe and Company look good. 49-28 to DOOK is ridiculous.

  2. tmb81 10/10/2009 at 8:03 PM #

    Throw O’Brien out? Well, no one booed his Jiffy Lube commercial when it played on the scoreboard.

  3. b 10/10/2009 at 8:06 PM #

    I was thinking the same thing Plywood, compared to this, the 10th best basketball team in the conference seems a step up.

  4. tuckerdorm1983 10/10/2009 at 8:09 PM #

    TOB is going to lead us into a winning program, as painful as it is, let it be a learning experience. I give high praise to Duke coaching staff to watch the WAKE game and exploit our weak areas. Every team we meet will try the same thing. Get a player into our secondary and watch the fun begin. Watch our OL get smacked down. These will be corrected in time with the right people.

  5. Clarksa 10/10/2009 at 8:15 PM #

    “Throw O’Brien out? Well, no one booed his Jiffy Lube commercial when it played on the scoreboard.”

    We had not lost to Duke yet…wait till the next home game. I have one foot off the TOB wagon and ready to let go…

  6. BJD95 10/10/2009 at 8:20 PM #

    Football usually does take more time to completely turn around. But there’s no question that we are not where we should be in Year Three. This should be a solid 7 or 8 win team. It’s not.

    Add one more program log to the raging inferno that is our fire of athletics incompetence.

    Watching Florida/LSU, I can’t help but be jealous. How cool it must be for your school to play at that level. Instead of, say, getting your ass kicked by Duke.

  7. Wulfpack 10/10/2009 at 8:20 PM #

    But I thought TOB told us the Pitt game was a learning experience? And then the Wake loss? Doesn’t seem to me the team is “getting it”.

    The secondary is just the tip of the iceburg. The entire defense needs revamping. We have linebackers that cannot tackle and are missing assignments. We have a D line that barely laid a finger on Lewis today — and they knew he was passing every play.

    Offensively, we have many issues as well. We cannot run the football. We have receivers that cannot catch and give up on their routes. We need running backs that can hit the hole fast.

    After 3 and a half years, it is no longer ok to say “wait until next year” or “wait until we get the right people in place”. You should know that by now, being an NC State fan. We’ve been burned by that mentality for so long.

    The fact is is that it is the coache’s responsibility to establish some semblance of a program moving forward after 3 and a half years. That isn’t the case. If you won’t admit it, you are blinding yourself to the reality. We just suffered one of the worst losses in Wolfpack history, by a wide margin, at home. And it wasn’t like Duke went on some crazy spurt to build the margin — it was slow, it was deliberate, and it was in your face, and it was all day long. We still haven’t stopped them.

    TOB did some nice things at BC. He hasn’t done them here, and I’m beginning to think that he isn’t the right guy to lead our program. I was frustrated with HOW we played in our marginal win against Pitt. We were worse against Wake. And we were absolutely horrendous today. That’s a month of bad football.

    This was the perfect setup for the breakout year we’ve all been waiting for. The ACC is down, we could win our division with 5 wins, it’s year 3, etc. etc. It ain’t happenin’, not this year anyways. And after a while, you begin to feel that it won’t happen. If he was so good at BC, why in the hell can’t he replicate that success at NC State? Makes no sense. But it’s alarming, at least to me it is.

  8. Rick 10/10/2009 at 8:25 PM #

    The talent excuse is gone as three is no way Duke has more than us.

    We are a bad team and I have lost all faith in TOB. To not only lose to Duke but to do so in such a fashion.

    Thank you little head jed.

  9. BJD95 10/10/2009 at 8:27 PM #

    And Year Three was when TOB broke through to respectability at BC, too. There’s no rational explanation for it, but there’s also no denying the carnage we’ve seen with our own eyes.

  10. gtspack 10/10/2009 at 8:28 PM #

    Lets run TOB off like Herb Sendek, that was a real good move. In case nobody has noticed we are predicted to finish last in basketball in the ACC this year. Herb is the savior @ ASU. If you put Nate in the LB core, those short passes across the middle are interceptions. We have some great players who are OFS and a great recruiting class coming in. OH yea, we have nothing to look forward to in basketball.

