Lets Go Bowling

WOLFPACK NATION YOUR FOOTBALL TEAM IS BOWLING

On December 28 2010 the North Carolina State Wolfpack will be heading to the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando Florida to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers out of the Big East Conference. This Bowl bid is big for the Pack considering coming into the season they were pick to finish last in their own division. The match up between these two teams is exciting as both teams have high powered throwing offenses. Russell Wilson will have to out play Gene Smith the quarterback from West Virginia for the Pack to have a Chance. Both quarterbacks have the same style of game plan with scrambling and throwing the football down field being a big part of what they do.
         
West Virginia is 9-3 overall with a 5-2 record in a terrible Big East conference. The Wolfpack is 8-4 and 5-3 in a mediocre ACC conference. This matchup promises to be wild and exciting and most likely close until the very end. One of those games that come down to the team that has the ball last. The Wolfpack can pull this one out with a solid showing on defense and a mistake free game by Russell Wilson. My prediction is a close game but the Wolfpack pulling it out in the end 35-31.

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A Heartbreak

Going into Saturdays game hopes were high for almost every Wolfpack fan in the country. A chance to be a part of the ACC championship game the following Saturday night  right down the road in Charlotte was on the line. A quick start by the Pack was what everyone was hoping for and is what everyone got. Following a rushing and throwing touchdown by Russell Wilson North Carolina State was up 14-0 in the first quarter. At this point all I could see was the Pack winning the ACC and being a part of a BCS bowl game. This assumption was a huge mistake. These fourteen points were answered by 31 straight points by the Maryland Terrapins. The Pack found themselves down 31-17 late in the fourth quarter due to sloppy offensive play, bad coaching, and lazy defense. These are things we have not seen all year long until now when it mattered most. How could a team playing for so much give up so much on the final game of the season. It was a terrible lose that will be remembered forever as what could of been. The final score was 38-31 and the Pack found themselves in fourth place in the ACC as they traveled back to Raleigh.
Although the Wolfpack failed to gain a berth into the ACC championship they still find themselves at 8-4 with a chance to gain a bid into a respectable bowl game. The ACC has seven bowl spots including the BCS Orange Bowl in Miami which now the Pack can not qualify for because only the ACC champion may take place in this bowl. The next best bowl is the Chick-Fil-A bowl which is a potential bowl for the Pack but will most likely go to the looser of the ACC title game. My prediction for the Wolfpack is to end up in the Champs sports bowl against Notre Dame.
Being in the Orange bowl would be great for the program and the school but being in the Champs Sports bowl in Orlando Florida against a high profile school such as Notre Dame would be a good step up from where the Wolfpack were last year not having a bowl game at all.

Look for another post next Sunday when bowls are decided.

A chance of a Lifetime

This year has been one to remember for the North Carolina State Wolfpack. With one game remaining in the season the Pack find themselves with a chance to be in the ACC Championship game next week in Charlotte. If two months ago you would have looked at me and told me that all the Pack have to do is win one game to have a chance at a BCS bowl game I probably would have laughed at you. Well Tom O Brian and Russell Wilson have led this team to an almost un-imaginable position.

Although this team is in a position to do something great the Maryland Terrapins are a solid team who are playing at home with a chance to win on senior night and ruin the hopes and dreams of their counterparts the Wolfpack. This game makes me extremely nervous because as every North Carolina State fan knows the Pack love to ruin good opportunities and not to mention that they are 0-2 this season while ranked in the top 25. Well this weekend the Wolfpack have a great opportunity to get their program back to top form and they are ranked 21 in the country. So this means the odds are stacked against them if history means anything.

With this said my hopes are high and I think the Pack can pull through with a great victory. This victory can only happen if three things go right.

One Tom O Brian can not be afraid to make tough decisions such as going for it on short fourth downs to keep the offense out on the field.
Second Russel Wilson has to outplay Maryland's Freshman quarterback Danny O Brien who has been on a hot streak of late.

Third the Wolfpack have to show that they are ready to take this team to the next level and become a premiere program in the ACC.

If all these things happen the Wolfpack will prevail this weekend and move on to the ACC championship. So for all you Wolfpack fans hold on tight and pray hard for the Pack to win this Saturday.

My prediction is Wolfpack 30 Maryland 17

KC

Cheaters Never Win

On Saturday the North Carolina State Wolfpack football team went to Chapel Hill hoping to keep their hopes of an ACC championship alive. While it looked glummy at first the Pack prevailed in the second half with a prayer answered by Owen Spencer diving to catch a ball and an amazing punt return by T.J. Graham. The final score was 29-25 with the Pack advancing to a 8-3 record and 5-2 in the ACC. With Maryland coming next week the Pack looks for a Victory to advance to the ACC championship in Charlotte coming next week.

