There are till Wolfpack football is here again! Can't you just feel the excitement now that Signing Day has come and gone!

2010 NC State Football Schedule
Sept. 4 WESTERN CAROLINA (ESPN3.com) 6:00pm
Sept. 11 at Central Florida (CBS College) 7:30pm
Sept. 16 CINCINNATI (Thurs-ESPN) 7:30 pm
Sept. 25 at Georgia Tech
Oct. 2 VIRGINIA TECH
Oct. 9 BOSTON COLLEGE
Oct. 16 at East Carolina (CBS College) 7:30pm
Oct. 28 FLORIDA ST. (Thurs- ESPN) 7:30
Nov. 6 at Clemson
Nov. 13 WAKE FOREST
Nov. 20 at North Carolina
Nov. 27 at Maryland


With only 6 home games the Wolfpack will have to defend its turf and steal a couple on the road to have a chance at a bowl. The team will be fairly young due to only having 12 seniors, but many of those young players have paid their due and have gone through the growing pains of having to be forced into action early on.

Much of the team's success will hinge upon the improvement of the young secondary that had trouble stopping opponents from moving down the field and seemingly scoring at will. Despite that though the defensive line will be replacing 4 starters, but many of the new faces in the starting lineup have played plenty of meaningful minutes over the past two years. The linebacker corps will be looked upon to be the strength of the defense, especially with the anticipated return of Nate Irving, who would have been a 1st day guy in this year's NFL draft had he not been in a car accident prior to the start of Fall practice.

The offense will once again be strong for this team and be able to put up a lot of points, even if Russell Wilson does not return after the MLB draft. Redshirt sophomore Mike Glennon will be taking all of the first team snaps during Spring practices. The seeds are in place for him to go down as one of the greats in the long and proud lineage of Wolfpack quarterbacks. The wide receiveing corps will be one of the best in the ACC with Jarvis Williams and Owen Spencer leading the way. The running backs are young, but talented. It may end up being a running back by committee type of system. Redshirt junior Curtis Underwood, who is a strong, downhill runner, will have the inside track on being the starter, but don't be surprised if James Washington, Brandon Barnes, or incoming freshman Mustafa Greene win the starting position. Former walk-on fullback Taylor Gentry will help create holes for the young, and will be a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield. The Wolfpack may have the best tight end in the ACC this season in redshirt junior George Bryan. The sure-handed Bryan seems to be able to get open at will. The offensive line loses some experience, but the players left are all talented. One key to the offensive line's success will be if R.J. Mattes can return to full form after injury. 5* freshman offensive tackle Robert Crisp, one of the highest rated recruits in Wolfpack football history, will likely play this season and may become a starter. Crisp could be one of the few true freshmen offensive tackles in the nation to be a starter. He is that good.

Special teams will look to change from being a liability to a strength for the team this season. Let's face it the Wolfpack's punting and kickoffs were just plain bad last season. That should be alleviated by Chris Ward taking over punting duties and incoming JUCO transfer Billy Bennett taking over kickoff duties, which will allow the sure footed Josh Czajkowski to be able to focus on his placekicking duties. With improved punts and kickoffs, stats for the coverage teams and defense should improve. Returnman T.J. Graham, one of the fastest players in college football, can be a game changer for the Wolfpack by giving the offense a short field to work with, or simply taking one to the house like he has been known to do.

2/5/2010 5:36:36 PM

OH WE BACK

2/5/2010 5:44:57 PM

Alright! Go Pack!

2/5/2010 6:12:25 PM

traffic cone monster should be installed at CF... that's all i'm sayin'

2/5/2010 6:14:32 PM

post old youtubes of nc state football in the meantime

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozxtacDWB0o

2/5/2010 6:18:35 PM

2/5/2010 6:22:05 PM

God, I fucking enjoy being in Carter finley on sunny game days and knowing your team on the field can handle any challenge the defense throws at it.

My best memory from Carter Finley last season has to be the game against Pittsburgh....it was so god-damn loud in that stadium my ears were ringing for like 2 days!! Im ready for us to return to our dominant form when we won the Gator Bowl!

GO PACK!!

Nice write up btw Brass Monkey!

2/5/2010 7:27:46 PM

^ i was in class (yes, on a saturday) and had to watch online

2/5/2010 7:45:43 PM

russell

come back

2/6/2010 12:54:45 PM

IOP1

We should be flying well below the radar this season. Will be interesting to see where the media predicts us to land (probably last or next to last in the atlantic?). Fan expectations are definitely going to be for a bowl game every season at this point, so hopefully TOB can pull things together and get the season started right (no trying to pull ourselves out of a hole in the last few weeks).

