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The next 4 opponents have a combined record of 18-8.
ND 5-1
Clempson 6-1
BC 3-4
lucky sperm club 4-2Three of the four are on the road.
Here comes the rough stretch.
McCallum
And there are those who thought Clempson, FSU, da ville, and the irish was the rough stretch when the season began. Fact is the Atlantic is way tougher than the coastal. Second half yesterday showed me a lot. That bunch didn’t cave and came out swinging. Not saying we go 5 – 0 over the finishing stretch but two things that cannot be denied. We are in first place in the Atlantic and have the best conference record in the league (half a game up on da U), and it has been forever since we held first place alone this late in the season whether for the whole conference back before divisions or as division leader. Five tough games to go but as a whole this is the toughest Pack since 67 from my perspective. Just sayin’
Smarter than the average bear
Yogi: I thought the same games were tough before the year that I think are tough now — Clemson, FSU, ND, Louisville, with swing games against WF, UNC and S.Carolina. We’re 2-0 in tough games and 0-1 in swing games. We took care of business in 4 games where I thought we should win (2 cupcakes and 2 Big East teams).
If there’s anything we’ve learned about our schedule, it is that FSU was clearly overrated (I thought that prior to the season) and that Louisville isn’t as good as they were last year (I’m surprised by this, but I guess the signs were there with their late season swoon). ND also looks clearly improved, so that game is harder than I’d expected. Clemson’s QB has looked better than I thought he was, but who knows how he returns from the Syracuse game. WF has clearly improved, but UNC has a lot of injuries (so a wash in those two).
I think the point you are making though is that we have a chance at something truly special. I hope we stay focused. I think the bye is coming at a very good time to get rested, get well, and get focused on two back to back games that are the biggest we’ve played in 20+ years.
Anyone know of someone who could conger up a hurricane and make it strike central Indiana? A monsoon would also suffice.
Smarter than the average bear
From what I have read, unlike last year I think we have the advantage in the passing game this year….Notre Dame has been a great running team and a mediocre passing team. Of course, they haven’t played our pass defense yet and I think equinomoius probably kills us.
Still, we will have the chance to get ahead of Notre Dame early and hold them off. That’s definitely what separated the big dubs this season (Louisville and FSU) from the big loss (USC.)
Our bye is pretty good timing. We have played 7 games in 7 weeks, so I am sure our guys and staff can use this week to really get stronger and better. Funny, I think if both teams play their best game, we win this one.
Conjure, Yogi, conjure … š
Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy. Mao Zedong
Excited about the upcoming two…but…the “big wins” this year don’t really look too big in hindsight. Big perhaps in terms of building momentum and confidence, and FSU and Louisville may well get it going. But based on the ball I’ve seen, the two best clubs we’ve faced thus far were SC and SU. SC is beat up to hell now without 3-4 starters at least, a far cry from who we played.
The good news, we still haven’t played our best game for 4 quarters. The bad, better play 4 good ones the next two. More speed on both sides of the ball than we’ve seen so far. And some solid interior line play to go with it.
I said I’d become a believer after the Louisville game…I lied. Still not there, a little closer. I want to pour it on at Notre Dame. Beat em by 3 scores.
Whiteshoes – half of college football is hanging around quite frankly there aren’t a whole lot of teams out there with a resume as impressive as ours…the fact that we are 6-1 and a only a handful of teams playing equivalent opponents are better or equal to 6-1.
Chop, back away from the flavor aid and take a deep breath. 15 teams are ahead of State for a reason. Now, of course, all this changes next Sat.
I know this much. Our corners must step up to keep this thing going. This week would be a very good time to work Bambard back into the fieldgoal game, too. The Irish are not a factor in league play, so if there is half’a mind to revisit…now is the time.
Unbelievable! There are only 11 teams currently given better odds (33/1) of winning the 2017 natty than NC State.
What excites me is how we LOOK like a championship team while we are winning — winning when we don’t play well but doing some things extraordinarily well in the process. We beat FSU at their place, slammed the door on L’ville with a killer INT, and demoralized Pitt pulling away in the second half. We have taken Syracuse’s best shot.
I don’t know how we are going to finish the season, however, for the first time in a long time, I’m not worried about our ability to compete in every game. I’m not hoping and certainly not expecting to win out but don’t worry about NC State bringing it’s A-game. If anybody needs to bring its A-game, it’s our opponents.
And I don’t want to hear about “State sh!t” or what happened in 2002 or 03. We can stop you and we can score. This is not your father’s Wolfpack!
But I repeat myself…
And I donāt want to hear about āState sh!tā or what happened in 2002 or 03. We can stop you and we can score. This is not your fatherās Wolfpack!
Grey… you don’t mean those teams coached by Earl Edwards, do you ???
#NCSU-North Carolina's #1 FOOTBALL school!Rthomas – again, I think thus far our book of work is solid.
But, yep, we will have to play better football the next 5 games just to hold serve. I hate that our kicking game has regressed a bit. After making 4 of 5, I was hoping we had turned a corner.
But yea, I think we will all shake our heads if that ends up costing any game from here on out.
Greyā¦ you donāt mean those teams coached by Earl Edwards, do you ???
Bill, You don’t mean Earle Edwards, do you?
I donāt know how we are going to finish the season, however, for the first time in a long time, Iām not worried about our ability to compete in every game.
That sums it up for me. We’ve got a puncher’s chance in every game.
