Let there be Football!!! And there was Football!!!

If you visit SFN with regularity, you have noticed that we have been running a poll for a couple of weeks now that asks if the Wolfpack will finish the season with a winning record?  (at least 7-6 with a bowl appearance).  With more than 1,400 votes cast, the results are currently running 58% to 42% predicting a better than .500 record for the Wolfpack in 2010.  It has been particularly interesting to watch the poll evolve as voters have gotten more and more optimistic as we  have gotten closer to the season.

To be fair, I understand that approach.  If for no other reason than we are now at the start of the season without having lost any more key players for the season to injury.  I think you can count just that achievement as our first ‘win’ of the year.  The Wolfpack’s injury list for Western Carolina isn’t ideal, but it is an improvement from past seasons.

James Washington, who began the preseason as the No. 2 running back, leads the N.C. State injury report, which was released this morning.  Washington has a hamstring injury and is out for Saturday’s 6 p.m. game with Western Carolina. During the preseason, redshirt freshman Dean Haynes and freshman Mustafa Greene moved ahead of Washington and Curtis Underwood (who’s now the No. 3 running back) on N.C. State’s depth chart.

Here is N.C. State’s complete injury list. The players with asterisks next to their names are out for the season:

Brandon Barnes, RB – ankle
Jarvis Byrd, CB – knee
Sylvester Crawford, DE – hip
R.J. Mattes, OG – knee
Quinton Payton, WR – finger
Jay Smith, WR – groin
James Washington, HB – hamstring
*Jesse Riley, DB – knee
*Rashard Smith, DB – knee

It appears that our fans aren’t the only people whose outlooks for the season have improved throughout August camp.  Almost every season preview that we saw leading up to the last week predicted the almost identical results for the 2010 Wolfpack:

In a nutshell While not as talented as the Coastal division, the ACC Atlantic remains as unsettled as the Coastal — which features four top 30 teams — as the conference prepares for fall practice. Without question, N.C. State is capable of taking its division; as is Boston College, Clemson and Florida State, of course. If the Wolfpack are to be taking seriously as an ACC contender, however, they must improve on the defensive side of the ball, particularly in conference play. This defense was absolutely inept against ACC competition last fall, allowing at least 30 points in seven of eight conference affairs en route to a very poor finish. Is there any reason to expect an improvement? Yes, there is. If he’s fully recovered — and he may not be — Irving will provide this group with a significant boost. He was a star prior to his injury; even if Irving is only at, say, 75 percent, he’s still a premier college defender. He’ll highlight an improved back seven, though the Wolfpack will rely upon production from some relatively unproven contributors. If — and it’s a large if — N.C. State can return to even its 2007 form on defense, the offense is good enough to lead this team to eight wins. It’s just a matter of time, in my opinion, before Tom O’Brien wins in Raleigh; he’s too good a coach to expect otherwise. I think we’ll see a better Wolfpack team in 2010, a team that will return to bowl play for the first time since 2005, but I have N.C. State finishing fourth in the Atlantic division. For a program fallen on hard times, a bowl trip would be just fine.

Dream season N.C. State goes 9-3, 6-2 in conference play, and take the Atlantic division. A win in the conference championship game sends the Wolfpack to the BCS.

But…over the last few days the predictions of a definitively mediocre season have morphed into ‘mediocre with some optimism!’.  I’ll take it!  Just today, the Winston-Salem Journal predicted the Wolfpack would win a solid eight games this season while the Boston Globe gave us some credit with a 3rd place prediction.

W-S Journal: They’ll beat … Western Carolina, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Boston College, East Carolina, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Maryland.

BG: 3. North Carolina State — The Wolfpack have been ripped apart by injuries the past few years, and that has given Tom O’Brien all sorts of problems putting together a cohesive unit. But quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Sean Glennon are back, and middle linebacker Nate Irving has recovered from a near-fatal car crash. If the Wolfpack stay healthy, they could be contenders.

Lastly, we wanted to draw special attention to this Wolfpack preview from one of the ACC’s best bloggers.  It gives you a nice view into the outside perception and view of the program.

So…on the eve of the 2010 NC State football season, what is your prediction for the Wolfpack’s season?  Go “on the record’” with us in this entry so that you can stake claim to being the most accurate when the season ends.  I am going to allow my newfound optimism raise my predictions from 6-6 to a revised 8-4.  That is right – and 8-4 record for the Wolfpack and trip to the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte!

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'10 Football On the Record

32 Responses to Let there be Football!!! And there was Football!!!

  1. newt 09/03/2010 at 3:05 PM #

    Win 7, go to bowl.

  2. Mr. Wuf 09/03/2010 at 3:18 PM #

    6-6. Once we play Cincinnati, we’ll know if the defense is actually improved and ready for ACC play. I only see us beating WCU, UCF, ECU, Wake, UNC, and UMD. I think UNC will be back at full strength by the time we play them and it is on the road, but I am still picking the Pack.

  3. mafpack 09/03/2010 at 3:23 PM #

    7-5, then who knows with the bowl game, but hell, at least we’ll be bowling!!

  4. wufpup76 09/03/2010 at 3:27 PM #

    I’m going overly optimistic …

    9 wins with a 10th victory coming in a nice bowl. With things going so well why not shoot for this? 🙂

  5. Packfan28 09/03/2010 at 3:28 PM #

    I’m thinking 8-4. I’ve never heard TOB so optimistic and saying such positive things going into the season. He seems fairly happy with the way the team sets up, so I am too.

