NC State avoids catastrophe against Western Carolina, but the luster is off the Wolfpack
For all the demon-exorcizing N.C. State has accomplished throughout the past six months — the ACC championship in men’s basketball; the dual appearances in the Final Four(s); the baseball team’s trip to Omaha and the College World Series — its football team did its best Thursday night to restore that long-standing, enduring curse only known as N.C. State … Stuff.
And you thought it’d go away, just like that?
Forget, for a moment, that the Wolfpack prevailed with an uncomfortable 38-21 victory against Western Carolina, an FCS opponent of the Southern Conference from up-the-mountain Cullowhee, and remember what it was like at Carter-Finley Stadium entering the fourth quarter. For one thing, the Catamounts were leading, 21-17.
For another, this place was more mortuary than football stadium, with 50,000 or so red-clad spectators (save a tiny and jubilant sliver of purple on one end) trying to figure out what, exactly they were watching. As part of the regular experience here, State went into its usual “into-the-fourth-quarter” light show.
The stadium lights flickered. The loudspeakers thumped. A haunting shade of red filled the night sky.
It’s an interactive experience, with fans having the ability to join in with their phones. People are supposed to hold those up, so their flashlights can sync with the music. Except, on this night, hardly anyone bothered to do it. Nobody cared.
They were too stunned, too dazed, too bewildered by what had transpired for three quarters.
A win, but …
A couple things can be true: Yes, the Wolfpack awoke, at last, during the fourth quarter and avoided a defeat that would’ve been among the worst in school history — if not the worst, given the expectations and promise that surrounded this team.
“I’m not going to apologize for winning,” State coach Dave Doeren said afterward, sounding a little sheepish, and nor should he apologize. As he said, “Winning is hard,” and that can be true regardless of the competition.
But so, too, is this: the luster is off N.C. State, which, even in victory, is likely to join the unranked masses after entering Thursday ranked 24th in the Associated Press’ preseason top 25.
It’s possible, and arguable, that State stripped down its playbook to the most rudimentary basics against Western Carolina, in effort to save the good stuff for Tennessee on Sept. 7. And that would make sense. What doesn’t, though, is how pedestrian — how uninspired — the Wolfpack looked for most of Thursday night, despite its innumerable advantages.
State added no shortage of pieces on offense through the transfer portal: Grayson McCall at quarterback; Jordan Waters at running back; Noah Rogers at receiver, among others. But the offense was mostly the same as it was late last season — which is to say it was the KC Concepcion Show (nine catches, 121 yards and three touchdowns, including the clincher in the fourth).
McCall, whose return from the devastating concussion he suffered a season ago at Coastal Carolina is admirable (if not concern-inducing), labored through an uneven N.C. State debut. He mixed in some strong moments with several questionable ones, none more so than the first-quarter interception the Catamounts’ Ken Moore Jr. nearly returned for a touchdown.
Waters, meanwhile, was an All-ACC caliber running back a season ago at Duke, yet looked at times like he was wearing weighted boots Thursday night. It didn’t help that State’s offensive line, a question mark entering this season, often failed to generate much of a push, or any kind of consistent running lanes.
Power outage
Most concerning of all for State, though, was that it appeared to be playing through a malaise. It’s one thing to fail to execute, especially in Game 1. Some struggles are to be expected, especially given the number of new pieces in new places. But where was the energy? The effort?
“First game nerves,” said Davin Vann, the Wolfpack’s veteran defensive end. “ ... And we started off slow.”
For long stretches, the State looked like a team gutting it out against a gritty, menacing, physical conference opponent in, say, mid- to late October. Think a road game against Boston College, or against one of Wake Forest’s tougher teams in recent memory.
But this was not that. This was a season opener against a lower-division opponent with fewer scholarships, fewer resources and far less talent, by any measure. To be sure, the Catamounts are a good FCS team, generally ranked among the top 20 at that level, but are they this good?
Are they so good that this game should’ve been tied at halftime? So good that Western Carolina held the lead entering the fourth quarter? So good that a legion of State supporters, who went from raucous to restless in a hurry, sat in mostly stunned silence throughout much of the second and third quarters, waiting … and waiting … for something to make them feel alive?
Maybe the Wolfpack was caught looking ahead to Tennessee. Perhaps the offseason hype created a false sense of confidence. By the final minutes of the fourth quarter, with the result officially secured upon Waters’ 50-yard touchdown run, Carter-Finley had mostly cleared out.
The party was over. The shine was off. The fear of disaster gave way to relief.
This story was originally published August 29, 2024 at 11:04 PM.
