Back From Vacation FBall Bytes

'06 Football General25

We’ve put together a host of quick hits for you to help get you re-adjusted to the real world after vacation.

* First, feel free to run through some of the entries on the front page that you may have missed prior to your vacation. Late on Monday, Jeff uploaded a big one that was well received that you may enjoy. (Link)

* Definitely shoot over to Section Six for these quick comments on various topics. Good, quick stuff. It is always nice when someone else comments about Herb Sendek. It keeps all of those fans who are obsessed with us from crawling out of the woodwork.

* Sometimes I like to look back into our Archive just to see what was being talked about last year this time. (You can access entire months of old entries by looking on the right hand side of the front page and clicking on any given month). Summers are usually slow with news, creating opportunities for bloggers to find ‘outside’ items of interest for our readers. Last year during this time, C-USA was creating some opportunity for discussion as we linked up these comments on the way that University of Houston runs their Athletics Department.

* Additionally, current South Carolina (at the time TCU) Athletics Director gave the world a super quote on July 7th. (Link)

“I’m not trying to be disrespectful to any schools, but nobody has ever heard of schools like East Carolina.�

* In that same spirit, you can see our comments from July 5th last year on College Football News’ 2005 ACC Football Preview by clicking here. Today, you can click back to CFN and see this season’s NC State preview.

One of two things will happen with the NC State program over the next year. (1) Beleaguered head coach Chuck Amato and his staff will prove they can coach a little and get this team full of great athletes and prospects to finally pull it all together, or (2) there will be a regime change.

It’s possible that no one did less with more than Amato and his staff over the last two seasons, but he has the type of team that can quickly make amends. First things first; this team has to beat the teams it’s supposed to.

The season will be a success if … State wins eight games. Nine would be a good goal to shoot for, but let’s allow for a Wolfpack brain-cramp against someone like East Carolina. With the exception of missing Duke, the Wolfpack has as favorable an ACC schedule, and a light enough non-conference schedule, to make anything less than an eight-win year cause for screaming.

* One of the links at Section Six was to this college football blog that has written a very good ACC Football Preview (Link) It is about as good/quick as any preview that we have seen out there. They project a 5-7 overall record and 2-6 ACC record for the Wolfpack.

The Wolfpack simply underachieved last season. The all-star stellar defense from a year ago must be rebuilt up front; however, the secondary should be one of the best in the country. Defensive tackle DeMario Pressley is a nice rock to build the defense on. Offensively, NC State has weapons, but simply can’t score points. Receiver/return specialist Darrell Blackmon is threat to score every time he touches the ball. Marcus Stone was an average quarterback at best last year, but should have a decent year as the sole starter. Center Leroy Harris is an all-American candidate at center, but the offensive line must replace three starters.

Schedule: The Wolfpack have a tricky road game at Southern Miss before ACC play begins. Florida State and Boston College must come to Raleigh. Road games at Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina will be the difference from a winning season or a losing one.

Final Words: NC State should have won more than six games last year. This year’s team despite not being as talented could match or exceed last year’s win total.

Bowl: Possible

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'06 Football General

25 Responses to Back From Vacation FBall Bytes

  1. choppack1 07/05/2006 at 8:36 AM #

    It’s a shame that this year’s football previews all talk about how good we should have been last year.

  2. Mr O 07/05/2006 at 11:01 AM #

    Should we have been better last year? Tough to say really with our QB/new OC situation. Do the masses really understand how bad we have been offensively?

    Hard to believe football is 2 months away.

  3. primacyone 07/05/2006 at 11:17 AM #

    It’s really hard to believe football is 2 months away and I’m more excited about basketball. And I love football.

    At least I don’t have my hopes up for football this year. Last year was really painful – almost unhealthy. I don’t blame the coaching staff, just the QB position. This football season will be a lot less stressful as I have expecations that can be easily surpassed. I’m good with the 5-7 overall and 2-6 ACC record. Not happy about it, but good with it.

    The coaching staff has an opportunity to really make themselves look good this year.

  4. BJD95 07/05/2006 at 12:16 PM #

    We should have been better the last THREE seasons. To focus upon any single season of that bunch is to miss the big picture, IMHO. Lots of room to overachieve this year (especially with an ACC schedule filled with decent teams, but with the best and worst notably absent), and high time to do it.

  5. cfpack03 07/05/2006 at 12:23 PM #

    I’m good with 5-7 IF we play a freshman QB and our offense ramps up towards the end of the season. But if we go 2-6 in the ACC with Stone at helm, I’ll be furious.

