the strength of our team is definitely the oline. 4/5 come back.

qbs, rbs, wrs all back with more chemistry and experience. they could be a lot better.

jay sam and tony adams are all we lose on offense.

our defense has been good but not really done anything special this year. they've only dominated against furman and pitt. they can't get too much worse than giving up 30 something points in every tough game but have the chance to get a lot better with a fresh set of different players who will hopefully do a better job of executing the system.

our kicking game is going to be light years better.

11/4/2017 9:59:19 PM

^ kicking should be better. Punting will get exponentially worse. We dont have a punter coming in on scholarship and aj cole is one of the best in the nation.

I agree...we are supposed to have this great defensive line, but they havent done shit really. I cant imagine we will take but so much of a step back.

11/4/2017 10:42:35 PM

So loss at BC, win at Wake, loss to UNC?

11/4/2017 11:37:01 PM

We better at least win 2 out of the last 3 games including the UNC game or this becomes a disappointing season for me.

11/4/2017 11:38:28 PM

You know DD has turned things around when 7-5 is a "disappointing season".

11/4/2017 11:48:52 PM

7-5 got TOB fired

11/4/2017 11:58:25 PM

Quote :

"loss to UNC"

What's the bet JonHGuth?

11/5/2017 12:20:09 AM

Quote :

"jay sam and tony adams are all we lose on offense. our defense has been good but not really done anything special this year. they've only dominated against furman and pitt. they can't get too much worse than giving up 30 something points in every tough game but have the chance to get a lot better with a fresh set of different players who will hopefully do a better job of executing the system. our kicking game is going to be light years better."

"all we lose is one of the most productive offensive players in our entire history and our best oline man.

Also despite losing an all American DE and 5 other seniors, our D can't get much worse (lol extra hard at that)"


LOL just double checked the the depth chart. I think we lose 10/11 defensive starters.

[Edited on November 5, 2017 at 1:02 AM. Reason : Ee]

11/5/2017 12:56:09 AM

^thier logic also ignores any potential attrition/players leading early for the nfl or coaches leaving (Drinkwitz).

Also think we've been lucky avoiding injuries this year.

I'm pumped that we're gonna be favorites from here on out. 9-3 or 8-4 exceeded my expectations coming into this year. All 3 are gonna be tough though and I won't be surprised if we drop at least one game.

[Edited on November 5, 2017 at 7:11 AM. Reason : .]

11/5/2017 7:09:08 AM

Yeah I was expecting 6-6, but I'm still disappointed because this was our best shot and next year is going to be a huge battle

11/5/2017 7:25:50 AM

Our d line was garbage against ND but not against Clemson. They didn't make many impact plays yesterday but were pretty solid. To think that there won't be a drop off next year on the dline after losing so many seniors is very unrealistic.

11/5/2017 7:33:45 AM

Lotta doom and gloom after back to bakc losses to top 4 teams in the nation. Still have a chance to have our best conference record in decades. Just gotta refocus

11/5/2017 7:45:44 AM

Improvement=beat the teams you're supposed to beat, lose to the truly better teams.

If we win out, I'll be pleased.

11/5/2017 8:23:07 AM

24th in the Coaches, "27th" in the AP

11/5/2017 3:30:30 PM

While the polls are pointless, it's kinda illogical that a top 20 team takes a top 5 team to the wire but falls short and drops 7 spots. Shouldn't that result be justification and proof that we were deserving of a top 25 ranking?

11/5/2017 5:39:00 PM

What good wins do we have to justify being ranked?


If we had some good decisive wins, the loss to Clemson probably wouldn't have dropped us much of at all

[Edited on November 5, 2017 at 6:05 PM. Reason : .]

11/5/2017 6:04:36 PM

The only polls that matter are at the end of the season. Kinda like beating a ranked team isn't a thing unless they were ranked at the end of the year.

11/5/2017 6:06:18 PM

^^all I'm saying is if we were supposedly #20 before the clemson game, we should probably still be ranked. It's pointless. It's just about bragging rights at this point. But I think I have a valid point. A top 20 team goes toe to toe with a top 5 team and that's justification for dropping us? That seems like what you'd expect the #20 team to do at home vs a top 5 team. Again - pointless debate. Just odd imo.

Also obviously fsu sucks. But I think they're clearly a different team at this point. They've given up on the season now. They still had plenty to play for when we played them. It doesn't really matter because unless you're in the playoff discussion "good wins" doesn't really matter like it does in basketball.

