Volmageddon – Why It’s So Emotionally Devastating

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.

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

'12 Football Tom O'Brien

134 Responses to Volmageddon – Why It’s So Emotionally Devastating

  1. Pack Leader 09/01/2012 at 9:50 AM #

    3 MAJOR CONCERNS from last night:

    1. OFFENSIVE LINE- we read dozens of articles praising their size and experience, but we had never seen these players put together a full season healthy and powerful. Its not like Tenn put together advanced blitzing packages that fooled our guys, no if you watch the tape, it was faster DE’s or stronger LB’s running up and blowing by our guys. This is suppose to be our bread and butter….
    2. REPLACING TERRELL MANNING- everyone wondered if State could replace Nate Irving after his senior season, and Terrell stepped right into that roll and lead the defense the entire season. This season we were told it was all-american Amerson, which is great, but he isnt involed in every play like a MLB is. He does not call plays or audibles, nor does he attack the qb (which is the reason Amerson had half his Ints last year…). Until we replace our strong LB core from last year, this season will be difficult to stomach defensively.
    3. RECRUITING- we are told over and over the staff can turn a 2* into a 5* in 4 years, but almost every drafted or successful player in college was a 3-5* prize recruit for TOB (which he hasn’t landed in 3 years). And we saw last night what a good staff can do with 5* recruits for 3 years… run over, around and through some slow white boys. Last night was obvious we are a 3* team with a couple 4* playmakers sprinked in versus a team of big, fast 5* talent at almost every position. SEC vs ACC one could argue.

    It is possible to regroup and win the ACC, but with a tough game @ UCONN next, I see a 0-2 start just as likely.

  2. freshmanin83 09/01/2012 at 9:59 AM #

    Woulda, coulda, shoulda is a bitter pill I keep swallowing every time I think of this game. It think it is going to be with me for a while this season.

  3. TruthBKnown Returns 09/01/2012 at 10:10 AM #

    I’m not here to blow sunshine, but I take issue with the notion that it could have been oh, so much worse for State. I don’t really know how it could be much worse. Yes, they had a would-be touchdown that was ruled a fumble before the score. But we also had a dropped “on the money” pass that would have given us a first and goal on our first drive. And we missed the ensuing FG attempt.

    Meanwhile, Tennessee’s first three scores came on bomb passes and a huge running play where the running back got into open space and we couldn’t get him. Tennessee couldn’t put together sustained drives for quite a while last night (when they weren’t scoring on HUGE plays, we were actually doing a good job of stopping them). They scored three times on four COMBINED plays. I’d say that’s a case of everything going right for them. We dropped a lot of very catchable passes, too. So I can’t agree that it could have been so much worse for State.

    One positive we can take from this is that (IMO) we were much better on this opening night than we were in last year’s season-opening game. It’s just that this year we faced a much more formidable opponent than last year.

    We can still have a good, or maybe great, season. It just won’t be the SPECIAL season many of us were hoping for. But sadly, it is a reminder of just how far behind the SEC we are.

  4. wolf pack 09/01/2012 at 10:10 AM #

    Wow- the gest of this article, ncsu is and never will be good. How about next time write about what went wrong, or how we can be better. I can say with confidence that no one wants to read this negative junk. Save us all some time and post this in a forum or call someone, but don’t post this on the front page. Think about what you’re doing.

  5. hellfishtat 09/01/2012 at 10:15 AM #

    I’ll be 50 y/o this December. I don’t know why things like this still bother me. It’s not like we’ve been a GREAT program the majority of my adult life.

  6. projectwentynine 09/01/2012 at 10:29 AM #

    Terrible.

  7. eas 09/01/2012 at 10:34 AM #

    For those who think it wasn’t that bad were you watching a different game? Sure the score was not horrible but we were really man handled last night. UT= Stronger players, more consistent play calling, more motivated, less stupid mistakes, better coached (at least last night). Not trying to be negative but rather just honest. We have huge gaps and Archer’s defense looks the same as it has EVERY year.