My prediction:

2010 NC State Football Schedule
Sept. 4 WESTERN CAROLINA - W
Sept. 11 at Central Florida - W
Sept. 16 CINCINNATI (Thurs-ESPN) 7:30 pm - L
Sept. 25 at Georgia Tech - L
Oct. 2 VIRGINIA TECH - L
Oct. 9 BOSTON COLLEGE - W
Oct. 16 at East Carolina - W
Oct. 28 FLORIDA ST. (Thurs- ESPN) 7:30 - L
Nov. 6 at Clemson - L
Nov. 13 WAKE FOREST - W
Nov. 20 at North Carolina - W
Nov. 27 at Maryland - L

6-6, maybe sneak into the Meinke bowl?

2/6/2010 1:19:20 PM

in on page 1

GO PACK! stoked for 2 Thursday night games. Carter-Finley will be rockin

2/6/2010 1:33:56 PM

Quote :

"Much of the team's success will hinge upon the improvement of the young secondary that couldn't had trouble stopping opponents from moving down the field and seemingly scoring at will."

Lets not sugar coat it

2/6/2010 1:44:21 PM

^^^A loss to Maryland, are they supposed to be significantly improved next year?

2/6/2010 1:53:10 PM

My prediction:

2010 NC State Football Schedule
Sept. 4 WESTERN CAROLINA - W
Sept. 11 at Central Florida - W
Sept. 16 CINCINNATI (Thurs-ESPN) 7:30 pm - W
Sept. 25 at Georgia Tech - L
Oct. 2 VIRGINIA TECH - L
Oct. 9 BOSTON COLLEGE - W
Oct. 16 at East Carolina - W
Oct. 28 FLORIDA ST. (Thurs- ESPN) 7:30 - W
Nov. 6 at Clemson - L
Nov. 13 WAKE FOREST - W
Nov. 20 at North Carolina - W
Nov. 27 at Maryland - W

9-3, Champs Sports Bowl

2/6/2010 2:20:24 PM

I'm going to go with 7-5 with wins over Western, UCF, BC, FSU, Wake, UNC, and UMd. Prob go to the Car Care Tire Quick Lube Bowl in the QC.

2/7/2010 1:14:25 PM

thats a pretty brutal schedule

2/7/2010 1:16:48 PM

2-10 with wins over Western Carolina and either ECU or UNC is our best-case scenario. This is a FACT.

2/7/2010 1:57:33 PM

morpheus, i feel like we have a complete inability to defeat UMD when we play them as our last game of the season. I'd be curious what our record is vs them in the last game of the season. They ruined Phil's senior year, killed our bowl hopes in TOB's first year, as quick examples. Hopefully this will be our year?

2/7/2010 2:41:56 PM

^ we beat a 5-5 UMD team in 2005 to make it to a bowl and keep them out of one. marcus "skittles" hudson got 2 picks, one for a td. then we went on to shut out USF in the bowl game and sent our entire defense to the NFL.

of course UMD got serious revenge in the shut-out / "giving the business" game in 2007 (but they lost their bowl game, lol)

and USF got serious revenge in 2008 when they beat us 41-10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beL2D-v8UzM

[Edited on February 7, 2010 at 3:04 PM. Reason : A CALAMITOUS MISTAKE BY HOLLENBACH]

2/7/2010 3:00:26 PM

In before the dancing L's

2/7/2010 3:02:29 PM

6-6 sounds about right, although 5-7 is possible. then some little bowl that we'll probably win.

2/7/2010 3:07:19 PM

fingers crossed for a great season!!!

2/7/2010 3:54:17 PM

So why in the HELL do all of you think we'll beat Florida State.

2/7/2010 5:38:06 PM

5-7, another season of "wait until next year"

2/7/2010 6:01:54 PM

I dont see any reason why we shouldnt be a .500 team next year. What is our glaring weak spot that causes such crap predictions?

2/7/2010 9:26:07 PM

^We are NC State

2/7/2010 9:27:25 PM

defense
secondary
archer

2/7/2010 9:57:20 PM

reasons to be hopeful: tob's emphasis on building the oline should be more apparent than ever during his tenure, meaning (1) more time for russell to destroy defenses and (2) our young, skilled running backs should thrive despite their lack of experience; our receiving corps is probably the deepest in the universe, led by tall, speedy, and mostly sure-handed upperclassmen; nate irving has yet to suffer a season-ending injury.

reasons to be pessimistic: no matter how good things look on offense, if we don't score every possession and we don't have the ball for the game's final possession, we lose. the defense showed zero signs of improvement all year, halting the opposition only when receivers drop balls or running backs slip in the backfield on third and short. we don't create turnovers. we can't tackle. tob refuses to consider the fact that archer may be a shitty coach and blames the weekly losing efforts on the players.

2/8/2010 12:00:05 AM

I'm hoping Archer actually puts together some kind of meaningful defense this year. If he can, (and really, it won't take much with the offensive talent we're returning) 9 wins won't be out of the question. But, he probably won't, and we'll be lucky to go to a bowl game.

2/8/2010 12:09:37 AM

2/8/2010 12:11:27 AM

I'm hoping that with Irving back and with some more talent back in the secondary we should be able to improve on defense just enough for the offense (hopefully Russell is included in that) to dominate the opposing team's defense. I love the fact that we play Western as an opener, but I really hate that 5 day break we get between UCF and Cincinatti.