[Edited on November 5, 2017 at 6:37 PM. Reason : ^It's accurate, as far as records go, to say we have beaten 2 ranked teams]

11/5/2017 6:36:06 PM

Quote :

"Also despite losing an all American DE and 5 other seniors, our D can't get much worse (lol extra hard at that)" LOL just double checked the the depth chart. I think we lose 10/11 defensive starters. "

We are ranked 47th in defensive efficiency so good riddance. I can't wait to see what the next set of guys can do but the only thing we certainly won't be able to replace is the hype.

11/5/2017 10:57:35 PM

3.5/10

11/5/2017 11:36:53 PM

That's generous

11/5/2017 11:40:20 PM

NFL DEs who can't keep the qb in the pocket, even on a blitz.

NFL DTs/LBs who give up 80 yard runs against every good team.

Its starting to look like the best player on our defense was Matt Dayes.

[Edited on November 5, 2017 at 11:53 PM. Reason : I won't even talk about our senior dbs...]

11/5/2017 11:47:31 PM

our pass rush is quite good. i put more blame on LBs for giving up longer runs to RBs. our DL is definitely good. the defense as a whole is ok.

11/6/2017 6:47:06 AM

Doeren will be judged on the next three games. The goal this season was to beat the teams we should beat and maybe steal one from someone better or equal to us. You can make the argument that Wake and BC are 50/50 games.

Going into the season I had five losses on the schedule with SCar, FSU, Louisville, Clemson, ND. I also assumed we would blow a game against someone we should beat. Turns out FSU and Louisville should have been on the teams we should have beaten list. So that moves my 6-6 expectations to 8-4 now as worst case. So if we go 9-3 we have done everything that should have been expected of us this year and we had a chance at the division at least. Yes when looking at the opportunities its a bit deflating but 9-3 may be the best year we see for the next 10 years so can't complain really.

11/6/2017 8:36:09 AM

not to mention 9-3 in this case would mean 7-1 in acc.

11/6/2017 10:52:12 AM

This is why preseason predictions are worthless. You have no idea how the season is going to turn out for an individual team. For example, if FSUs QB wasn't injured against bama, they would have had a completely different season. But just because FSU has to start the Strawman at QB, does that mean Syracuse is now better than their preseason expectations?

There is no point in comparing your "predicted" record vs. our actual record, because one isnt grounded in an ounce of reality. So instead, lets just enjoy the season, and at the end of the season we can evaluate where our coaches succeeded and failed. And wallow in the existential nightmare that it is to be a State fan.

11/6/2017 10:53:19 AM

fsus struggles have little to do with qb play...

[Edited on November 6, 2017 at 4:51 PM. Reason : fsu wasnt good last year]

[Edited on November 6, 2017 at 4:52 PM. Reason : one of the best rb in the country carried them and they were due]

11/6/2017 4:50:52 PM

Bambard back in so kicking game solved

11/6/2017 9:50:32 PM

Quote :

"all we lose is one of the most productive offensive players in our entire history and our best oline man. "

Losing JSam is absolutely going to hurt, but Will Richardson has proven to, statistically, be our best OL. No doubt Adams is a great player for us, but Richardson is the guy I'm worried about going to the NFL. I think we'll be able to replace Adams next year(esp. if Gwyn commits) if the other 4 guys stay. I wouldn't be shocked to see Richardson leave after a huge year given his history with the staff.

Also...Ryan Finley is the biggest threat to derail our season next year. He's getting legit 2nd round draft hype right now, and no way he comes back with a 2nd round grade at QB. These other QBs struggling and talking about coming back to school aren't going to help our cause.

I think our offense is poised to be better than this year if Finley comes back. We'll return every RB and WR. If Hines/Harmon/Meyers can improve as much as they did this offseason, we could have a big season. I also think Ricky Person ends up getting plenty of playing time, the kid is the #3 RB in the nation on one site and he crushed it at The Opening. I don't think we'll replace JSam with 1 guy, I think we'll just add in multiple weapons adjust our offense.

Obviously staff changes are hard to predict, but I don't see Drink getting poached this year, the guy I'm most concerned about getting poached is Ledford. What he's done with our OL the last 2 years(go look at the Clemson tape 2 years in a row, we pushed around future 1st round picks) is big-time and I think he could get poached like Nielsen did. I think we'll give him a big raise this year but if the NFL comes calling I just can't imagine him turning it down.

