Where and When?

Please take heed – this is not a thread to bitch and moan about TOB coming back, or to bitch and moan about how most of us turned away in disgust at some point yesterday afternoon. Nay, tis a thread for Wolfpackers to share their stories of when and where they learned that NC State had in fact, somehow, someway – won that freaking game yesterday.

For me, I turned off the game at 21-7. I felt the nausea welling up in my gut, and I couldn’t put my special ladyfriend through another minute. Especially on a glorious sunny Outer Banks afternoon. So off to the dunes we went. She left her sunglasses in the hotel room, so while waiting, I flipped on the XM feed…and it was already 28-7. Game goes off immediately, and I swear not to even look anymore.

At about 5:20, I was on the way back from Corrolla, almost to Duck. Got a message from a friend saying “stuck in airport, did we beat MD??” I decided I should at least have the final score to report, so I pulled up ESPN’s college FB page…and did a literal spit-take. 56-41…STATE? No shit????

I honestly had no clue or hope until that moment. Given how none of my other Pack friends and family texted or e-mailed, I suspect many other SFN denizens have similar stories to share.

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.

NCS Football

98 Responses to Where and When?

  1. UpstateSCWolfpack 11/27/2011 at 12:44 PM #

    I was in section 21, row DD, seat 13, and my wife was in 14. We stayed for the whole game. The old guys in front of us left half through the 2nd quarter. The first time I yelled PACK one of them turned and gave me a look. This was my first game at State in several years, and I was afraid I had jinxed them. I am surprised that I even could talk at all today. George Bryan willed the players to the win. He was smacking guys on the helmets, and pumping them up on the side line.

  2. EdMar 11/27/2011 at 12:44 PM #

    I was at the game with my daughter also a State Grad. Not that I was sure that we would come back, but I kept telling my daughter that the Maryland missed extra point would make a difference, we just need three TDs, just four TDs. The reason many of us in the stadium did not give up was that it was obvious to us that they were not dominating, that we had given them everything and it would be a matter of time until we started to click and quit making mistakes. It was a very strange feeling at the stadium. I lot of people left, but I think they were in the parking lost “reloading” and most made it back for the finish.

    I’m glad I was there

  3. wufpup76 11/27/2011 at 12:59 PM #

    No good story to tell. My brother-in-law and I stuck it out all the way through with the TV.

    He had to put up with my exasperated sighs and b*tching about how this ‘always’ happens against Maryland throughout the first half.

    Then this happened:

    “”The key play for me was the 4th and 12 to Bryan in third quarter.””

    After the 3rd and 12 where we did a typical 3 yard checkdown pass, I was screaming at the tv that yet another 3 yard checkdown pass was unlikely to work on 4th and 12 (colorful language excluded). When Glennon hit Bryan to pick up that first down that’s when I first thought “we could be on to something here”. It was like the whole mood/atmosphere/karma changed … That was the first moment I thought we could come back and win.

  4. PackFamily 11/27/2011 at 1:20 PM #

    ” I was in my seat for every snap, you bunch of pussies”
    Hilarious! I love these kind of threads.

    I was in our seats in Section 23. We have LTR’s and bring all 3 of our boys (8,6,& 3). They were a little spoiled after the UNC and CU wins, and wanted to leave when it was 41-14. We stuck it out like we always do. I’d say ‘I couldn’t believe it’, but i’ve learned to as a State fan.

    As for my boys, was very glad or them to experience the comeback. Not only as a life lesson, but to prepare them to be lifelong State fans.

  5. mak4dpak 11/27/2011 at 1:32 PM #

    Section 21, Row J, and everyone in my immediate vicinity was still there too. Never give up! What an awesome comeback, but I will have to say that the coaches need to coach every game like they did when we were down, as the offense just errupted out of its conservativism. 35 points in one quarter. A bowl game looked very bleak, but that all changed. Looks like we are heading to Charlotte. That makes 2 big come from behind wins with the BB team’s coming back from 18 down against Texas. Go Wolfpack!!!!!!!

  6. BureauOfMines 11/27/2011 at 1:44 PM #

    Yesterday, I posted stick a fork in this season after the Twerps went up 28-7. Watching the first period was torture. I just left for the gym to lift away my frustrations. Every so often, I went to a TV to check the score. At 41-14, I was sure we were done. But then, it was 41-21. When we scored again, I got on a bike where I could see the TV. I watched the miracle unfold.