  11. ncsufan13 10/10/2009 at 8:32 PM #

    October 10, 2009.
    Postgame Quotes
    Duke vs. NC State
    NC State Head Coach Tom O’Brien

    On the overall message of the game:
    We need to take more responsibility as a team. We were out coached and out played. Duke came out and played very well. Now we just have to work on a lot of things before heading to Boston for our game against Boston College.

    On Duke’s offensive attack:
    Duke came out ready to throw the ball against us. They had a lot of success early. We played three, deep, two-deep, and they shredded us. We have to look at the personnel on the field to find guys that
    will make plays for us, but I still feel we have the right guys out there to make plays for us.

    On Duke’s offense:
    You have to give Duke credit. Their passing game is very sophisticated and they have a guy at quarterback [Thaddeus Lewis] that can handle the offense. We had all kinds of trouble covering guys.

    On the last eight plays without a score:
    That is something we definitely have to figure out. We had chances to make plays and we didn’t. Right now we’re 3-3 and still have a lot to play for. We just have to do what we have to do in the
    second half and turn things around.

    On the troubles in back-to-back weeks between Duke and Wake Forest, particularly with Duke’s 13 third-down conversions: We noticed at halftime that Duke was 7-for-9 in third down conversions at halftime and it just snowballed from there. We had opportunities and just didn’t do it. We’ll head back to the practice field and work on some things and get back on track in the second half.

  12. Rick 10/10/2009 at 8:36 PM #

    I frankly cannot believe anyone would try to excuse this.

    It should not matter if Nate is gone against DUKE!

  13. GAWolf 10/10/2009 at 8:38 PM #

    And no more Herb talk in this thread. This has nothing to do with him. Zilch.

  14. wbnation 10/10/2009 at 8:45 PM #

    TOB seemed lost on how to change this in the post game interview. Basically said he feels that the players should be able to make the plays but if they can’t he doesn’t really have any other options as he is playing his best players. So basically if the guys playing can’t get better soon, this team will be far behind last years team. Its moving backwards and its only year 3.

    From what I have witnessed the last few weeks watching on TV, is that this team has lost a lot in the speed category. Amato couldn’t coach an 8 yr old pop warner team, but he at least knew that speed is key in college football. Just ask any Big 10 team that runs into an SEC team and ask them about the discrepancy in speed and how it can be deadly. This team has slow Safeties and linebackers and I mean real slow, except for maybe Manning, and Young this defense is hour glass slow. None of the receiving core can get any seperation and couldn’t catch even if they could and none of the backs have any kind of speed to the whole. Not that we have tried to even establish a running game this year. Its just speed. Plain and simple. Cutliff gets it, his freshman wideouts where running circles around our secondary. We don’t have it, and unless its coming TOB may be retiring sooner than he thought.

  15. gtspack 10/10/2009 at 8:54 PM #

    OK you want TOB out. Who is his replacement(that you can get). OH yea don’t forget our hunt for a basketball coach, we were turned downed left and right. I’m pissed too, but I do think we have a future with TOB. We are on the upswing.

  16. wbnation 10/10/2009 at 8:57 PM #

    “OK you want TOB out. Who is his replacement(that you can get). OH yea don’t forget our hunt for a basketball coach, we were turned downed left and right. I’m pissed too, but I do think we have a future with TOB. We are on the upswing.”

    I don’t want TOB gone, but is finishing worse in year 3 then you did in your previous 2 seasons really called an upswing?

    oh and……

    FIRE LEE FOWLER NOW!!!!!!!!! FIRE LEE FOWLER NOW!!!

  17. tuckerdorm1983 10/10/2009 at 8:57 PM #

    amen brother

  18. GAWolf 10/10/2009 at 9:00 PM #

    I want TOB to stay, but he needs to upgrade at least two assistants. And if he doesn’t see that and fails to act accordingly, then maybe my opinion changes next year if he lays another leg.

    We could still feasibly finish like last year, but Jesus himself will have to lay his hands on this dying defense to bring it back to life.

  19. Wulfpack 10/10/2009 at 9:00 PM #

    Upswing? Really? After getting by Duke at home?

  20. lsutton5144 10/10/2009 at 9:05 PM #

    I don’t think that getting rid of TOB is the answer, but I’ll tell you one coach that can leave tonight – Mike Archer. Why we ever wanted him to be defensive coordinator is beyond me. The man left behind the absolute worst defense in the country when he left Kentucky – what kind of resume is that? TOB takes the blame after every game, and being the head guy, I guess maybe he should, but you never hear any comments from Archer saying that the defense is his responsibility. Maybe one of the other posters is right – maybe Spaz will lose enough at BC that he would be willing to come here and be DC.

