Byting the Weekends

'07 Football23

State-Carolina is coming up this weekend and we’ve got some interesting perspective of the game here.
I composed some ‘Bytes’ during this past weekend’s games but didn’t want to run this on Monday because VaWolf had already taken a great look around the ACC. So, I waited until today to wrap up this past weekend’s NC State win and other college football musings while simultaneously looking ahead a little.

* Did you know that through this past weekend the NC State Wolfpack has played the 7th toughest schedule in the country as ranked by Sagarin. The Wolfpack is currently ranked #56 and Carolina clocks in at #67. For the record, the 6-4 ECU Pirates are ranked #62 and have played the 62nd toughest schedule in the country. Man, wouldn’t it be nice to have that kind of schedule to help you get bowl eligible!

* Speaking of the State-Carolina game this weekend – you couldn’t help but love the comments the ESPNU announcers made shortly after Roy Williams was honored on the field in the first half of the Maryland-Carolina game this past weekend. The announcers commented that they couldn’t tell who was being cheered more loudly, Roy Williams or the football team. A local newspaper (I think the Charlotte Observer) then took the Tarheel fans to task for the early exodus from the football game of about 15,000 fans who wanted to get to the Dean Dome for the Tarheels exhibition basketball game. Ah yes. Good old “Carolina Football”! Take a look at this entry for more on this topic.

* In case you were living under a rock the last few days ‘Miami still controlled their own destiny in the ACC’s Coastal division’ until they lost too the Wolfpack on Saturday. Uggggh. Puhlease. Has anyone watched this team this year? Who in their right mind truly thought the Canes have/had the ability to run the table the rest of the way?

* The half empty Orange Bowl was relatively quiet most of Saturday, with the roar of “Wolf / Pack” from NC State’s crowd resonating on television as loud as any Miami cheer of the afternoon. I know that high school kids are attracted to the allure of the “The U” and the party culture of Miami; but, I hope that our coaches and players will find ways to hammer home the message of our 60,000 fans attending EVERY game while on the recruiting trail. (Related article of interest on the topic)

* A lot has (rightfully) been made of the improvement of NC State offensive line‘s since the bye-week. The of focus that attention has fallen on the stellar play that true freshman Jake Vergilio provided since being being inserted into the starting line-up. Allow me to also remind you that Jerrrail McCuller has also been starting the last three games after losing his starting spot for off-the-field issues in the pre-season.

* The Wolfpack’s recent win streak that clearly is attributed to the improved offensive line only serves to re-inforce what most fans already felt they knew over the last couple of years — there has been (and still is) enough talent in this program to put a solid product on the field if only our previous coaches would have made the offensive line more of priority as opposed to recruiting dozens and dozens of ‘athletes’ that all look the same and can only play defensive back or wide receiver.

* ESPNU did a horrible job of television production for State’s visit to Miami. I know that it is only ESPNU…but, the difference in the preparation of the announcers from the State-UVA game and yesterday was striking. State provides television with a lot of ‘storylines’ on which to focus and ESPNU missed every one. There was little or nothing regarding TOB’s historical struggles vs Miami; State’s recent hot streak coming out of the bye-week; the number of Miami-area players on NC State’s roster; State’s turnover and penalty issues; or especially the Wolfpack’s inexplicable rash of injuries this season. Some of these issues were at least fleetingly mentioned during the broadcast, but were not featured in any way.

* As the game evolved, the production generally ignored the struggles of Kirby Freeman; Miami’s prodigious rushing effort; NC State’s lack of turnovers as compared to recent years. It was like there was nothing to discuss other than the most recent play on the field.

* ESPNU also deserves criticism for assigning former Miami Head Coach,Larry Coker, to the provide the color commentary for the game. Coker was reasonable, but was also being boring as all hell. He did very good job on controversial plays, but a few of his comments were so bad that threads popped-up on message boards during the broadcast in response to some of the things that he was saying. In the first quarter, Coker flat-out stated, “NC State is not better than Miami.”. His entire perspective during the broadcast was (understandably) all about Miami, but carried with it a presumption that the Hurricanes were surely going to win the game.