2/8/2010 12:33:35 AM

Fenway fuck off a five day break is perfect

2/8/2010 1:26:37 AM

YOU ARE SUCH A DICK.

2/8/2010 1:48:09 AM

If your post didnt suck we wouldnt have this problem.

2/8/2010 3:16:59 AM

Sept. 4 WESTERN CAROLINA - W
Sept. 11 at Central Florida - W
Sept. 16 CINCINNATI (Thurs-ESPN) 7:30 pm - W
Sept. 25 at Georgia Tech - L
Oct. 2 VIRGINIA TECH - L
Oct. 9 BOSTON COLLEGE - W
Oct. 16 at East Carolina - W
Oct. 28 FLORIDA ST. (Thurs- ESPN) 7:30 - W
Nov. 6 at Clemson - L
Nov. 13 WAKE FOREST - W
Nov. 20 at North Carolina - W
Nov. 27 at Maryland - W


lol

2/8/2010 3:29:57 AM

2010 NC State Football Schedule
Sept. 4 WESTERN CAROLINA W
Sept. 11 at Central Florida W
Sept. 16 CINCINNATI (Thurs-ESPN) 7:30 pm L
Sept. 25 at Georgia Tech L
Oct. 2 VIRGINIA TECH L
Oct. 9 BOSTON COLLEGE W
Oct. 16 at East Carolina W
Oct. 28 FLORIDA ST. (Thurs- ESPN) 7:30 L
Nov. 6 at Clemson L
Nov. 13 WAKE FOREST L
Nov. 20 at North Carolina W
Nov. 27 at Maryland L

Another wait until next year but hey at least we beat carolina again right?

2/8/2010 8:50:59 AM

Quote :

"Sept. 4 WESTERN CAROLINA - W Sept. 11 at Central Florida - W Sept. 16 CINCINNATI (Thurs-ESPN) 7:30 pm - W Sept. 25 at Georgia Tech - L Oct. 2 VIRGINIA TECH - L Oct. 9 BOSTON COLLEGE - W Oct. 16 at East Carolina - W Oct. 28 FLORIDA ST. (Thurs- ESPN) 7:30 - W Nov. 6 at Clemson - L Nov. 13 WAKE FOREST - W Nov. 20 at North Carolina - W Nov. 27 at Maryland - W lol"

literally spit on monitor laughing lol

2/8/2010 10:32:31 AM

we have lost to clemson now 6 years in a row.

2/8/2010 10:40:32 AM

2/8/2010 12:02:42 PM

We have a 3 game contract with the University of South Alabama's newly created football team.
Two of the games will take place at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh in 2011 (Sept. 17) and 2012
(Sept. 15), while we'll visit them at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, AL in 2015 (Sept. 5).
Ladd-Peebles Stadium (capacity 40,646) is where the Senior Bowl is held every year. It recently
underwent a $2.2 million facelift that also included the construction of 11 luxury sky boxes on the
stadium's west side.



Obviously we should destroy USA during our games with them, but our game down there will help get
us some exposure in Alabama. I wouldn't be surprised to see them end up in C-USA and do well 10
years from now, since Alabama has a good amount of talented players. I'll probably make the trip.
I went there once as a kid. Mobile has a New Orleans feel to it IIRC. It's situated on the water and
has a lot of historic buildings. They also do up Mardi Gras fairly big.

[Edited on February 8, 2010 at 4:32 PM. Reason : ]

2/8/2010 4:07:08 PM

^ so is this going to prompt some down with "USA" cheers

2/8/2010 4:49:36 PM

2/8/2010 5:05:35 PM

If Archer dies before season starts, we'll go 7-5, maybe 8-4, if not then I predict 5-7 or worse.

2/8/2010 5:10:05 PM

C'mon now I know that you are joking and all, but that's just a little low class.

2/8/2010 10:40:41 PM

that was fucked up but i loled

2/8/2010 10:47:23 PM

we win ACC championship game, CHYEA bitches

2/8/2010 11:14:53 PM

University of South Alabama Leprechauns

2/8/2010 11:26:46 PM

^could be a crackhead

2/9/2010 12:40:34 AM

^^^^^ Yeah I'm sure it's a joke, but it's sad how we have more hope in mother nature than we do in our own administration to make personnel changes that should be obvious to all.

[Edited on February 9, 2010 at 7:45 AM. Reason : -]

2/9/2010 7:38:20 AM

in on page one... barely. Way too long before football starts again. Also bummed about the TX lot. I went to the Wolfpack Club last Friday to move my LTR's and on the way saw what looked like a hand painted sign in front of the TX lot which said something to the effect of: "Upscale Office Space" coming soon. The Wolfpack Club guy said they didn't really know what was going on, and speculated that this year's parking most likely won't be affected, but next year most likely.

2/9/2010 8:40:18 AM