11/7/2017 8:14:08 AM

^yeah i had thought the same about richardson - seems like he might be an under the radar guy that could go pro. but if he and finley return, our offense could be amazing next year. jaysam is nearly irreplaceable, i get that. so maybe our offense doesn't utilize a player of his nature next year...and it's a slightly more "traditional" (for lack of better word) style. but the weapons are there for the offense to be just as potent or more potent next year. Parham is listed in the HB role on the depth chart behind JaySam so maybe we try to utilize him similarly.

losses on the defensive front hurt...but we've got decent depth on defense. i think some of the "this is the year we have to win because we lose so much" is a bit overblown. we lose plenty. but we'll still be talented next year.

looking at the depth chart defensively:

we lose Chubb, Justin Jones, BJ Hill, Street up front. i read a little speculation in the offseason about Roseboro going pro, but i'm not sure how realistic that is. so our front 4 next year could look like:
Roseboro and James Smith Williams at the ends with Shug Frazier and E Bryant at tackle. we won't be as deep on the line next year but i think that's a decent line still. also Larell Murchison at DT is a juco guy, Xavier Lyas DE and Grant Gibson DT were a well thought of recruits. so i think there's a decent amount of talent there. a noticeable drop off, but should be a decent group next year.

losing Jerod Fernandez and Arius Moore at LB hurts...but Germaine Pratt has looked really good at times this year and he should be back. Louis Acceus was a promising recruit, so he'll get a shot next year. brock miller will be back next year, he's out for the year with an injury.

in the secondary, losing Stevens, Alston, and Boone hurts...but also we all know the secondary hasn't been a strength so it probably won't be a huge drop off. we've got plenty of younger DBs on the team...hopefully they take a step forward next year.

11/7/2017 9:08:30 AM

^Yeah we should return our safeties and some guys with experience on the DL and at LB.

I still think Roseboro goes pro unless something has changed, most of the word was he would have gone pro last year if he could. Perhaps he'll see that Chubb was able to increase his stock with one strong final season.

Not all that worried about losing our CBs. Stevens hurts a bit but Valdez looked like a starter until he got hurt and Ingram has shown enough that he's going to start seeing more minutes as a true FR, plus we're bringing in one JUCO CB already and actively recruiting another. Also bringing in a couple of JUCO guys on the DL to help with the bridge. They won't be as good as our current guys but we're not going to regress back to starting a bunch of true FR like we did 3 years ago. I wouldn't be surprised to see McNeil pushing for minutes but ideally he'd get a year in S&C before having to play.

If Our offense goes from B+ to A next year and our D regresses from B+ to B- next year, we can still win some games.

11/7/2017 9:55:29 AM

I think how the schedule sets up also matters how good we will do next year. If the first few games are against lesser opponents, that can help build confidence in the new guys. If they are thrown into the fire right away with some strong teams or early scheduled conference games we could get banged up or have nothing to play for (see FSU this year). Hopefully the extra bowl practices will help develop these guys.

11/7/2017 12:24:42 PM

^Our first 2 should be winnable, but then WVU and @Marshall will be tough games for sure, big tests for our defense.

Then ACC we know we have @UL, @Clemson, @UNC and @Cuse, but should get FSU, BC, Wake, and UVA.

Won't speculate without knowing about attrition, but 8 or 9 of those seem winnable on paper if everyone returns.

[Edited on November 7, 2017 at 12:43 PM. Reason : .]

11/7/2017 12:40:16 PM

Quote :

"Then ACC we know we have @UL, @Clemson, @UNC and @Cuse, but should get FSU, BC, Wake, and UVA. "

Not sure what you mean by the 2nd part but we've known who/where we play in the ACC next year since like 2010

11/7/2017 12:56:19 PM

why on earth are we playing wvu? we already play in one of the toughest divisions and occasionally nd by mandate. there is no reason to schedule solid p5s every year like we are alabama or ohio state.

11/7/2017 12:59:21 PM

you have to schedule a P5 OOC every year. there's only but so many shitty P5 teams to go around

11/7/2017 1:03:23 PM

Quote :

" Not sure what you mean by the 2nd part but we've known who/where we play in the ACC next year since like 2010"

I wasn't guessing at our schedule, I was saying we have those 4 games away but get those other 4 games at home. @Clemson and FSU are the only sure-fire tough games on our ACC schedule next year. Wake and BC should continue to improve but we get them at home. Plus our cross-over games being @UNC and UVA is a pretty good break.