  8. Semper_WolfPack 09/01/2012 at 10:37 AM #

    I do agree that their talent level was higher, but I think the majority of our troubles came from bad coaching decisions. Why were our CBs playing off of their WR/TEs by 8-9 yards EVERY PLAY?! When they can average 6-7 yards per passing play, all it takes is two of those plays, and they’ve moved the chains. I don’t recall seeing one play where our DBs pressed the receivers and challenged them off the line. Glennon’s INTs didn’t help anything, and Amerson sure didn’t look like an All-American. I think Bray only got touched once. Not sure where the team goes from here, but it’s kind of hard to imagine sinking much further after the expectations coming into the game. I was not assuming a win last night, but I was expecting the Pack to be much more competitive. As a Marine myself, I really want TOB to succeed. However, it seems like his mentality is to not even try to deal with 5* players, so none are even recruited. Maybe a coaching change is in order, maybe not. Either way, I will be pulling for them all season long, and for the rest of my life. It gets very frustrating though, watching mediocrity. GO PACK!

  9. NCSU84 09/01/2012 at 10:45 AM #

    I have to agree with wolfpack. Winning begins with attitude. If we begin writing such negative comments, after the FIRST game against an SEC opponent, then our team begins to believe that losing is their fate. I once recall a coach stating.’ never give up’. Perhaps some us already have given up on our football program. I, for one, have not and NEVER will give up on my team, my school, my alma mater – Go State!!!!

  10. Texpack 09/01/2012 at 10:46 AM #

    Hopefully this will be TOB’s final season. Last night’s performance was a tremendous embarrassment, which puts it right in line with most of his other big game performances against teams not from Orange County. I don’t agree that we can’t ever be good in football, but if we allow another three to four years of winning 7-8 games against a collection of Duke/WF/Sun Belt/MAC/FBS teams we may well be PERMANENTLY relegated to the minors of college football.

    Glennon was awful. He also had several nice throws that he made, dropped in critical spots.

    Our secondary looked incapable of covering somebody in a wheel chair, much less D1 receivers.

    So much for making progress with the program.

    ^”I have to agree with wolfpack. Winning begins with attitude.”
    That’s why it was disgusting to watch us run off tackle down two scores with under six minutes left in the game. That’s not indicative of a winning attitude in my book.

  11. wufpup76 09/01/2012 at 10:59 AM #

    Unfortunately, the game last night was very telling – more than a ‘It’s just one game, write it off’ type of game.

    The team needs to write it off – they can still have a good season (and I’ll be proud if they do). However, it’s difficult to ignore the larger picture after a game like last night’s against that type of opponent.

    I don’t necessarily agree that we could never be a ‘legit player’ in college football, but obviously there is a very large gap for us and, well … pretty much the rest of the ACC.

    Who knows though … Maybe the unthunkable can happen and we can bounce back and play + beat an SEC team in a bowl (yes, it’s ok to laugh … but without hope what do you have? 🙂 )

  12. Wulfpack 09/01/2012 at 11:06 AM #

    That could have easily been a 28 point blowout. Really puzzling why this happens. TOB refuses to make the big step. Looking like it will be another so-so year. That is fine, but my excitement for the season is definitely tempered.

  13. BJD95 09/01/2012 at 11:07 AM #

    Here’s the only way to ever be a player:

    1) Somehow get invited and join the SEC.
    2) Hire a great, young, ambitious coach who can see the long view.
    3) Wait AT LEAST ten years.

    Chances of that happening? Perhaps 0.1%. My apologies to those of you who are too near death to enjoy even that pipe dream. 🙂

  14. Rick 09/01/2012 at 11:14 AM #

    The TOB experiment has failed.
    He has a 33-31 record. I am sure he get his 7 win record but this was the year.
    11 seniors and a preseason AA. What more can you ask for?
    And yet we see another TOBomb. His teams do not play like they care until the 6th game. I for one am tired of it.

  15. BJD95 09/01/2012 at 11:19 AM #

    I don’t suspect TOB will want to come back after this year, either. He thought he could take the next step here, and he can’t. Whether that’s his failure, NC State’s failure as a program destination, or both (likely, in my view)…might as well retire. He has enough $$, likes the beach, and outlasted his nemesis (the fired and insane Boston College AD DeFilipo (sp??)).

    Problem is that there’s about a 90% chance the next coach will be worse. But hell, at least it will be different. 2013 and 2014 look to be very ugly regardless.

