Demise began long before the punt return

As you can tell, we are still too depressed to spend much time harping on the dagger to the heart that we took yesterday. I am still emotionally and physically drained. ‘Miserable’ would be the more accurate description right now.

With this said, I am going to take a moment to turn your attention to our message forums if you are looking for some timely Wolfpack topics to discuss.

Of all the articles out there that I could’ve chosen to highlight today, I thought this one from Brett Friedlander might’ve done the best job of encapsulating why yesterday’s loss was so difficult for Wolfpackers – “Wolfpack’s demise began long before decisive punt return”.

The play everyone will remember for years to come is the 74-yard punt return by Giovani Bernard with 13 seconds remaining to give North Carolina a stunning 43-35 victory against N.C. State at Kenan Stadium on Saturday.

That, however, was only the final, dramatic exclamation point in a series of pivotal mistakes – many of them self-inflicted – that helped ended the Wolfpack’s five-game winning streak against the rival Tar Heels.

“It looked good, senior offensive guard R.J. Mattes said after it was all over. “We never capitalized when we should have,” senior offensive tackle R.J. Mattes said after it was all over. “We stalled in the fourth quarter, obviously. Even though that punt return cost us the game, that’s not what caused it. We didn’t capitalize when we should have.

If you are a real glutton for punishment, you can click here to try to count the penalties that Rob Cherry’s ACC Officiating crew missed on Gio Bernard’s punt return. I can’t bare to watch.

About StateFans

'StateFansNation' is the shared profile used by any/all of the dozen or so authors that contribute to the blog. You may not always agree with us, but you will have little doubt about where we stand on most issues. Please follow us on Twitter and FaceBook

'12 Football

38 Responses to Demise began long before the punt return

  1. TLeo 10/28/2012 at 4:43 PM #

    Stalled doesn’t begin to cover what the coach and team did yesterday. I sort of expected unc to win(just felt that vibe) going into the game but I expected a much better effort from players and coaches. Then in spite of it all, they managed the 10 pt. lead and I thought Wow they are going to win afterall.
    Then the predictable happened…..playing conservative and not to lose instead of doing the things that got the lead to start with. Today I am more apathetic towards this team and coaches than I am angry. I’m ready for the season to be over.

  2. Dogbreath 10/28/2012 at 4:44 PM #

    Playing the entire opening and closing quarters in your base prevent offense and base prevent defense packages is what cost the game. It’s the TOB formula and this time it blew up in our face. We could easily be and probably should be 3-5 right now, but we’ve been extremely fortunate in two games.

  3. UpstateSCWolfpack 10/28/2012 at 4:50 PM #

    I don’t know how TOB can ever come back from this implosion. Dr. Yow knows what needs to happen, and I trust her completely to make a great hire. I suggest Charlie Strong before he is snatched up by an SEC school.

  4. mak4dpak 10/28/2012 at 5:05 PM #

    I am tired of TOB myself, and his old school staff of coaches. Losers! But as bad as the loss was yesterday, if we can somehow win out, and VT can do us a favor and beat FSU, we are in the championship game. If we are looking for a coach, I say give the offensive coordinator of Oregon a look. That is the kind of offense I wanna see. They certainly don’t sit on a lead, and never ever play not to lose. That would be a nice change.

  5. Dogbreath 10/28/2012 at 5:07 PM #

    Charlie Strong ain’t walking through that door. Number one, Louisville is at least equal if not better than our job, number two, we won’t put down $2m+/year it would require to get him to even listen, and number three, no coaches agent is going to allow a hot coach to make the mistake of taking this job when there will be at leat a dozen better ones opening up this year or next.

    It’s painful, but the truth.

  6. Wufpacker 10/28/2012 at 5:14 PM #

    “if we can somehow win out, and VT can do us a favor and beat FSU, we are in the championship game.”

    😀

    Thanks….I needed that.

  7. Wulfpack 10/28/2012 at 5:18 PM #

    Dogbreath has it. Not sure what makes a State fan think we can lure a guy like Strong in. He is the hottest coach on the market, no question. And he has the SEC pedigree. Here are his stops along the way:

    Played at Central Arkansas
    Florida
    Texas A&M
    Southern Illinois
    Florida
    Ole Miss
    Florida
    Notre Dame
    South Carolina
    Florida
    Louisville (HC)

    He is NOT coming here. No way.

  8. mak4dpak 10/28/2012 at 5:20 PM #

    Wufpacker, I had to find something positive after the debacle I witnessed in Kenan Stadium yesterday.

  9. Wufpacker 10/28/2012 at 5:32 PM #

    ^ Yep, I get it completely. 🙂

  10. mak4dpak 10/28/2012 at 6:30 PM #

    And forgot to say if we do make it to the championship game, no matter what the holes do, they can’t go. Ha! Ha!

