So What Is Your Take on Football This Year

General NCS Football31

Chuck Amato held a press conferenceon Friday. I didn’t see anything very newsworthy. The Greensboro News & Record says that “Stone lodged atop quarterback depth chart“, but who else would it be?

The following is a link to NC State’s 2006 Football Schedule and a previous conversation. Have you made any observations during spring practice (since we haven’t talked very much football here during basketball?) What’s your take on this football season?

09/02/06 Appalachian State Raleigh, N.C. TBA
09/09/06 Akron Raleigh, N.C. TBA
09/16/06 Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, Miss. TBA
09/23/06 Boston College Raleigh, N.C. TBA
10/05/06 Florida State Raleigh, N.C. TBA
10/14/06 Wake Forest Raleigh, N.C. TBA
10/21/06 Maryland College Park, Md. TBA
10/28/06 Virginia Charlottesville, Va. TBA
11/04/06 Georgia Tech Raleigh, N.C. TBA
11/11/06 Clemson Clemson, S.C. TBA
11/18/06 North Carolina Chapel Hill, N.C. TBA
11/25/06 East Carolina

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General NCS Football

31 Responses to So What Is Your Take on Football This Year

  1. Chris 03/27/2006 at 12:42 PM #

    Did Lee Fowler lose a bet with Terry Holland? ECU last game of the season? WTF???

    Seriously, this schedule is very tough. 4 of our last 6 on the road, and closing with Carolina and ECU.

    My expectations…we better win at least 7 or 8, and anything less is complete failure IMO. We should not still be in rebuilding mode at this point, and as tough as this schedule is, if we play to our talent’s capability, we should be able to enjoy some success this season. A 6-6 record, and we’re probably having the same conversations about Amato that we’re having about Herb right now. Having said that, I won’t be surprised if that is, in fact, what happens. PROVE ME WRONG CHUCK!

  2. David C. 03/27/2006 at 12:42 PM #

    those who are strongly standing by Herb are not as warm to Chuck, my bets are even with better results he ends up getting canned before Herb…

  3. David C. 03/27/2006 at 12:44 PM #

    just remember what happened the last time we closed against UNC & ECU…

    Chuck needs to fully understand the political situations tied to his future employment at NC State…

  4. DC Wolf 03/27/2006 at 12:51 PM #

    What stands out to me is that we open with Div. 1AA Champ, Appalachian. This *should* be a win, but it’s not a gimme. I don’t know enough about App. St, but if they didn’t lose most of the team to graduation, we could come out flat/first game jitters and screw the pooch. Doubtful, but you have to allow for the possibility that they could pull a Furman on us.

    I like that we have a chance to get some games under our belt before we reach the “meat” of the schedule. The BC game is huge. If we can pick up that one at home, we are *capable” of having a 9 win season. I expect 7-5, would be thrilled with 8-4 as that would show improvement over last year.

    I also like that the Carolina game is late. I’ve said for years that the scheduling gurus need to make it the last game. Carolina-Duke may have been a football rivalry back in the 40’s, but it hasn’t been that way for some time. State and Carolina should play the last game.

  5. formrwolffan 03/27/2006 at 1:00 PM #

    App scares the beejesus out of me. State could very easily come out flat, and they could run thru the inexperienced defense we will have upfront. Of course ON PAPER State should be much better, but they will be well-coached. Will we?
    I think 6-6 would be the most we could expect.

  6. Jon Smith 03/27/2006 at 1:10 PM #

    I am pretty sure that App State lost their top 2 QBs.

  7. BJD95 03/27/2006 at 1:11 PM #

    If we don’t get at least 8 wins, I would be in favor of a coaching chance. No excuses.

  8. VaWolf82 03/27/2006 at 1:16 PM #

    We should not still be in rebuilding mode at this point,

    When you lose the majority of your defense to the NFL and graduation, it is a rebuilding year whether you like it or not. Even with a world of talent, Miami’s defense in 2004 was substantially weakened by the early departures to the NFL the year before. You would have to be crazy not to expect a major drop in State’s defense this year.

