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.