  16. BureauOfMines 09/01/2012 at 11:36 AM #

    I also get the impression TOB is on final approach.

  17. Rick 09/01/2012 at 11:50 AM #

    So another parallel to Sendek in that he will leave a low talent level when he goes and thus force us to rebuild.
    I am sorry but I have not believed TOB is really trying that hard for several years. Short timers syndrome is very apparent here.

  18. Mike 09/01/2012 at 11:50 AM #

    All you negative Nellies, how can we even expect to compete? We should be happy to be 3rd fiddle to the blues next door…..oh wait, wrong sport.

    To those saying you dont think we cna do any better than TOB, what about the Gott? We said the same thing in bball, that we should be happy with HWSNBN or Sid because we cant expect any better. WRONG – we CAN be a power and my guess is Debbie will do all she can to get us back.

    I am just as disappointed this AM as I was last night, maybe more so. It is the same old thing – we showed no emotion or excitement and frnakly, I think TOB did not care about this game. Based on some things I had read, this was just another opening game, and he is saving his stuff for the conference. I think TOTALLY the wrong attitude but that was what I observed. Opening game against SEC, we should have been fired up and ready to play, and we were not even close.

  19. BJD95 09/01/2012 at 11:53 AM #

    NC State basketball is a MUCH better job than NC State football. That’s why Sendek did as well here as he did (vs. Arizona State), and Gottfried is a great example of what a competent, motivated coach can do with the natural benefits NC State provides.

    A lot of higher profile basketball coaches (cough, Sean Miller, cough) have to be kicking themselves.

  20. BJD95 09/01/2012 at 11:54 AM #

    Rick, I don’t argue that TOB hasn’t had Sendek-caliber results here. But if he was truly football Sendek…his record would be much worse.

  21. ShipHappens 09/01/2012 at 11:54 AM #

    I did not watch the game, but listened on the network. It became obvious in pretty short order we were up against a team that was bigger, stronger and faster. As it turns out UT is a legit SEC team. In light of that was the outcome of the game as bad as every one here is thinking? We can still have a special season. What worries me more is the apparent poor play by Amerson and Glennon. We could lose and they still play well. That did not come across on the broadcast.

  22. beeeejay 09/01/2012 at 11:56 AM #

    Last night was another example of same s**t different day for TOB in big games. I’m tired of his slow starts only to rally and beat what amounts to MAC teams to go to pizza bowls. Him keeping Archer around is enough to show he is just waiting to retire. I hope DY has another good coach for this position because no one is going to want to work with this bare a cupboard.

  23. Rick 09/01/2012 at 12:01 PM #

    “But if he was truly football Sendek…his record would be much worse.”

    Worse? His record is 33-31
    Comparable to Sendek’s ACC record if I remember correctly

  24. rdjennin 09/01/2012 at 12:07 PM #

    I’m sorry to everyone, but I’ve watched Tennessee closely over the last 2 years being my wife is from Knoxville. Either Sal Sunseri is a defensive genius that we should hire as head coach because he made the Tennessee d-Line 3500% better in 2 months, or our offensive line is complete garbage. Their defensive is simply not that good. I’ve watched them get obliterated. I’m sorry boys but our offensive line would have been embarrased by a high school team last night.

    No doubt, Tyler Bray can throw, but honestly this guy throws fast and loose, with our talent in the backfield we should have had 4 interceptions last night (and still lose).

    This game was a complete failure in every sense of the word. I mean if we had of only scored 1 touchdown it would have been less of a failure. I’m so tired of sucking, but not sucking enough to be a joke. At least if we sucked enough to be a joke we could make a change.

  25. hoop 09/01/2012 at 12:10 PM #

    Re: Pack Leader. Just FYI our All-American DB got burned by a white boy last night.

    I’m a little surprised you guys think TOB is looking at retirement already and acts like it. I’m not close enough to the program to know that or even see it. I just see his behavior (or lack thereof) as a personality trait. Delegate and hope for the best. I’d love to see him get fired up occasionally. But he won’t let himself.

    Debbie surely has a lot of practice developing and editing her list for football coach. I’m sure she’ll be ready when the time comes. She got us Gott so there’s reason to hope she gets us a good coach who sees our potential instead of our results.

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