The facts: The Wolfpack take on UNC-Chapel Hill Saturday. Comments from UNC’s interim head coach Everett Withers have ignited a fire in the Wolfpack and head coach Tom O’Brien.
Our Opinion: There is an unspoken rule going into rivalry games between opposing teams, don’t pour gas on the fire. The comments from Withers on N.C . State athletics and academics have taken the feel of this game to another level.
The mere fact that we’d have to let UNC onto our field on Saturday is enough to make any State fan’s blood boil. The comments from Withers on N.C . State athletics and academics have taken the feel of this game to another level.
In an interview with Joe Ovies on 99.9 “The Fan” Withers insinuated that superiority of UNC to N.C . State in the graduation rates of their football players makes it a better academic institution and the “flagship” school in North Carolina. For Wither’s to rest his hat on UNC football academics when trash talking is an odd decision. Withers fell into his position because the lack of academic integrity on his own football team forced out former head coach Butch Davis.
Deunta Williams, a safety for UNC , furthered the ridiculousness coming from Carolina when he commented on twitter about N.C . State’s dominance over UNC the past four years. Williams said the only reason we won for four straight years was because we had Russell Wilson. And, while we love Wilson, this is simply not an accurate statement. Wilson won us three of those games and Daniel Evans won the fourth. Its hard to imagine that one would forget the one that Evans won, as UNC fans collectively booed their team.
Tom O’brien left his reserved demeanor and fired back at Withers Wednesday. He attacked the comments made by Withers, as he should, but was responsible in his final note to students “We can’t lower ourselves to retaliations or fights or anything stupid like that.” This is the correct sentiment; we cannot lower ourselves to the level of UNC ; however, this does not mean we have to take a hands off approach to Saturday’s game.
We should prepare as we normally do for Saturday’s game. Our support should start at dawn. It’s a necessity to prime ourselves for three hours of bliss with five hours of tailgating. Signs are a necessity, we need UNC players to not only hear our passion but see it too. Signs are allowed at Carter Finely Stadium as long as they are not vulgar, are in good taste, are not a safety hazard and do not block spectator views. A final, and relatively new idea is TOB-ing , taking the traditional Tom O’Brien arms crossed stance in unison. TOB-ing will instill all the fear that Tom O’Brien generally instills, just on a larger scale.
We haven’t lost in four years and we’re not about to start Saturday.