  6. Big Daddy Wolf 07/05/2006 at 1:12 PM #

    They should get off Amato’s back. Due to the new ACC we haven’t played Duke the last two years nor do we get the automatic win this year. State has had one of the toughest ACC schedules. Add Duke into our schedule the last two years and we have eight wins last year and don’t miss out on a bowl the year before. And no one would be on Amato’s back. Must be nice to be UNC, Ga TECH, Miami, Va Tech, and UVA. They all start football season with an automatic win since they get to play Duke every year. They only have to earn three other ACC victories and beat two non conference patsies each year to go bowling. Amato has lost a couple games shouldn’t have at home, but we also beat FSU a couple times we shouldn’t have, but one thing for sure we not getting blown out we are competetive week in and week out. I think the pack goes bowling this year and Amato gets some deserved recognition for it. We have recruited as good as anyone in ACC up until last year so we should be able to play with anyone on our schedule.

  7. Mr O 07/05/2006 at 1:18 PM #

    BJD95: Three years ago our defense was rebuilding. It was successfully rebuilt the last two years, but then our QB and rotating OC problems set in. Last year, I think our QBs were enough to get another win or two, but then IMO Trestman blew it the first half of the season by trying to make Jay Davis into Philip Rivers.

    I am still looking for some insider to tell me who was most responsible for turning conservative on offense last year. I have to assume it was Amato.

    We have probably underachieved, but maybe only by a couple of games.

    Hopefully, this season doesn’t turn into a complete disaster with a rebuilding defense and continuing OC/QB problems. It is amazing how fast football season has rolled around without the anticipation of the last 5 or 6 years.

  8. joe 07/05/2006 at 1:31 PM #

    As far as the schedule, I remember when Wake Forest was an automatic win – even during the 3-8 seasons the Pack still beat them.

    And don’t forget the Pack does not play VT or Miami this year – that’s 2 of the best ACC teams. This ACC schedule is almost as weak as you can get when you miss those 2.

  9. Wolf-n-Atl 07/05/2006 at 2:01 PM #

    I was most disappointed last year by the losses to Clemson and Boston College. Up until that point, we had not been blown out by any team in the Amato tenure other than Pitt in the bowl game and maybe Miami – although that game was close until some questionable calls at the end killed our attempted rally.

    If we can get back to the point where we are in every game this year, I think I will be happy with a 0.500 or better overall record. I don’t think Akron or S.Miss will be give me games this year.

  10. choppack1 07/05/2006 at 2:34 PM #

    “Due to the new ACC we haven’t played Duke the last two years nor do we get the automatic win this year. State has had one of the toughest ACC schedules. Add Duke into our schedule the last two years and we have eight wins last year and don’t miss out on a bowl the year before. And no one would be on Amato’s back. Must be nice to be UNC, Ga TECH, Miami, Va Tech, and UVA. They all start football season with an automatic win since they get to play Duke every year. ”

    This argument would have more legs if last year we played VaTech, Miami and FSU. We only played VaTech and FSU. Let’s face it, if we take care of business against 3-5 Wake Forest and 4-4 UNC – we’re all pretty happy about last year’s team. The point is this – IT’S NOT THE BIG BOYS WHO ARE CAUSING US PAIN – it’s the failure to beat the middle of the road team in our conference. Specifically, our losses to UNC the last 2 years have kept us from having .500 conference record and have allowed UNC to have .500 conference record.

    Think about this – we have beaten the conference champion on the road the last 2 years. That’s good news, we should be dancing the street….but we’ve had a 6-10 record in conference those last 2 years.

    Hopefully, this is the year when it all comes together.

  11. Dan 07/05/2006 at 3:47 PM #

    We should have better last year. So what? That was last year. FSU, Miami, and Oklahoma should have been better last year too. Not they were are in that echelon, but whatever. It happens.

    This year will be rough as well. That has to be acceptable otherwise you are going to have wolfpacker’s tearing their clothes in angst without understanding the big picture. Now if it stays bad in ’08 and ’09, I’ll need some new shirts too.

  12. BladenWolf 07/05/2006 at 4:02 PM #

    I’m looking forward to Football season. I don’t know why. I’ve seen all the predictions and for fans to say they’ll be happy with a potential 2-6 conference record is a little disconcerting to me. But I’m a Pack fan so therfore I’m a glutton for punishment.
    Looking at the “big picture”, as some have called it, seems to point out that the revolving coaching staff is as much to blame as the 1) recruiting effort in-state vs out-of-state, 2) scheduling -candy-ass opponents, or 3) ACC realignment – no Dook- scenarios.
    When Holliday left, it killed a strong recruiting effort that we have not yet recovered from. When Chow left, it killed any offensive advantage we had over nearly every opponent, and as Mr. O pointed out, Trestman didn’t seem to know how to handle the talent level (or lack thereof) he had at QB. The last couple of years our defence had more penalties than the entire National Hockey League, to which I attribute to the piss-poor defensive coaches and to The Chest himself.
    So here’s to this years football team. May you rise above the coaching staff and prove wrong everyone who predicted and accepted a 2-6 conference record.

