The idea of a “new season” must have sounded ridiculous to the rest of the country. N.C. State was 1-5 going into its bye week two weeks ago.
In the week leading up to the game against East Carolina and this week against No. 21 Virginia, coach Tom O’Brien touted the idea that the six games following the bye week were a new season — a chance for the Wolfpack to turn it around.
I’ll admit, the idea sounded a little nutty to me. The team was 1-5. Who cares if the team is 1-0 in the “new season”? Who cares if the team is 2-0 in the “new season”?
It had to sound crazy outside of Raleigh. But, you know, it doesn’t matter — because the team buys it.
Sophomore wide receiver Donald Bowens said thinking of the final six games as a new season helps.
“The bye week gave us a little break to work on some things,” he said. “Coming back, it was like a fresh start.”
O’Brien said the difference has been evident in practice.
“Some of these guys really made a turn in the way they practice,” O’Brien said. “They started believing if they do it in practice and work hard in practice, it’s going to pay dividends on the field.”
The first six games of the season, the team looked lost. Blame it on the adjustment to a new coaching staff if you want. Call the plague of injuries the culprit if you wish, but the team looked lost.
It started with Central Florida’s first play from scrimmage — an 80-yard touchdown run — and it ended with the Pack’s 27-10 loss to Florida State. State looked dumbfounded on the field.
The past two weeks, however, it’s been a different team playing the games. State has looked like a complete football team, effectively running the ball (redshirt sophomore Jamelle Eugene has rushed for 175 yards combined during the past two games) and passing the ball (redshirt junior Daniel Evans passed for 682 yards with six touchdowns to only two interceptions in the past two games).
Quite simply, the team believes. Last week, O’Brien was talking about how State was 1-0 in the new season. Big deal, the rest of us said. The team was 1-5 in the old season, we all said. And now State is 2-0 in the new season, and that makes a difference to this squad. You can see it on the field. The team played with a swagger unseen in Carter-Finley Stadium in several years.
Bowens caught 11 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns — the fifth-highest yard total of any receiver in school history.
It looked as though Bowens knew he could catch any ball that came within 10 feet of his hands out there. After the game, I asked him if he felt that way.
“Yeah,” he said. “Virginia’s a great team, but their [defensive backs] just sort of sat there. I knew running by them, they wouldn’t be able to turn around in time. [Evans] put the ball on the money.”
You can’t quantify what that type of confidence can do for a team.
The defense has it, too. Several possessions in a row in the second half, State found itself backed up deep in its own territory, which allowed Virginia to play with a short field on offense. The defense played inspired ball and held the Cavaliers when State needed to hold them.
“Every drive we went out, we knew it was going to fall on us,” redshirt junior safety DaJuan Morgan said. “We just had to believe, and we weren’t going to let them get anything.”
State has four games remaining this season: at Miami, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Maryland. Will State win all four games? Probably not, but the team believes it can, and with the players buying into O’Brien’s idea of a “new season,” that’s all that matters.
Do you buy coach Tom O’Brien’s idea of a “new season”? Call Brian at 515-2411 and let him know what you think, or e-mail him at sports@technicianonline.com.