  11. motorhead 10/28/2012 at 6:34 PM #

    Any mention of blaming it on the refs looks really bad. We didn’t try to win. We punted to Gio. We couldnt stop him. We lost. End of story.

  12. PackFamily 10/28/2012 at 6:44 PM #

    Charile Strong makes just under $3M per year and is one of the highest paid coaches in the country. I don’t know if he’d even leave for the SEC let alone the ACC.

  13. EasternWakeWolf 10/28/2012 at 6:46 PM #

    And as much as I would like for us to, we will not win out. I see no way we beat Clemson and would not be surprised if we lay an egg in another game. We don’t deserve any help from another team. We not only lost the game, but our chance to make it to the ACC Championship on our own.

  14. TLeo 10/28/2012 at 6:50 PM #

    It would be a miracle to win out and I don’t see it happening. I expect a loss at Clemson and at least one more to either Va., WF or BC.

  15. motorhead 10/28/2012 at 6:51 PM #

    Easternwake. I fully agree. We lose to Clemson and we will take a shit in (at least) one other game. 7-5 and a used tire/taco stand bowl.

  16. Alpha Wolf 10/28/2012 at 6:56 PM #

    Agreed about complaining about the referees. State had the game under control and let up. When they had their foot on the neck of the Heels, instead of grinding down, they stepped away and took their chances. Bad move.

  17. motorhead 10/28/2012 at 7:07 PM #

    That’s right Alpha. You don’t play for OT and then complain about a clip. My son is a junior at Ch(yes, I know) and the first text he sent me after the game… Was it to brag and rub it in? No. The first text he sent me said that TOB should be fired just because of the last play calling.

  18. mak4dpak 10/28/2012 at 7:15 PM #

    We probably will lose to Clemson, but then who thought we would beat FSU. Just sayin!

  19. mak4dpak 10/28/2012 at 8:15 PM #

    If we have any hope of a championship, we all better be cheering for the hokies Thursday nite when they play FSU. Then our destiny is again in our hands. Go Hokies!

  20. NCSU84 10/28/2012 at 8:17 PM #

    I do not know why we are so upset with TOB. Granted there has been some questionable play calling. But TOB and an 8-4 or 7-5 record is about the best we can hope for from ANY coach who would stay here. ANY coach that wins big at NCSU or any of the non-powerhouse football schools will leave for a better position if history is any indication (i.e. Mack Brown from UNC; Steve Spurrier from Duke; Lou Holtz, Bo Rein). The ACC is what it is – a basketball conference. I do not like admitting that because football is my passion. But I have to face reality.

  21. Flannel Avenger 10/28/2012 at 8:51 PM #

    This is what happened to us yesterday:

  22. MISTA WOLF 10/28/2012 at 8:52 PM #

    http://m.espn.go.com/ncf/story?storyId=8566258

    Just when you think your life sucks as a fan something happens and makes it a little brighter 🙂 Things are going to change guys and we have to trust in our AD. Relax, enjoy the show and drink some cold beer along the way.

  23. TeufelWolf 10/28/2012 at 8:53 PM #

    @NCSU84: I disagree. Does anyone watch Shark Tank? That show has it right — it’s all about the MONEY. The only reason all of those coaches left is because of one thing — more money. Plain and simple. We’ll get what we’re willing to pay for and that’s it. Charlie Strong WILL probably stay in the SEC, but only because those schools can afford him. We need to find the best coach we can afford. If he wins and brings in more revenue then he can get paid more (cough, cough – Mark Gottfried – cough). We need to get rid of TOB’s assistants, force him to quit and get the best coach that we can afford. That’s pretty much all we can do. Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking there is something ‘magical’ about the SEC. No, behind the curtain is a big fat pay check and that’s it.

  24. bigwolfpacker 10/28/2012 at 9:00 PM #

    My UNC friends have told me that they were saying thank you to TOB every time he ran the ball in the second half. Running the ball is dead in football unless you have a guy like bernard but TOB doesnt get it. Dropped passes were a bigger problem though. We dropped 200 yds of passes.
    On another note, looks like James Washington’s career is over and thats sad. I never really thought he had enough burst to be getting the # of snaps he got. Why did he get so many snaps in the second half yesterday?

  25. john of sparta 10/28/2012 at 9:32 PM #

    3 to agree and 1 to add:
    agree……
    1. we cannot afford a top (Strong) coach.
    2. the ACC is a backwater football conference.
    3. TOB iz az gud az id gtz fr uz. 8n4 n shdup.

    this 1 to add…..
    we did what we did the right way.

Leave a Reply