Coach Tom O’Brien has said flat out that his team is not very good. After the home loss to Clemson, he showed his team footage of the game, and most of them agreed. At 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the ACC, the Wolfpack will look to turn the season around as it has reached the halfway point.
Just how bad is it for N.C. State? Well, it’s bad enough that ESPN.com ranked State in its Bottom 10 after its start thus far.
And even in O’Brien’s first year as head coach, fans seem to have expected more from the players.
According to Nathan Wallace, a junior in criminology, the season has been “embarrassing,” considering the money and facilities that the football program has been given.
“It’s embarrassing that our only win was against a Division I-AA team and our losses haven’t even been close,” Wallace said. “Considering we’re a ‘football school,’ you don’t expect to already be looking forward to basketball season.”
Macon Parker, a graduate student in sociology, helps tutor the football team. And though the season has been disappointing, Parker said he tries not to mention it to players when working with them. He’s learned to value individual plays and bright spots rather than the season as a whole.
“A couple weeks ago, Curtis Crouch knocked a guy so hard his helmet came off,” Parker said. “It’s going to take a little while for the team to get there. So for now you just have to focus on individual plays.”
Other fans don’t have the patience of Parker. Upperclassmen like Colin Foster, a senior in biochemistry, have watched the Pack’s once solid football program suffer struggles since Philip Rivers’ departure in 2003. Since then, State has not beaten rival North Carolina.
“It’s always a poor season,” Foster said. “There’s nothing else to say. We don’t do very well ever. It’s been a pretty long time since we have done well.”
Instead of simply riding the entire season as a failure, some students feel this season’s woes are the result of play at certain positions, particularly at quarterback.
“I think they need a new quarterback if they’re going to do something good with the team,” Nick Wilson, a freshman in First Year College said. “The offensive line probably needs some work because they’re allowing guys to get to the quarterback. I don’t see any more wins coming up this season.”
According to Adam Peery, another freshman in First Year College, this season’s failures are not O’Brien’s fault. And though a winning season may not be in the near future for the Pack, O’Brien’s coaching will eventually get the program back on track. Peery predicted that if State wins any more games this season, it could only do so against East Carolina and UNC.
“It’s a rebuilding year,” Peery said. “I’m glad we got a new coach, though. Tom O’Brien is a good coach. We should be pretty good next year. We can’t go anywhere but up.”