We need to get rested, healed and ready this week. The following two determine whether we’re playing for anything special, or just trying to avoid a stumble in the last three that would put us at 8-4. The schedule this year was always middle loaded, but if we could somehow get through the middle, we could have some very meaningful games in November and December (which haven’t happened here in over a decade).
I would like ND to win this week against USC. Give them plenty pats on the back. Tell them how good they are coming to the Pack game. Have them beat up a bit.
This Pack team is good and like others have said it starts in the trenches. The offense is so efficient. Finley just has so many weapons to chose from. The defense canāt just key on one guy. Try to stop Jaysam you leave Hines or Reggie open. Put a safety to keep Harmon in check you have Louis getting one on one treatment. Donāt sleep on the rookie either.
The defense is great against the run. The passing defense is making small improvements. Still giving up too many big passes. Having Stevens back is no coincidence that it has slightly gotten better. The key is what will happen in a game where they canāt get pressure on the opposing QB? Do they force the issue and dial up more blitz packages and can the DBās cover long enough. Thatās going to be key.
Finally will DD and Drink start changing the game plan to take into account the lack of kicking game. It changes the play calling when you know you will be going for it on fourth down. I personally hope they start going for it more on fourth down. Thatās obvious depending on distance and spot on the field.
Exciting times to be a Pack fan. Go Pack!
Gowolves, i think hits it on the head…I’d add that in addition to Stevens, Wright back on the field and more snaps for Pratt has helped in pass coverage.
How does the playcalling change on offense and defense in the weeks to come as we face more difficult challenges?
More blitzes to generate pressure when we can’t or don’t get to QB with front 4? We’re not the same team that lost to SC, and we can improve. I think we’ll need to, both in situational coaching decisions, and in onfield performance. That’s not a complaint.
You play who’s on your schedule. At this point, I’m just not sure we’ve played a team that ends the season in the top-25 yet.
WS67, by the same token we contributed to their not being in the top 25. I think da ville and FSU came out of those games demoralized to a degree. And if we do happen to beat ND and the tiggers my bet is they take the loss on the chin too. Personally I want to see both of them get beat up really bad in the next two weeks.
Smarter than the average bear
Personally I want to see both of them get beat up really bad in the next two weeks.
Especially the 2nd week. š
Take a look at the passing numbers for the 4 conference games played. 1 TD per game, 1 INT per game modest completion % except for Cuse (Dungey). Our defense is keeping the ball in front of it which is what the coaches are asking them to do and preventing TDs. Teams are having a problem running on us so of course they are going to pass the ball and being good quarterbacks with good receivers on good teams they are going to complete some of them including some long ones.
You would think they were scoring at will. Not so.
FSU 1 TD 4 yds Tot 22/39 (56%) (1 INT) 278 yds
Cuse 1 TD 10 yds Tot 30/47 (64%) (1 INT) 385 yds
L’ville 1 TD 23 yds Tot 26/48 (54%) (1 INT) 354 yds
Pitt 1 TD 33 yds Tot 24/45 (53%) (1 INT) 231 ydsAlso look at the list of top receivers State has faced or will face this year.
Deebo from SC
Ishmael from Syracuse
Tate from FSU
Kid from Marshall
Cain from Clemson
Brown Notre DameAll were either in the top thirty receivers coming into the season or have made their way there not just by playing our secondary. They all had preseason expectations from their fans like we did with our studs(Samuels, Hines, etc). I think all those listed will have a good shot playing on Sunday.
Look at the top receiver groups coming into the season. The Pack faces four of them. Clemson, ND, South Caolina, and Louisville.
Look at the top receiver groups coming into the season. The Pack faces four of them. Clemson, ND, South Caolina, and Louisville.
We face 4 of the top 10.
The Pack is ranked #25 in that group. That far down it’s kinda murky trying to say which team is better or worse than another.FSU 1 TD 4 yds Tot 22/39 (56%) (1 INT) 278 yds
Cuse 1 TD 10 yds Tot 30/47 (64%) (1 INT) 385 yds
Lāville 1 TD 23 yds Tot 26/48 (54%) (1 INT) 354 yds
Pitt 1 TD 33 yds Tot 24/45 (53%) (1 INT) 231 ydsIn two of those four games we were clearly had the benefit of timing. We got FSU in the first real game of a second string QB, and we got Pitt basically in the same place.
To add to that, Pitt inexplicably went to the third stringer and effectively conceded the game down 7. We’ve seen an awful lot of head scratching coaching moves over the past 11 years, so it was nice to see someone else do it. I thought Pitt came out with a great initial game plan offensively, but we either made adjustments at halftime (gasp) or woke up at halftime (second gasp). Either way, it was nice to see that script flipped and I would love to see more games where we win the second half.
We did much better against Jackson than we’d done the past two times we played him. That was a pleasant surprise. We let Dungy run a bit wild given that Syracuse effectively had no other actual options out of the backfield. He’s a gunner and a gamer though as we saw against Clemson.
In the end, I’m fine with a defense that stops the run and concedes some yards in the air. I’m one for forcing a team to be one dimensional, and would rather a team beat me in the air than just grind out drive after drive on the ground. At least my offense can get the ball back after a quicker passing based possession.
What I’m not fine with is a team that is so committed to stopping the run that they get beaten consistently by throws over the top. That’s what we saw early in the year, but that has improved.
Stop Clemson and ND from the home run ball and shut down the run, and I like our chances. Bite on some run fakes (and we did that against Pitt), and it might be a long day.
Oh, and I was a little disappointed when Canada left Pitt after last year for LSU. I was kind of hoping NC State would get to play him because I contend we’d have done very well against him schematically.
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