  7. GAWolf 11/27/2011 at 1:57 PM #

    I watched every moment in a cool bar in Charleston owned and run by VT grads. They all pulled for the Pack, too, which made it fun.

  8. JT 11/27/2011 at 2:53 PM #

    Listened to the radio between working and then for some reason watched the entire 2nd half once I got home- probably to see how pissed I could get. Glad I did. Freaking amazing, a season and possibly career saver. Normally I would have done yard work, but the transition from incredible suckdom to a ridiculous roll hooked me in.

  9. 1990alum 11/27/2011 at 2:57 PM #

    By halftime I was at peace, starting to think about who the new coach would be. Was with friends who started talking about when we should leave. But my 10 year son said he wanted to stay to the end, no matter what. Since i was in the car leaving the stadium for two of the other greatest finishes in NC State football history, South Carolina no time last play and Boston College Daniel Evans game, I sided with my son. Thank goodness I did.

  10. tuckerdorm1983 11/27/2011 at 3:20 PM #

    At halftime I sent this text to a good friend who was on the other side of the stadium:

    “Awful!! Who will be the new coach? otherwise enjoying our bowl game today”

  11. tractor57 11/27/2011 at 3:20 PM #

    It was our family Thanksgiving gathering and I was cooking. I listened to some of the early stuff then off to the feast. After the feast we returned to my house and as I was packing away the leftover I was listening to the radio. Once we got close my daughter suggested we should watch rather than listen. Two Pack grads (one being my college buddy and then I) enjoyed the last few minutes in no small measure.

    I rarely attend a game in person these days but when I did I never left early. Maybe Scot heritage and not wanting to waste that nickle but once there I was there win, lose or draw.

  12. GAWolf 11/27/2011 at 3:30 PM #

    I said since we scored we had a chance at the half…the long Maryland TD run to start the second dashed my hope admittedly.

    Then I learned what cake flavored vodka is and my spirits got better. By the time the comeback began, I was primed to thoroughly enjoy it.

  13. Texpack 11/27/2011 at 3:40 PM #

    I never turned it off. Had the laptop set up watching State and the TV set to tOSU vs. Michigan. I thought we were done at 41-14.

  14. 87stategrad 11/27/2011 at 5:14 PM #

    I always pick one game to bring the whole family, and this was it. My wife and oldest daughter were in our regular seats in Section 30, and I started the game with my younger girls in the south end zone. By the 41-14 mark, there were plenty of seats in Section 30, so we moved up there. We never miss a home game, and I never leave a game early. At the 4th and 12 play, I really began to think we could win. My 13 year old daughter pointed out, “Football is a game of momentum”. An understatement if I’ve ever heard one.

  15. stejen 11/27/2011 at 5:24 PM #

    I also watched the whole game and still have it on TiVo. I just kept thinking at halftime “if it weren’t for three fumbles, one that led directly to a touchdown the other two pinned the defense inside the 30 yard line” maybe we might be in this one.
    But on another note. Edsell has had some problems this year but we know he can coach. Two games in one week where NC State out-coached well respected coaches for wins! Can anybody tell me the last time that has happened. I mean, Gottfried has not even coached in 2 years and he made Barnes look like an untested assistant the last 10 minutes of that game.

  16. StatePhan4life 11/27/2011 at 5:29 PM #

    Sooo was at the game. And before the game started I turned to a long time friend sitting next to me and said, “Wonder which teams shows up today? Our top 10 team or the top 200 team.” He laughed and we witnessed one of the worst teams in the country come out of the locker room and totally show their asses. It was NC State at our best. At half time he looked at me and said, “Soooo, which team showed up?” I laughed and we sat there making jokes about how we should start playing Maryland first every year with the folks in our area in general agreement.

    Then the second half starts and its more of the same. So with somewhere between 10 and 8 mins left in the third quarter I looked at him and said, “This is about the point I turned off the Texas game. You think it will help if I go to the car?” That got a good chuckle and he responded that it just might. Well I didn’t leave, but was prepared to watch our team suffer the same embarassment we heaped on Clempson the week prior. I could not fathom how this team was gonna let BC and Maryland both make them look so effin bad.

    Then… it happened. I would give good money to know what was said in that player meeting on the sideline. Whatever Bryan said, screamed or threatened should be put on a sign by the lockerroom exit as a reminder of what can be done if you keep your head up.