* Boston College loses a big game in November! Sound familiar? I guess everything in the world may not be TOB‘s fault. “Jags” Could you imagine the egg on the BC fans face if the Eagles lose another one in the November in Death Valley?

* Don’t know if you heard Brent Musburger on Saturday night, but the veteran announcer commented on how Boston College’s #2 ranked Eagles warranted local newspaper in the Boston Globe on page 8. (See my previous comments on kids who go to play for programs with such little support when given options to play for other programs)

* Don’t look now…but, both Clemson and Wake Forest ‘control their own destiny’ in the Atlantic Division of the ACC. As ‘mediocre’ as the conference has been in 2007, some key games of interest remain on the schedule in November.

* Congratulations Navy and Coach Paul Johnson. Notre Dame is 1-8. Awesome. Wasn’t this one of the years that NC State was previously scheduled to play Notre Dame before the Irish backed out?

* Alabama is a clear #2 in the SEC West and everyone is making a huge deal of LSU’s win over the Tide on Saturday. Even if Nick Saban wasn’t coaching Bama I could understand this. But, how many people remember/realize that Florida State defeated Alabama earlier this year in Jacksonville? Point is that the ACC may not be the top conference in the country, but there is too much discounting of important wins by some of our conference’s teams.

* As much as I would LOVE to see another southern team (LSU) dominate Ohio State in the BCS National Championship game, I think that an LSU vs Oregon match-up would be a much better game. Unfortunately, the Tigers still have quite a guantlet of a schedule to run through before bowl bids come out.

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'07 Football

23 Responses to Byting the Weekends

  1. RickJ 11/07/2007 at 11:08 AM #

    The point about FSU beating Alabama is outstanding.

    “Boston College loses a big game in November! Sound familiar? I guess everything in the world may not be TOB’s fault. “Jags” Could you imagine the egg on the BC fans face if the Eagles lose another one in the November in Death Valley?”

    Mr. NFL Europe and the best coach Brett Favre ever had have put up a combined 31 points in the past 2 weeks with the best pro style QB in college football and 5 other starting seniors on the offense.

    “Don’t look now…but, both Clemson and Wake Forest ‘control their own destiny’ in the Atlantic Division of the ACC.”

    I don’t think that is true of Wake Forest – they need help. Wake is currently 4 -2 in the league with one of the losses to BC. BC is 4 -1 and would have to lose 2 more in the league in order for Wake to overtake them by winning out.

  2. MatSci94 11/07/2007 at 11:38 AM #

    “LSU vs Oregon”

    That would be a great one, as would a couple of other variations. I wish the voters would consider the end of last year, when the media tried to get us to believe that Ohio State and Michigan were *clearly* the two best teams in the country, who went on to loose by a combined 41 points in their bowl games.

  3. Six Pack 11/07/2007 at 11:39 AM #

    “As much as I would LOVE to see another southern team (LSU) dominate Ohio State in the BCS National Championship game, I think that an LSU vs Oregon match-up would be a much better game. Unfortunately, the Tigers still have quite a guantlet of a schedule to run through before bowl bids come out.”

    Yes, I agree. It would be outstanding to see yet another Southern school take one of those overrated Big Ten schools behind the wood shed, but the better game would be LSU v. OU!

  4. tmb81 11/07/2007 at 12:13 PM #

    I agree with Musberger’s comments about BC’s lack of coverage in the Boston area. It’s not just this year, it is ANY year. I was commuting up there every week last Fall. During the week of our game with them, I had to dig to find any pre-game articles. After our victory, I couldn’t even properly crow to the locals…They had no idea that BC had moved to the ACC.

    (But I did get some feedback from them after hired TOB, though)

  5. BJD95 11/07/2007 at 2:43 PM #

    LSU/Oregon would be a GREAT game. I’m rooting for that, too. Either one would beat Ohio State senseless, IMHO.

    Ohio State and Kansas/Hawaii could play an alternate game for the yahoos who scream “Hey, but they’re UNDEFEATED” when arguing about who should play for the title. They could be the national champion for the Division I “Plays in shitty conference on top of really shitty non-conference schedule” Subdivision.

