There’s no way to sugar coat it. That was a beat down.
What it means though is what is up for debate. I look at this in two ways — the logical and the NC State tinted glasses.
The NC State @#($)* part of me thinks:
– That slow start by the offense was way too predictable (look at my posts leading up to the game to see it). They’d read too many press clippings and had actually started slow before.
– Our defense, particularly in the back, was totally outmatched. The game was over from the first bomb. There was going to be no way we could guard their receivers. It was the same thing UNC had happen last week.
– Our rinky dink offense was easily controlled by a team that could shut down the edge.
– DD and staff are now 0-10 in ACC play.
– It’s eerily similar to Lowe in that we take a moral victory (out of a loss), think it is a sign of better things to come and then completely @#($)* the bed in the next game. We take 2 steps backwards for the 1/2 step forward we took in the moral victory loss.
– It’s not just that we got crushed, it is how we got crushed. We looked scared and uninspired. That reminded me of Lowe’s bball teams (Michigan State anyone?) as well. 🙁
– Thank god Dabo called off the dogs or it’d have been 70-0.
The logical part of me thinks:
– We had three losses in ink before the season started on this schedule — FSU, Clemson and Louisville.
– Louisville is also going to beat us. If you watch them, they’re bigger, stronger and faster as well. Louisville looks like FSU and Clemson from a player physique perspective.
– Clemson’s QB is really good. Had he played against Georgia, that game would have been much closer. Really, if they’d have groomed him in the offseason to take the reigns, they could easily be undefeated right now. Ifs and buts and candy and nuts, but this kid is the heir apparent to best QB in the ACC.
– Clemson with this QB is the ACC’s best team. They’re more apt to run the table than FSU.
Outside of Louisville, there’s no one else on the schedule that we cannot beat. I fully expect us to finish 7-5, which was my preseason prediction.
The BC game is huge though. It’s a home game, and we really, really need a win before going to Louisville. We can’t walk out of Louisville 0-4 in the ACC and expect to do much more than split the last 4.
This week against BC is going to tell us more about this staff and this team than FSU or Clemson did. If we’ve got a good staff that is building the right kind of program, we’re going to find a way to win at home against BC.