    It was really fun to watch in person, and I was happy to see the stadium slowly fill back up with folks that were out in the lots who realized what was happening. The day, and every NC State fan, was summed up by one very sarcastic comment (but one dripping with Please God Let This Happen emotion) when Maryland missed their PAT to take the lead 41 to 14. A voice from somewhere in our section said…

    “So you’re saying we have a chance”

  17. skippyjon jones 11/27/2011 at 5:31 PM #

    In Trask Coliseum with the family watching Davidson duke it out with UNCW (don’t ask – the other half of the family went to Davidson).

    Thank God for smartphones..both games were tracking the same on gametime and I told my wife I was headed to the car to listen to the end of the State game she looked at me like she would divorce me if I stood up from my seat.

    I burned my battery up on the phone refreshing the play-by-play app, then it melted down with text messages from Pack friends…

    Both games finished within 60 seconds of each other. Davidson pulled out the win with some clutch shots and a break on defense..

    Wild damn sports experience..

  18. stejen 11/27/2011 at 5:32 PM #

    But having said that, I am not too sure this was not TOB’s swan song. I like TOB but I would not be surprised if he is gone not will I be upset if he stays. Considering where we were when he got here and now, he has made a lot of progress. It may not show up in the win/loss column but you have to stop the bleeding before the wound can heal and I think Amato amputated NC State’s program(think, it got to the point that no decent assistant would even think about working for him as he had such a bad reputation) and TOB has had to do some major surgery to get things on the right track

  19. SaccoV 11/27/2011 at 5:40 PM #

    I had sworn off the game myself early on. My wife went with me (miraculously) to the local Indian buffet, and I filled up the super-tanker I now call a gut. We went shopping, had a nice day of things. I went out to do some minor yard work while my oldest son played around outside. I wasn’t feeling particularly well (curse you, Indian buffet), and decided to just monitor my son and grab my laptop and get a little work done. I immediately navigate to SFN and read the comments from the beginning. Around page 11 or so, I get to this moment … I hope you guys remember the film ‘The Sting’ … it’s one of my favorites. Link Fast forward to about the 4:30 mark. I told my wife about the game this morning, and she nearly fell down. “They won?” she said with such incredulity.

  20. the_phisherman 11/27/2011 at 5:44 PM #

    Stayed in our seats the whole time. The only games we have left early since we graduated were the “giving him the business” freezing cold thumping by Maryland and the miserable stomping by South Florida in the pouring rain. If our son wasn’t so little we might have stuck those out, but this one was different. I still expected us to fall just short in the comeback attempt though.

  21. MrPlywood 11/27/2011 at 5:47 PM #

    At 41-14 I turned it off and took my kid to work. I’ll be honest, I had about given up, but since I don’t get many games on broadcast up here I would have kept it on if I didn’t have to leave. That said, I figured State was toast. So, once I dropped the kid off I ran some other errands. Had I returned right away, I would have caught the comeback. I came home and signed on the see what the final damage was, and I was stunned. But happily so…

  22. StandUpAndHowl 11/27/2011 at 5:50 PM #

    Given our history with Maryland, I didn’t bother watching in the first place. I was working in my home office when a friend emailed me late in the game to tell me that his Terps had blown a big lead. So I tuned in just in time to see the 59-yards INT return at the end.

    Yeah, yeah, I know, fair weather fan blah blah.

  23. NelsonHall97 11/27/2011 at 5:50 PM #

    I’ve been going to games with my Dad for 30+ years, and I can say we’ve never left a game early. While my eyes were telling me we were done for, my heart was saying we still had time to mount a comeback. The past few games at CF have been some of the most exciting games I can remember. Looking forward to the bowl game and hoping that will be as much fun to attend as the last three home games. Here’s to hoping GOOD PACK plays the bowl game!

  24. GeneralNuisance 11/27/2011 at 6:00 PM #

    I had been offered tickets to the game. I decided since I had just went to the Clempsun game, I didn’t want to ruin the good feelings I had left over from that game. I decided I had would rather watch us choke from the comfort of my couch in HD. When the Twerps went up 41-14 my wife asked me if I wanted to go shopping with her. I was so out of sorts that I almost said yes (I hate shopping almost as much as UNC), the pain of shopping would have been less than watching the turtles lay another 40 on us. For some reason I decided to stay parked on the couch. Glad I did! Still not sure how it happened, but it sure was fun.

  25. JohnGalt78 11/27/2011 at 6:16 PM #

    In the stands, never left. Bitched and bitched the whole first half. Worth the heartache. History made. Not necessarily good history….but historic nonetheless. Those that stayed were, noisy, loud and …. rewarded.

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