    I am not optimistic heading into the year. With the QB’s I’ve seen at State in the years between Erik Kramer and Philip Rivers, the last two years have been extremely tough to watch. As of today, I know of no reason to hope for dramatic improvements at QB this year.

    Combine the play of the QB and OL over the last two years with the departures on defense….and the outlook for 2006 is not promising.

    Can anyone point out the rules for counting I-AA games towards bowl eligibility?

  9. cfpack03 03/27/2006 at 1:17 PM #

    Our offense is basically the same, its the defense (as far as players) that will be completely different. Since Amato is a defensive coach, I’m excited to start the season

  10. Only One 03/27/2006 at 1:17 PM #

    someone said “Chuck needs to fully understand the political situations tied to his future employment at NC State…”

    why would he? He’s seen Herb lose year in and year out to ALL our rivals and not get canned. Chuck would have to kill someone to get fired. UNLESS, Lee “Lurch” Fowler decides that a firing of chuck would appease the masses.

  11. VTPACKFAN 03/27/2006 at 1:36 PM #

    “As of today, I know of no reason to hope for dramatic improvements at QB this year.”

    This will be the first time in years that state returns the same Offensive coordinator. Tresselman came in highly rated, but with the transition from the pro game and the flat out terrible OL pass blocking, things turned out bad last season. Hopefully he learned something about play calling from last year. NFL guys could care less which hash mark the ball is spotted since they’re right next to each other. In college there is a huge difference in play calling whether the ball is spotted on the rt. or lft. hash, and at times I think Tresselman forgot that.

  12. BJD95 03/27/2006 at 2:02 PM #

    Chuck doesn’t have enough goodwill built up to have a rebuilding year, even though that’s what the personnel situation would dictate.

    Fortunately, Chuck isn’t anywhere near the prolific kisser of rear ends that Herb is – so there is at least a slight chance that he will be judged on merit by “the powers that be.”

  13. RickJ 03/27/2006 at 2:05 PM #

    VaWolf82 – I believe at one time the NCAA had a rule that you couldn’t count I-AA games at all for bowl eligibility. That was changed so you could count one every so many years (maybe four?). I think it may have been dropped altogether now.

    There was a rule at one time that if you played 12 regular season games, you couldn’t be bowl eligible with a 6 – 6 record. I believe this was in effect in O’Cain’s last year when we went 6 -6 I believe this rule was dropped after one year.

    I think it is as simple as getting to 6 wins now.

  14. choppack 03/27/2006 at 2:27 PM #

    We replace Va Tech w/ UVa – and that’s a good trade, but we haven’t won in Charlottesville in quite a time.

    The Pack could suprise some people this year. Unfortunately, after what we saw last year – and the fact that we lose so much -I’m one of those who’ll be surprised if we have a winning record.

  15. VTPACKFAN 03/27/2006 at 2:30 PM #

    Akron returns the QB, TE, and all of OL, plus 8 of 11 starters on defense. They won the MAC last year on a last second touchdown, then lost to Memphis in Motor City Bowl. App. St. is Div. 1AA, and will probably stay close or lead for half the game. So. Miss is always a tough place to play, so this is going to be uphill battle all year. A 5-5 record when we finish in Chapel Hill, then move on the Greensville is a success for Chuck granted he wins those two games. 6-4 or 7-3 records followed by losses agauinst the Holes and Pirates willl probably finish him, even with a Bowl win the Muffler Bowl.

  16. BJD95 03/27/2006 at 2:30 PM #

    This schedule has NO Virginia Tech, NO Miami, and only one decent OOC opponent (Southern Miss, still no great shakes). A good team wins AT LEAST 8 games against this schedule. That’s only asking for 5-3 in conference with a loss in Hattiesburg, or an OOC sweep and .500 in conference.

  17. gf8ce 03/27/2006 at 2:34 PM #

    here’s my two cents: I hope we surprise people in a similar fashion as carolina did for bball.

