NC State lost to Syracuse on Saturday night, and it was certainly a frustrating loss for the Pack. There are some fans who want changes on the coaching staff and think the program is all of a sudden going backwards. Those two statements couldn’t be further from the truth.
The Wolfpack had a legitimate claim as the second-best team in the conference heading into the game at Clemson, which ended in a 41-7 Wolfpack loss. There’s no sugarcoating that game; it was disappointing for NC State. The Pack never even made it interesting, which placed even more importance on the road trip to Syracuse. No sugarcoating that game either; it was disappointing, perhaps even more so than the week before for the Pack.
The Pack had an opportunity for a program-altering win against Clemson, and instead came out flat and got beat down on national television. NC State then went and lost to a team that isn’t as good as the Pack. So how is this building a program?
I thought the Pack could beat Clemson, and still think NC State is the second-best team in the conference. But in hindsight, I think it’s silly that I and many others thought the Wolfpack could set themselves up to go to and win the conference championship less than 24 months after Dave Doeren was coaching for his job.
Fans don’t want to hear this, but excruciating losses are part of building a program. Look at almost any championship team at any level, and you’ll see that they don’t get to the top without suffering through adversity first, usually multiple seasons beforehand. Go ask any Clemson fan how much pain they went through before Deshaun Watson carried the Tigers to the promised land in 2016.
The last year and a half have been that adversity for NC State. It may take another couple years and many more painful losses for the Pack to get to a level where it can get to the top of the ACC, but it is absolutely still possible for Doeren to get the Wolfpack there.
However, the Pack has work to do to be able to get to an ACC Championship level. It has to learn how to be the hunted and win road games as a ranked team.
It’s easy for players and fans to get excited for a game when a brand-name opponent comes to town. NC State fans know this as well as anybody; it seemed like the Wolfpack was good for an upset at home per year under Tom O’Brien, even though the program never really went anywhere. The tables have turned, because the Pack is a big game for opponents. Other teams feel that NC State is a big game for them and an upset they can pull off.
Wake Forest last year is an example, as was Syracuse last week. The Wolfpack got the absolute best version of those teams and the atmospheres those schools have to offer. NC State has to learn to win games in that situation. It had a chance to get that win in both of those games, but couldn’t get it done.
Even Clemson was an example. I heard from a handful of Tigers fans that their crowd was the best they’ve had in a long time. You could make an argument that was the biggest home game at Clemson since Jameis Winston was at Florida State. That says a lot about where NC State is as a program.
It’s weird that NC State hasn’t won a football game in three weeks, and it seems everybody is in meltdown mode. Two years ago, the Pack had to fight to the final quarter of the season just to get to a bowl. Now, a loss to a team that’s just jumped into the rankings in Syracuse, and fans are in panic.
It’s embarrassing that that’s the reaction, but are fans really fans if they don’t melt down after every loss? In all seriousness, a meltdown has shown that the standard has been raised to where it hasn’t been in years in Raleigh.
Despite all this, it’s important to keep the perspective that the season can still finish as the second best in school history. NC State will be favored in its last five games and, honestly, should win them all. Will the Pack? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe there will be another painful loss that shows there’s still growth to be had.
Regardless, a 10-win season would be an excellent next step for the program, even if it takes a bowl game to get there.
The bottom line is, the program isn’t where we thought it might be two weeks ago, and in hindsight, it’s foolish to think that the Pack was already there. It takes painful losses and learning to win road games as a ranked team and to get to where NC State wants to be. That part of the process is still happening.