  6. 1.21 Jigawatts 09/03/2010 at 3:32 PM #

    7-5, I’m still not sold the secondary can stop anyone.

    BTW, has no one picked up on the fact that the Boston Globe thinks we have Mike’s older (less talented) brother on our team?

  7. 61Packer 09/03/2010 at 3:36 PM #

    If we don’t win the UCF game, it’s going to be a long season.

  8. packpowerfan 09/03/2010 at 3:41 PM #

    The Boston Globe really looks their stuff up. Sean Glennon? The same that played at VT two season ago?

    EDIT: Dammit Jigs you beat me to the punch!

  9. BJD95 09/03/2010 at 3:41 PM #

    7-5 is the absolute minimum to have any shot at program-level success in the near future. The opportunity cost of not getting there is extremely high.

    Longer post coming later today, I hope. So very glad that football is back, even if Pitt/Utah was the only watchable game last night. Beggars can’t be choosers!

  10. burnbarn 09/03/2010 at 3:58 PM #

    7 8 wins… including the bowl… In the spring I was sure 5 wins was the limit..our schedule is brutal.

  11. Classof89 09/03/2010 at 3:59 PM #

    What the hell! Throw caution to the winds! I predicted losing season in the poll, but I’ll go with 7-5. I agree that is the minimum required for any shot at success during TOB’s tenure here.

    Really, we’ll know by the end of September whether this program is going to have a realistic chance at a winning season. They have to at least split with Cincinnati and UCF to have a prayer. They come out of September at 1-3 (I’m already penciling in the loss at GT), they have to go 6-2 the rest of the way, which means going 2-2 in the four toughest games (VT, FSU, at Clemson, at UNC) and not stumbling a single time vs. BC and Wake and at ECU. Clearly, that’s not going to happen.

  12. Mr. Wuf 09/03/2010 at 4:43 PM #

    I do not understand why people think we are going to beat BC. They have absolutely murdered us since TOB arrived and they return most of their core from last year. I pray we finally beat them, but until we do, I have little faith in predicting a win against them.

  13. tjfoose1 09/03/2010 at 5:13 PM #

    I’d put our over/under at 7 wins. Yes, I think we are more improved on defense than is generally thought, however, most of our opponents are better too.

  14. NCSUPackfan 09/03/2010 at 5:19 PM #

    I think we are going 9-3. Our losses will come from Ga Tech, Viginia Tech, & FSU. That’s my prediction….we have been on a hot streak since April…let’s keep it going. Let’s Go Pack!!!

  15. bradleyb123 09/03/2010 at 5:23 PM #

    I got out of the predicting business after I thought we had good reason for optimism LAST year and predicted good things. Actually, I think it would have been a little better if not for the massive amount of injuries.

    I think we’re too hard to predict. There are too many unknowns. After one game, even against a weak opponent, maybe we’ll have some answers. I could see us winning anywhere from 3-9 games this year, depending on injuries, a little luck and a few friendly bounces of the ball, etc.

    I’ll go out on a limb and predict 8-5 after TOB finally gets his first bowl win with the Pack.

  16. Homeboy 09/03/2010 at 6:18 PM #

    imagine that…I log on to the SFN website and finally find a story about the Pack football team!

  17. 61Packer 09/03/2010 at 7:35 PM #

    Doesn’t Marshall have anything better to do than subpoena UNC football players? Oh wait, I forgot, there’s an election in November. My bad.

  18. Packfan28 09/03/2010 at 7:54 PM #

    Haha,Homeboy, you spoke too soon.

  19. T-FIC 09/03/2010 at 8:35 PM #

    But quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Sean Glennon are back

    That’s awesome Sean is playing with his little brother at NC State now!!!

  20. old13 09/03/2010 at 9:21 PM #

    1-10

    :>) I really have no basis for making an educated guess. There are so many questionable/unknown factors/positions. If the D and ST are average or better, it could be 8-9 Ws IF the OL is effective early enough.

  21. Plz2BStateFan 09/03/2010 at 9:31 PM #

    I humbly request that anyone who can record the NC State, UNC, or any ACC game of their fancy please do and have it available to download somehow.

    The worst thing about making videos is the lack of material. I will need some this year. I still haven’t figured out a good way to get material from DVR=>CPU yet.

    Help a homer out!

    Thanks!

    -Plz2BStateFan

  22. Bowlpack 09/03/2010 at 10:21 PM #

    Anybody else find this statement somewhat unsettling:

    Hod you feel about the offensive line? A couple weeks back you talked about the guys trying to work through some things and get everybody settled in. Do you feel better now?
    “We are who we are now so you can’t do anything more now. They have to line up and play and we’ll see how they play Saturday night.”

    http://northcarolinastate.scout.com/2/998253.html

    At least it humbles my expectations. We’ll know more tomorrow evening. Go Pack!

  23. DRW 09/03/2010 at 10:30 PM #

    4-8.

  24. Defenestrate 09/03/2010 at 11:19 PM #

    8-5, with a lower tier bowl win.

  25. packalum44 09/04/2010 at 12:12 AM #

    What the hell is everyone smoking???? We’d be very fortunate to win half our games. We only have 2 sure wins – Western Carolina and ECU…

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