If anything was proven Saturday it was that the rivalry between the Wolfpack and Tar Heels is very much alive. During the third quarter Saturday Jarvis Williams and a safety from Carolina got into a fight where both players were ejected. While some say this is bad for college football I believe it is excellent for the rivalry and it really helped fire up the Pack for their late comeback in Saturdays game.
 This win was huge for the Wolfpack program as it puts them in great position for an ACC title run and with an eight win season already has hopes alive for a great bowl maybe even a BCS title game.

Here are the current Atlantic Division Standings in the ACC.

NC State 5-2
Florida State 6-2
Maryland 4-3
Clemson 4-4
Boston College 3-4

The Tar Holes? Seriously?

It is that time again Wolfpack fans..the time of year where everyone in Chapel Hill starts to get a big head and think it is finally the year that their team can defeat the pack. Three years in a row the Pack have defeated the Tar Heels and three years in row it has been called an upset. Well here we go again the Pack travel down to that ugly place they call Chapel Hill to take on a team that is once again a favorite. In fact a two in a half point favorite. How is a team a favorite when they have lost three years in row and have the lesser of the two teams. This amazes me but at the same time it gets me excited for the disappointment that the people that support that team in those terrible blue uniforms will feel.

Don't get me wrong the Tar Heels are playing very well right now and are a scary team. But who has not heard that age old saying cheaters never win? If you have forgotten the Tar Heels have been under investigation this entire season and you cant tell me that the Wolfpack wont remind them that cheaters don't beat them. As well how bad do you think the seniors of the NC State football team want to leave Chapel Hill knowing they have never lost to the Tar Heels.

The game will be close because it is a rivalry game but the Pack have more to play for with an ACC Championship hanging in the midst.As well Wolfpack are a better team which will lead to a win for the team. My prediction is that both defenses play well but the Packs offense prevails.

Final score NC State 24  UNC 20

Nate "the freak" Irving

Nate Irving is one of the top Line Backers in the country. How do I know this...Well look at his numbers. He leads the pack with 78 tackels and is fourth in the counrty. Not only that put he holds together a defense who is right in the middle of the ACC conference race.

A bold statement is that without Nate Irving the Pack would not be in near the position they are in now. He is one of the three players on this Wolfpack team that without him the entire program would be lost.

Last week was Nate's last game in Carter Finley Stadium which is a very sad thing to say because of the amount of effort and passion that he has put in to this team through his four years here at NC State. Irving finished the game with eight tackles for a loss which is a schools record previously held by Mario Williams who was a number 1 draft pick by the Houston Texans. If this does not show you something about the kind of football player Nate Irving is what will? He plays with so much emotion and so much passion that no one can match.

Everyone knows last year how Nate had to sit out the entire year after an almost fatal car accident. Well this year he had a second chance not only at life but with football as well. Its increadible to think just 18 months ago Nate Irving thought he may never play football again to now becoming the leader of this Wolfpack team and for sure becoming a star in the NFL one day.

On that note I would like to say that if Nate is not taken in the first round of the NFL draft next year it will be a crime not only to Nate but for the teams that do not take him.

One final comment.........Thank you Nate Irving for an excellent four years it has been a pleasure to watch you play.

KC

A disturbing comment

Yesterday while sitting in the student section watching the NC State Wolfpack beat..I mean dominate a Wake Forest team that was never in the game, I heard some disturbing comments being made behind me. Everytime the Pack did something that was not perfect the guy behind me would say "we suck." Finally I was tired of listening to this guy talk about something that he had no idea what he was talking about. Me and the guys I was sitting with turned around and said something to him. His explanation was that Tom O Brian is a terrible coach and that our offense especially Russel Wilson is not good enough to be 7-3. All I could do was laugh, along with everyone who was sitting around us. After a pretty big ordeal the guy asked "if I would like to step outside."
This is my depiction of the kid sitting behind me....

This situation disturbs be greatly. To start the Wolfpack are 7-3 and are sitting at the top of the ACC with control of their own destiny. This is an excellent position to be in even if the three losses should have been wins. Tom O Brian at times is a little bit to conservative but he is still a very consistent coach who has led the Wolfpack to a very good position through ten games this season. This kid was obviously very un-educated about football and especially the NC State team. The comment about the offense and Russell Wilson was ignorant and made no sense seeing that the passing attack for the Wolfpack this year has been among the top of the ACC and even atop of the nation.


What this shows me is that there are fans out there who still don't believe in this Wolfpack team that have worked so hard to get to this great 7-3 start. This upsets me greatly but hey maybe winning the ACC will show these fair wethered fans exactly how good this team is.


The Pack are 7-3 with a big rivalry game against the Carolina Tar Heels who have nothing to play for. Its a must win...For ACC implications as well as proving guys like the one sitting behind me wrong.


KC