  6. tvp 11/07/2007 at 2:48 PM #

    “LSU/Oregon would be a GREAT game. I’m rooting for that, too. Either one would beat Ohio State senseless, IMHO.”

    I’m not so sure. As much as tOSU was over-regarded last year by the conventional wisdom, I think they might be under-regarded this year. Now, beating LSU in the Sugar Bowl may be too difficult a task, but I doubt we’ll see a repeat of last year’s rout if tOSU makes it to the title game.

    And if Kansas wins out…they’ll have beaten Missouri and Oklahoma, both current top 10, 1 loss teams, with everything on the line. They will have earned their spot. I wouldn’t equate them with Hawaii.

  7. EverettBeez 11/07/2007 at 2:50 PM #

    I am glad I didn’t get to hear the State- UM game (the sound at the bar was on the OSU game). It is so annoying when the announcers are prepared for however the game turns – or when it doesn’t follow their pre-scripted narrative.

    Thanks for the reminder that FSU did beat Bama! But Bama is much improved since their bye week (sound familiar? lol). As an App grad, I love that Michigan is undefeated so far in the Big 10. Too bad App isn’t in the Big 10, maybe they wouldn’t have two L’s, haha.

    What a great year to have had Notre Dame on the schedule! Man, do we ever catch any breaks? Though, with our luck we would’ve played them right after Central Florida.

    Go State! I am pumped for this weekend!

  8. EverettBeez 11/07/2007 at 2:52 PM #

    My apologies for the double post – even I don’t want to read what I write twice.

  9. BJD95 11/07/2007 at 2:53 PM #

    KS does face a tougher road than HI. I should clarify to say that HI will take KS’ slot in the “title” game if and when KS loses to Mizzou or OU.

    That is one thing for the Big 12 – they do at least have to play a league title game, which is at least an extra game against a decent opponent.

    OSU was exposed last year b/c they couldn’t handle the team speed of FL. I don’t see that fatal flaw being fixed, and if anything, this year’s LSU and OR teams are even faster and more athletic (especially LSU’s defense).

  10. Sam92 11/07/2007 at 3:45 PM #

    Great post. I think another perspective on the game is its importance in recruiting. According to PackPride, http://northcarolinastate.scout.com/a.z?s=178&p=9&c=4&yr=2008, NCSU and UNC are both schools of interest for five four-star players and four three-star players. Once these guys commit, it will be interesting to see how many of them choose the winner of saturday’s game.

  11. bTHEredterror 11/07/2007 at 5:13 PM #

    “Don’t look now…but, both Clemson and Wake Forest ‘control their own destiny’ ”

    This is based on the assumption that I share that BC will lose to Clemson on Death Valley. Hell, I think they may drop one to Miami as well. I can see a five way tie atop our division with everybody at 5-3 except Maryland. Since we lost to FSU Clemson and BC we are eliminated, but it would mean a great deal to finish the season that strongly.

  12. LRM 11/07/2007 at 5:25 PM #

    While I subscribe to the notion that the SEC West is by far the toughest division in college football let’s not discount the ACC Atlantic!!!

    As it stands, we’re at 2-3, which is the same as or better than Miami, UNC, GT, and Duke in the Coastal; if we beat Carolina, then we’ll have swept our Coastal matchups. Meanwhile, we can still finish ahead of Wake by winning out and ahead of Clemson by winning out with some help…

    And no, I didn’t type any of that while holding a straight face.

  13. RedTerror29 11/07/2007 at 6:19 PM #

    Two interesting items in the Sagarin rankings:

    UVA is ranked #18 in the Elo-Chess, “official” (read: used in BCS calculations) rankings, but only #34 when margin of victory is taken into account. I think UVA is much closer to being the #34 team than #18. You don’t win that many games that close against mediocre teams when you’re that good.

    The strength of schedule for Oregon and LSU are almost identical. The impression that LSU has played a tougher schedule is apparently not true (WVU/Miss. St, FSU/Bama, Cal/UT etc. show the SEC isn’t as good this year as some people think).

    I’d like to see Ohio St. go down and Oregon make it into the title game. Just further proof that the option is obsolete…

  14. tvp 11/07/2007 at 6:45 PM #

    ^The Pac-10 teams play tougher schedules because they have one more conference game (and hence one less patsy out-of-conference game).

