Instead of doing game by game thread, we’ll keep all football discussions in a single thread for the time being.
NC State fell to 5-5 this afternoon, losing 19-29 on Senior Day against Duke. Below is the Box Score.
Honestly, the current state of the NC State football program is nothing short of disappointing. The Wolfpack started the season ranked 24th in the AP Poll, and there was even hype about this being a team that was a dark horse to make the College Football Playoff. With all of the skill players that were added this offseason, expectations were sky high.
The Wolfpack offense was able to get to the Redzone 6 times, and only managed to get the ball into the end zone only once. On the other 5 times, NC State settled for 4 of 5 field goal attempts.
True Freshman CJ Bailey looked like a True Freshman, playing the worst game of his collegiate career. He was 16 of 39 for 184 yards with 1 touchdown, 1 interception and 1 lost fumble. His completion percentage was 41% and his passing efficiency rating was 84.
The NC State defense held Duke to 1.1 yards per carry.
The Blue Devils were 0-9 on 3rd down.
The Wolfpack offense simply couldn’t finish.
Sophomore Wide Receiver Kevin Concepcion looked like a shell of the player he was last year, dropping at least 3 passes. He finished with 0 receptions, and 1 carry for 4 yards.
NC State’s offensive line looked like porous rock. Duke’s defense was in Bailey’s face all game long, and held the Wolfpack’s rushing attack to 2.9 yards per carry.
Not much good to take from this one.
Thoughts?
KC looked completely disengaged. I’ll be shocked if he isn’t one of the first players into the portal 3 weeks from now.
I’m not a fire the coach kind of guy but it occurred to me yesterday afternoon that Duke eventually moved on from Cutcliffe, also a “culture” guy, because he simply didn’t win enough games. We look every bit a team that is just playing out the string, with a few notable exceptions like Vann…
I know the other guys here at PI don’t share my opinion on this, but to your point, I think ‘culture coaches’ are starting to reevaluate their situations or being forced to by their administration.
I know it’s basketball, but look at Bennett from UVA.
Does Doeren take a look in the mirror after this season and wonder if he still wants to play this NIL game?
Odds are that he’s here next year, and no way State fires him, but does he sit down and think about whether this NIL climate is one he wants to remain in?
Doeren will be back, but I do think he’s got to be getting a little tired of the way college sports have changed. These blue collar coaches are probably all reevaluating things, but they are also the ones leasat likely to throw in the towel. So we’ll see.
Great point!
Got to capitalize when we are in the redzone that many times, very frustrating to watch.
I hope KC stays and we can keep this offense together, may need a new OC to turn things around.
There will be some changes after this season, that’s for sure, and one may very well be at OC.
@WilmingtonWolfpacker Welcome to the community! What would you like to see from a new OC that you aren’t seeing with Anae?
Our only chance to keep KC is the fact that his brother is coming. We’ll need to break the bank to keep Bailey, KC and Smothers. I hope Wolfpack Nation is up for another big fundraising offseason.
Thanks Lou!
That’s a great question, I guess consistency would be up there for sure. In his first 2 seasons with us he has had to use 4 different quarterbacks which I’m sure has played a large facture in being so inconsistent. Its just not working with him, we brought in Armstrong last year who he had been at UVA with and that obviously wasn’t the answer. Then there is so much hype around the offense this off season and you could tell again, after the first 4 games this wasn’t gonna work. Im not sure what the answer is but we need change, we have way to many talented players to be 2-4 in the ACC. Losing to Duke University in football 2 years in a row, in my opinion is unacceptable and with how the O looked Saturday, that was the nail in the coffin for Robert, to me.
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The truth is, NC State is never going to just line up and beat SEC level teams. The talent gap is just too large. Doeren was the right man for the job because it’s a process and he’s a guy who could find underrated talent and coach it up, but that only gets you so far. He was getting 3 star guys that ended up becoming the equivalent of 4 star guys PLUS they were bought in and were purposely recruited because they were hard nosed kids.
But that build up will never beat SEC level teams. That build up needs to get you to the point where you’re consistently getting 4 and 5 star kids (ie. Clemson). This was the year to make that jump and it didn’t happen and I think the NIL stuff threw a big wrench in his approach.
As for the OC role and Anae, it’s the same story as above. You can’t just line up with 3 and 4 star guys and play grind it out football. You need to to get way more creative, you need to more misdirection and more motion. If Doeren is around next year they need to take a flyer on a OC with a more creative approach. Try it. Let it backfire if it’s going to backfire, but you got to try something new.
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Can’t say I disagree with any of that. The whole Armstrong thing was weird. He came in, looked awful, got benched, came back and looked great.
Then this year McCall came in and looked awful as well, but who knows how much of that was his concussions.
Both years we had to rely on freshmen QBs who really weren’t ready. Bailey has done more than we could’ve asked for, but still, something is off and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go in a different direction at OC.
As for @EndiTheWolf 's comment… all of that is possible and I agree with NIL messing up Doeren’s roadmap. I wouldn’t mind getting an outside-the-box OC to see whats possible.
Originally published at: NC State’s Bowl Projections After Week 11 - Pack Insider
NC State is currently 5-5 with 2 games remaining in the 2024 regular season. The Wolfpack needs 1 more win to become bowl eligible. Here are the current Bowl Projections for NC State after Week 11. ESPN – Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl vs. Navy on Friday, December 27th in Forth Worth, Texas on ESPN.…
The Arrion decommitment doesn’t leave a good feeling in my stomach. Feels like we could see some big departures starting Dec 9th (players & staff), but that’s the new college football world I guess smh.
Yeah, not a great sign. I’d assume this means KC is gone next year, but the KC we are seeing this year isn’t quite the loss that 2023 KC would have been.
I do wonder what all this means for donor funding for NIL. People emptied their wallet to get the best talent here and it didn’t pan out.
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