  21. Rick 10/10/2009 at 9:05 PM #

    I have given up on ever improving. We have been through three bball and three basketball coaches and we still suck.
    Firing the coach will not matter.

  22. eas 10/10/2009 at 9:07 PM #

    I am definitely not ready to throw TOB under the bus yet and I still think he is currently the right man for the program. HOWEVER, there are some major thing he needs to address quickly or else.

    1. Coaching – we have obviously been out coached for an entire month of football (we got lucky with Pitt). Our defense had a good record coming in but the Archer program seems to fall apart every year and I have never seen so many players look lost on D. As for Bible, he is consistent and a solid OC (nothing special really). His play calling over the past month has been really bad though and he is usually way too conservative. Open the field up and let RW do his thing. Let him run all over the place and screw the pocket. It worked just fine before.
    2. Penalties/Discipline – I don’t know what to say here. I really don’t see any difference from the Amato days on this one.

    We need some big changes from places other than roster players. I am an optimistic person by nature but I haven’t approved of the Archer hire since day one and I still don’t. Do something about it before it is too late. Get creative with the passing game instead of the same plays. You can almost guess the same long pattern with Graham & Williams each time. The others are quick outs. Our playbook in a nutshell. Oh and don’t forget to never run the true option. It’s not like we have a running QB or anything.

    Secondary, LB’s, Play calling and special teams need major changes. Really sad when the entire Athletic department really needs major changes as well.

    Good luck TOB. Without major changes at key coaching locations, I am afraid it may be a long couple of years.

  23. Wufpacker 10/10/2009 at 9:11 PM #

    I am generally not a betting man, but if someone had told me before the game that:

    1) That Wilson would pass for 1 TD and rush for 1 more in the first half
    2) That Baker would rush for an 8.1 yard per carry avg and score 1 TD
    3) That the Pack would score TD’s on their first 3 possessions
    4) That TJ Graham would have a 93 yard kickoff return for TD
    5) That the Pack would correct the penalty problem and commit not a single one
    6) That the Pack would rush the ball for 142 yards

    I would likely have agreed to put a little money on this game, as I would have been certain that if all of the above were true, there would be no way this could have been a loss.

    But, the fact that all of the above are true, and yet we still lost by 21 to Duke, AT HOME, shows just how bad a team we have. And this is no fluke folks. Unless the coaching staff finds some magic fix, something to improve things, and quickly, the rest of this season is going to be even more painful to watch.

    I watched us make mistakes that well-coached pee-wee teams don’t commit. And the defensive secondary is not only not getting better, but they are arguably getting worse. In fact, the same can be said of the entire team…getting worse, not better.

    Before the season I truly believed that we would not be as good as a lot of other folks seemed certain we would be. I believed we were still a year or two away from the big breakout season. I realized several weeks ago that we would not be even as good as I thought we’d be. Not once, however, did I think we were bad enough to lose to Duke, by 21, at home.

    I’ll stop short of what some others have said, that this was the worst performance ever by an NC State football team. I can think of a few just off the top of my head that would outrank this one. But I do have to admit that its in the top 5 or 10, and it might very well be the most EMBARRASSING performance.

    At least I won’t even have low expectations for the rest of the year, but rather none at all. That should make the results easier to bear, at least.

  24. NCSU84 10/10/2009 at 9:12 PM #

    Hold on and do not get the pitch forks and torches out just yet. What everyone seems to be overlooking is that THIS Duke team is better than the prior teams that everyone remembers. Do not over look the fact that THIS Duke team gave VT problems last week (Yes, remember VT – No. 5 – killed BC today). So maybe, just maybe, we should have expected this result given the youth of our secondary and the fact that we played THIS Duke team. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying THIS Duke team is ready to win a National or ACC title, but they were the better team today. Time will tell if they are for real.

  25. BJD95 10/10/2009 at 9:13 PM #

    Instead of needing steady improvement, we now need a quantum leap forward next season. If not, then our window for contention pretty much slams shut, and we can forget about a special revenue sports season for the next 10-20 years.

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