  18. BJD95 03/27/2006 at 2:36 PM #

    Final 2005 Sagarin rankings for our 2006 OOC foes:

    Southern Miss – 64
    App State – 69
    ECU – 92
    Akron – 94

    I have no idea how many starters return for these teams. But they won’t be world-beaters, by any stretch of the imagination.

  19. Alpha Wolf 03/27/2006 at 2:47 PM #

    This is a rebuilding year, plain and simple. There are going to be a lot of new starters on both sides of the ball — and people who think otherwise must not have noticed guys like TJ Williams (gone) Mario Williams (gone) MAnny Lawson (gone) etc. Replace all of that talent, all of whom will be playing for money in the League next season and you have a recipe for a rebuilding year.

    That said, it is critical that this team buckle down and play seriously and not make silly mental errors next year. Stone will need to not play like Betty Crocker in the first half of games. AJ Davis will need to quit imitating Greg Golden as often as he did last year. The new linemen will need to do something last year’s guys were incapable of, blocking. And so forth and so on.

    The only thing I am seriously hoping for is continuous improvement next season. Anything more probably is not in the cards.

  20. VaWolf82 03/27/2006 at 2:50 PM #

    Chuck isn’t anywhere near the prolific kisser of rear ends that Herb is – so there is at least a slight chance that he will be judged on merit by “the powers that be.â€?

    This would make for an interesting scenario. Fire an alum who has reached a higher national ranking in substantially less time than Herb. I would be shocked.

    I won’t waste time trying to predict a record because I simply don’t know enough about the other teams in the conference. However, if State’s defense collapses to the 2003 level….then there is probably no game that can’t be lost.

  21. Only One 03/27/2006 at 3:00 PM #

    >then there is probably no game that can’t be lost.

    IBID for the basketball team

  22. SaccoV 03/27/2006 at 3:00 PM #

    I don’t see five wins in this schedule with this team. QB is iffy at best and though the running game is strong, the defensive front-7 cannot be as good as last year considering the holes created. Although he cannot afford it, Chuck will finish another 6-6 season and HOPEFULLY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD find himself unemployed at the season’s end. I hate to be so pessimistic and pray for the coach to be canned, but again, results don’t lie. Chuck Amato would barely earn enough points to merit UNDERACHEIVER status by most school’s standards. I harken back to those days of playing text-based adventures like Zork and Enchanter. I keep hoping that the press will release a statement after the 2006 season is over saying: “Your score is a 12 out of a possible 100 which gives you the rank of CHARLATAN!!”

  23. Wuf62 03/27/2006 at 3:20 PM #

    Iffa, couldda, wouldda, shouldda – I hate to sound like Monty “Iffin” sneaked back in town, but I think we are looking at least five losses (BC, FState, Ga Tech, Clemson, and yes, UNC in Chapel Still) with two games sitting on the edge because they are away – Maryland and Va. These thoughts are predicated on the fact that I see the offense as only slightly better than last year and the defense as being the calibre that showed up in the Carolina and Clemson games in ’05. It could be 7-5 or 5-7. Either way, Lee keeps Chuck. If something indeed bizarre occurs, it could be 9-3 or 4-8. If it is 4-8, look for Lee to fire Herb and let Chuck take over BBall.

  24. old13 03/27/2006 at 3:45 PM #

    IMHHO if the offense can’t win the TOP war consistently, keeping the defense off the field, and score more points than last year, I see ONE SURE WIN on the entire schedule. With a descent offense, it could still be a 6-6 season. BUT if the offense should be very consistent and very effective, ALL of those games are winable, though not guaranteed by any means.

  25. Cardiff Giant 03/27/2006 at 3:58 PM #

    “Your score is a 12 out of a possible 100 which gives you the rank of CHARLATAN!!â€?

    Amato’s sheer idiocy in game-day coaching decisions is worth a penalty of -4 each time the 12-sided die is rolled.

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