  13. VaWolf82 07/05/2006 at 4:04 PM #

    We should have been better the last THREE seasons.

    Maybe I’ve missed your explanation, but I don’t see how you can claim that PR’s senior year SHOULD have been better. Schools like State don’t replace 6 or 7 on the two-deep at DL and continue on like nothing happened. State didn’t live up to the hype that year….but the hype was mostly hot-air.

  14. primacyone 07/05/2006 at 4:23 PM #

    BladenW-

    ^”But I’m a Pack fan so therfore I’m a glutton for punishment.”

    If you lower your expectations to 2-6 ACC then maybe it won’t be punishment but elation when they go 3-5 and achieve greater than your expectations. Thats what happens after seasons like the last. It’s not my fault I’m good with results like that.

    Looking at your “”big picture”, as some have called it” scenario makes me think about being happy with just having a team show up with the correct uniform. Wow.

    “Here’s to this years team.” “Go rise above.” You can win 3 ACC games. You can do it.

  15. BJD95 07/05/2006 at 6:19 PM #

    VA – I said that the folks predicting BCS were nuts that year, but it should have been capable of a middle tier bowl, not a lower tier one (against a terrible Kansas team). Some time has passed, leading me to forget the specifics, but my impression was that we played away from our team strengths, and it cost us the chance at several more wins.

  16. VaWolf82 07/05/2006 at 6:48 PM #

    but my impression was that we played away from our team strengths, and it cost us the chance at several more wins.

    My remembrance is that turnovers against OSU, FSU, and UMD turned potential wins into losses.

    The only thing that I can second guess the coaches on that year was the defense…specifically the amount of blitzing. The DL did fine that year against the run (ranked somewhere in the 30’s nationally), but too often couldn’t get pressure on the QB and the secondary consistently got picked apart. The secondary was so porous, that State didn’t have anything to lose by blitzing. My rememberance is that the blitzes were rather infrequent…especially compared to the defense that Herring used the very next year.

  17. BJD95 07/05/2006 at 9:03 PM #

    Exactly – we played more of a “base” defense without the personnel to do it. IIRC, we also shifted to more “pound it up the middle” offense inside the 20 (again, with poorly suited personnel), which was even more insane given how poorly we kicked FGs (especially from the hash). It was like Chuck was trying to make a statement that good teams should be able to rely on getting it done “in the trenches” without much blitzing. Which played away from our strengths (great skill people) and exposed our weak underbelly.

  18. Cardiac95 07/05/2006 at 10:13 PM #

    Simply too many variables in play over the last three years to give a meaningful assessment of the problem. By my count, 2 different OC’s, 3 different DC’s (counting Chuck in PR’s Sr yr), several other staff positions turned over, & 3 different starting QB’s.

    You just can’t draw meaningful conclusions about future potential with that many variables in play in recent years.

    This much I can say for Chuck. He addressed the issues with the Defense following 2003 with the outstanding hire of Herring, subsequently followed by another outstanding hire in Dunlap. He (hopefully) addressed the issues with the Offense following 2004 by pushing Mazzone out the door & hiring Trestman. And he addressed the issue of frequent turnover in his coordinator positions by signing the current ones to multi-year contracts.

    This year should tell us alot about how well his “solutions” have worked out and what direction the program is moving in.

  19. OwenDorm83 07/05/2006 at 11:25 PM #

    Chuck’s batting D+/C- the last couple years. Definitely time to step it up.

  20. choppack1 07/06/2006 at 8:40 AM #

    “My remembrance is that turnovers against OSU, FSU, and UMD turned potential wins into losses. ”

    I’d say yes to all of those and TOs has everything to do w/ execution and coaching. I do wonder how much of it had to do w/ TA who really had a tendency to put the ball on the carpet. Of course, TA couldn’t just put himself into games, our staff puts him in there.

    The FSU game, in particular was infuriating. We should have won that game going away. TA fumbles right before the end of the half. TJ Williams fumbles as well. Despite all of those issues, we get the ball back w/ 2 minutes and change. If we score, we control our own destiny for an ACC championship. Bingo, another turnover – at about the 50 yard line after a 1st down.

