Bo Rein and the Navigators*

Exchanging Pre-Game Pleasantries

Wolfpack Nation is happy with 8 - 4 and quietly disgruntled we're not 10 - 2.

Folks, that is a great place to be.

It's been decades.

The last time NC State was in this position was the Bo Rein years. It was clear Bo was building a program and headed upward. The possibility of joining the big time programs was there.

Bo Rein had the advantage of inheriting a solid team from Lou Holtz. Dave Doeren had to start from scratch.

I hope it turns out this is the beginning of a 'program'. I hope it does NOT turn out with Doeren leaving for a bigger job and flying around in private airplanes.

(Amato felt more like a 'flash in the pan'. Plus - he recruited like Florida State. The guys he went after weren't exactly model citizens.  UNC went through the same thing with Bitch Davis.)

The game itself was nothing to write home about. State played a solid game and as usual, started slow - finished strong.

Carolina has an injury list that's almost two pages long. That's longer than a UNC term paper.

Give Carolina a lot of credit for making a game out of it. They had nothing to lose and played as hard as they could.

And there was a lot of UNC frustration that showed up. I don't know what was shown on TV - there were, by my count, 4 pretty good scuffles.

What you didn't get to see were the 'festivities' during warm ups - 40 minutes before the game. Some stuff started - and no one but the few assistant coaches and trainers on the field to try and keep things from getting out of hand. They had their hands full. LOL

Watching that was - Hmmm, this game could be interesting.

Football is a lot more fun when you've got a good team to cheer for.

*Bo Rein and the Navigators - local (crappy) Raleigh band from the early '80s.

Clemsoning

I don't need to recap yesterday's loss to Wake Forest.

This article covers everything that happened accurately and completely - Morning After Recap.

7 and 4 (probably 8 - 4 after next Saturday) is a record anyone would have taken back in August. As it is, We lost 2 games - where we won every statistic, by a LOT, but still lost the game. We truly lost to Wake Forest and South Carolina - they did not beat us. We should be 9 - 2 right now.

And we played Clemson evenly. You could say we lost that game as well. Missed field goals and overthrown wide open receivers - not to mention the most lopsided officiating I've seen in years. We had opportunities to win but didn't get the job done.

This is what Clemson used to be known for. Every year they'd lose a game there was no way they should have lost. Clemsoning.

I guess that's part of trying to build a program. It happened to Clemson and even Alabama before they got so good this sort of thing just didn't happen any more. It takes an over abundance of talent, fundamental coaching and great play calling.

We're not there yet.

I've said before - In a weird way, we're in a great place.

It's good to be able to complain about not being undefeated; not going to the ACC Championship Game; or even better (New Year's Six or National Champion Playoffs).

For decades these sort of possibilities were a pipe dream. This really could be our breakthrough year. If we keep on recruiting, coaching and getting better each year, we'll look back as see this year as when it all started to happen.

But today - I'm still pissed off about losing to South Carolina and now Wake Forest.

Clemsoning.

Clemson 38 - State 31

It was quite the atmosphere - the entire game.

Coach Steve Logan analyzes the game perfectly. Can't embed the Logan Zone - here's the link -

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/ncsu/video/17093040/