11/7/2017 8:48:49 PM

^^according to who? im not familiar with that beimg a rule and it didnt apply to bc miami or wisconsin

11/7/2017 8:54:54 PM

meh

[Edited on November 7, 2017 at 9:06 PM. Reason : ~]

11/7/2017 9:05:40 PM

^^^ah, you said "should get" so I assume you were unsure

^^it doesn't explicitly say it in this article but it's clear the rule is P5 or ND. If you want to argue we shouldn't play a P5 team in years we play ND, there isn't a rule that against that to my knowledge
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/17722766/acc-elects-keep-current-football-schedule-format

11/7/2017 10:54:53 PM

so when does it go into effect? thats such a dumb rule of self harm if the sec isn't doing it.

[Edited on November 8, 2017 at 12:36 AM. Reason : k]

11/8/2017 12:35:13 AM

It's BEEN in effect? That was from 10/2016 and said the rule will STAY in place


Also

Quote :

"In the coming years, though, SEC schools' schedules are set to be beefed up — at least somewhat. The conference announced its new scheduling policy on Sunday night, and while it was notable for keeping the conference-play portion of the season at eight games — there had been talk of a potential nine-game schedule, which the Big Ten is moving to in 2016 — the biggest news is a new provision that requires schools to play at least one game against a team from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten or Pac-12. (Notre Dame, an independent, would also fulfill the requirement, as reported by national college football writer Bruce Feldman.)"

http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/news/new-sec-scheduling-rules-must-play-power-conference-schools-playoff/7righ4158e761ocea4f4prmzy



[Edited on November 8, 2017 at 12:56 AM. Reason : Did you look at even one SEC teams schedule before you posted? ]

11/8/2017 12:50:47 AM

well damn. Can we at least play Maryland?

11/8/2017 3:57:48 AM

fuck no i don't wanna play maryland

fuck maryland forever

11/8/2017 7:04:49 AM

Quote :

"why on earth are we playing wvu? we already play in one of the toughest divisions and occasionally nd by mandate. there is no reason to schedule solid p5s every year like we are alabama or ohio state."

fuck shit schedules and fuck you. I don't want boring ass football teams.

11/8/2017 7:08:26 AM

Eh I scheduled cupcakes whenever I played franchise on NCAA football to beef up my win totals early on so I can understand the sentiment.

Shit doesn't fly in real life though. Give me P5 matchups or ECU/App State over cupcakes. At least WVU will be a tune up for air raid teams in our conference (Syracuse) next year.

11/8/2017 8:21:20 AM

all depends where the program's at.

DD's first couple years, we were right to schedule cupcakes just for the sake of making a bowl. it sucks for the fans having to watch 4 boring OOC games, but it's probably best for the program. strength of schedule doesn't matter when you're struggling to make 6 wins. in every case it's better to make a bowl vs shitty schedules than not make a bowl vs strong schedules. now that we're (hopefully) more established and have built a good foundation where we can aim higher with our goals, it definitely is smart to schedule some games that get us more exposure and help in recruiting and stuff like that. plus, the rule where we have to schedule a P5 opponent.

there's obviously a balance needed. don't need to schedule 4 games that are all lose-able. but a OOC schedule with 1 P5 team, 1 FCS, and a couple G5 teams is totally fine. 2018 and 2019 schedules look like about what i'd want:

2018:
James Madison
Georgia St
WV
@Marshall (on the road isn't ideal, but it helps that Marshall at least has some name recognition)

2019:
ECU (yeah i know a lotta y'all hate playing em)
Western Carolina
@WV
Ball State

2020 is fairly shitty, and @Troy seems like a no-win situation:
Miss St
Delaware
Liberty
@Troy

11/8/2017 8:39:37 AM

Quote :

"Yes when looking at the opportunities its a bit deflating but 9-3 may be the best year we see for the next 10 years so can't complain really."

FFS man, I swear you've got to be one of the most pessimistic NCSU fans, lol. Why the hell even bother?

11/8/2017 12:34:47 PM

I ask myself that all the time but unfortunately am rarely proven wrong... they have a chance this year though this is as optimistic as I have been in a while haha

11/8/2017 3:39:47 PM

Unless you think you are a playoff contender there is no reason to schedule a hard OOC slate.

And arguably in one of the hardest divisions in CFB, there is no reason to schedule a hard OOC slate.

None. Get the wins.

11/8/2017 3:55:59 PM