After a full night’s sleep…it doesn’t feel one bit better. Last night was an unmitigated disaster. The opportunity the game presented (to make a statement on the national stage) will not be repeated. Even if we win the ACC – admittedly a laughable notion right now – we will just be the new sacrificial lamb put up for January slaughter. A feeble reminder of why the college football world can’t wait to be rid of the BCS.
We can’t even judge what kind of team we really have. The massive suck from Glennon and Amerson means that we don’t really know anything about the other 20 guys. If the unquestioned offensive and defensive leaders get their heads straight…will the guys in the trenches become the fatal flaw? We can have no idea.
No matter what, NC State had a big opportunity, against a name program that we matched up well with – on paper. And we absolutely embarrassed ourselves. The final score could have been oh so much worse. The way the roster is set up, this was the perfect year to face such an opening night test. In short, we had the ideal setup, and we didn’t even come close to taking advantage. Plain and simple, that is extraordinarily disheartening. It will be a long damned time before most of us can generate any enthusiasm for our football program. Mild amusement and interest is all we have left.
For me, this is problematic at a macro level. I genuinely believe that our limitations as a team in a pedestrian conference, with a natural recruiting base that’s average and significantly overfished…the Dick Sheridan/Tom O’Brien model is the only way for us to succeed. And despite being even more accomplished than Sheridan…Tom O’Brien couldn’t replicate even that ceiling, let alone break through. It’s very likely that our next coach will be worse, or immediately leave for greener pastures. NC State is simply not a legitimate player in the college football world, and it will take lightning in a bottle for it ever to be, even on a limited, temporary basis.