    We’ll see – the TO bug may have just been a TA thing. However, I’ve seen tremendous lapses of concentration from so many of our players that it makes me wonder if the mental mistakes are part of the “Amato” culture. The guys work hard and play hard, but invariably they’re always just a mistake or two away from achieving their goals.

    I do think Andre Brown is the kind of back that you can trust to hold onto the ball – at least you could last year. I also think that Toney Baker will become the same kind of back as well. Will Stone be able to keep from turning it over this year? Will our receivers hold catch and hold onto the ball after the catch? If they can do these things and our D can avoid foolish mistakes, we’ll be fine.

  21. BladenWolf 07/06/2006 at 9:08 AM #

    primacyone-

    Forgive me if I’m more enthusiastic about this football season’s potential and refuse to dampen my expectations. I was taught to “be good” with setting the bar higher rather than lower, regardless of the outcome. I did not mean to “fault” anyone with lower expectations… that is entirely up to individual preference. I simply made a comment that hoped the team would achieve higher than some media/fans expectations. If that makes me a glutton for punishment and sets me up for dissappointment, than so be it. I’ve been a Pack fan for a l o n g time.

    The big picture is indeed troubling considering the coaching carousel we’ve had in the past few years. I was attempting to provide a possible explanation as to our topsy turvy seasons of late. By Cardiac95’s count we’ve had five Offensive and Defensive coaching changes plus several staff changes. My point is that this turnover ratio spells anything but consistancy and until we can keep the coaching staff together for longer than two years we will be bound for rollercoaster seasons (again) – i.e. winning an occasional “big” game (Fla St.) and then losing to teams we should beat (WF, UNX, GT).

    Does that mean I expect 2-6? Certainly not, given the talent on the team. Possibly the most exciting halfback/tailback combo in the country? An experienced and athletic secondary? A schedule without Miami and BC?

    There are things to get excited about. There are some things to get anxious about. That’s college football. We simply can’t go to the draft each year and pick from the best. That’s why consistancy in the coaching staff is paramount. BUT… it’s those potentially exciting things that I hope to see a lot of this year.

  22. primacyone 07/06/2006 at 10:08 AM #

    BladenW

    Agreed. Just for the record I did not feel faulted or even devbated and I was not trying to disagree with you but just share my initial “emotional” reaction to your comments. I completly agree with everything you said and liked your post and decided to try and exagerate your comments a little for the sake of trying to get myself a little more excited about the season. I’m usually completely pumped about football this time of year. I’m just not felling it this year and I miss it.

    Thanks

  23. BladenWolf 07/06/2006 at 12:51 PM #

    primacyone-

    I hear you loud and clear. I think we are on the same page and I too have found it hard to get excited about the Pack’s seasons from time to time. Yesterdays blog just caught me at an optimistic time I guess.

    I just didn’t want you to think I was slamming you or anyone else. I agree with you that there is a legitimate probability that we go 2-6. We’ve certainly underachieved before. But I sure hope we do better this season. 2-6 would suck given our talent.

    But hopefully, the O-line will hold just long enough for Baker or Brown to blast through and then it should be exciting. Now of course, if the decimated defensive line can’t stop Akron from scoring 21 points, then we’re in deep doo-doo.

    So let’s both tip our frosty mugs for the anticipation of a good solid year for the pack – in spite of the coaching situation.

  24. redfred2 07/06/2006 at 2:20 PM #

    Amato still hasn’t learned patience or how to play to his strengths. He seems to think that the team needs to be as flashy as his ruby red slippers and that high school-like mental lapses are totally acceptable. The reality of this year, unlike before, may be that he doesn’t have the talent to beat anyone. Solid coaching decisions and disciplined players are the only thing that will save Chuck Amato from heading on down that slippery slope.
    Watch for the press to be piling on at every opportunity if he continues with his usual performances and probably force the administrator’s hand to speed the process.

    Could it be possible that Chuck Amato has finally matured and sensed that showboating without any real results is not what anyone cares to see from him or his players anymore. Very hopefully he will emerge to show us something different this season and another coaching search won’t LOOM largely on our horizon.

  25. class of 74 07/06/2006 at 3:50 PM #

    All of these reasons and excuses for the past three seasons; it’s the schedule’s fault, it’s Mazzone’s fault, we lost Herring, Trestman is new to the college game, we lost key players to the NFL prematurely and on and on. Well I think good head coaches find a way to overcome, and I think it’s past time for Chuck to step up and contend for the conference title game. I’m past being tired from all of the excuses, it’s time to contend not pretend!

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