  15. Ismael 11/07/2007 at 7:46 PM #

    I just started watch the NCSU-Miami torrent…Coker-head starts out by making an interesting statement in hyping up how good the UM QB’s are; he said and i quote: “Both Kirby and Wright were Elite-11 QB’s.” Man, i didnt’ know that. That’s a big deal. Then he mentioned how it was Kirby who led the great drive to beat FSU. If you read the UM message boards, which i linked to after the game, they were saying how Kirby’s the worst QB ever. I am still watching the game, but if its anything like ive seen in the first few minutes, poor-old Kirby didn’t have a whole lot of time to throw the ball.

  16. highstick 11/07/2007 at 9:14 PM #

    I did a training session this morning in Asheville in my bright red NC State shirt and started it with “Obviously I’m not a Carolina Fan”!

  17. branjawn 11/07/2007 at 11:45 PM #

    attention CORNELLPACKFAN! any interest in watchign the game at Benchwarmers saturday? I think we can round up at least 5 Pack fans up here!! I already emailed the 2 I know of.

  18. choppack1 11/07/2007 at 11:48 PM #

    RT29 – I think any football rankings are useless w/out margin of victory. That tells you who is doing by talent and who’s relying on some breaks.

  19. MatSci94 11/08/2007 at 1:08 AM #

    Here’s a ranking for you…number of wins vs Sagarin top 30. (I’m pretty sure these are wins vs current top 30, not a win vs a highly ranked team that tanked)

    LSU…………..4 (!)
    Oregon…….3

    Bunch with 2
    Oklahoma
    Florida
    Auburn
    Michigan
    South Florida
    Georgia
    Alabama
    FSU
    Kentucky
    Cal
    South Carolina
    Mississippi State

    Of these 14 teams, 8 are from the SEC. Pac10 has 2, four other conferences have 1 each.

  20. JKL 11/08/2007 at 2:55 AM #

    NCSU Students are trying to initiate a RED OUT for Saturday’s game against UNC-CH. In my 4 1/2 years of NCSU academia no one has successfully tried/done this for any wolf pack athletic events.

    Innovations in networking websites (Facebook, MySpace, etc.) and blogs (the one and only StateFans) make this very possible. A Facebook “event” has been started and has gathered nearly 1,500 students to the cause.

    Its time to get it out to the Alumni and the rest of WolfPack Nation!

    Saturday, 12 Noon…. WEAR RED!!

  21. BobLee 11/08/2007 at 12:16 PM #

    A reference was made in an earlier post about me “being heard from this week”. Here it be.

    Winners Gloat & Losers Say Deal ….. http://www.bobleesays.com

    Yes, it is about F-Bomb Alley ….. but mentions Makhtar Ndiaye. I’m pretty sure I am THE only Tar Heel that choses to remember Makhtar. Makhtar and Tom Stafford in the same article ….. gotta be a first!

    BobLee

  22. Girlfriend in a Coma 11/08/2007 at 12:57 PM #

    Maybe the students should first try to actually fill the student sections before taking on bigger projects.

  23. ShootingGuard 11/08/2007 at 2:09 PM #

    ^

    It seems like discounting SEC football is an annual sport by all fans from other conferences. It always seems like it is “yeah, they’re good, but they are not as good as people are saying…look at this non-conference loss or that non-conference loss…”

    The problem with judging SEC teams, not always but quite often, is that they literally do not take anyone as seriously that is not either an SEC rival or playing them in a national championship contest. As such, they often look pretty ugly beating up on each other all season long and are known to drop some serious eggs sometimes during the non-conference regular season games as well as lesser bowl games.

    That’s why a team like Florida last year can look so mediocre going through the SEC season and then show their complete superiority over media darling Ohio State when playing for all of the marbles.

    That’s why a team like Bama doesn’t even show up vs a mediocre or less FSU but absolutely throttles rival Tennessee and comes close to knocking clearly superior LSU.

    The SEC is just tough to judge sometimes because they really do think they are the center of the football universe…sometimes they actually are, but you just don’t know it until the end of the season.

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