Last week, N.C. State athletic director Debbie Yow announced that the school will be retiring its “This is Our State” slogan at the beginning of the fall semester.
All I can say is: it’s about time.
The “Our State” campaign was a disaster from the start. N.C. State has been accused of stealing ideas during the 2013-14 academic year, as the outline of North Carolina at the 50-yard line looked a bit too much like the one at East Carolina’s field.
All of this started, however, with the borrowing of ideas from Mississippi State. In 2010, the Bulldogs posted signs reading “Welcome to Our State.” From that concept, N.C State’s new slogan was born.
Admittedly, the idea seemed like a good one when the first billboards were erected in the spring of 2012. The Wolfpack had topped its arch-rival UNC-Chapel Hill on the gridiron each of the past five years, and the men’s basketball team was coming off of its first NCAA Tournament appearance in six years.
If there was any time for State to stake claim to the sports world of North Carolina, it was then. So Yow and the Athletics department pounced, setting up billboards across the state, putting North Carolinians on notice. This was their time. This was the age of the Wolfpack.
The only problem was it wasn’t.
As soon as the billboards were set up, former Tar Heel and current Cincinnati Bengals running back Giovani Bernard took offense, and rightly so. However, though he was coming off his first 1,000-yard season, the UNC-CH star had little ground to stand on as he publicly bashed the “junk” that State was putting forth. Bernard’s Heels team had recently lost in the Independence Bowl to Missouri while the Pack had taken care of Louisville in the Belk Bowl.
The next season, things seemed to be heading up for State faithful. Heading into its highly-anticipated matchup with Carolina, the Pack was 5-2 with a huge upset win over ACC-favorite Florida State. On Oct. 27, 2012, however, the state of N.C. State’s athletics began to go down the toilet.
Bernard, still salty from the Pack’s claim over his home state, single-handedly broke the hearts of every State fan in attendance by returning a game-winning 73-yard punt to give his Heels their first victory over the Pack in five years.
From there, the Pack dropped three of its last five contests, including its matchup with Vanderbilt in the Music City Bowl, leading to the firing of then-head coach Tom O’Brien.
Things only got worse from there. The men’s basketball team, ranked ahead of UNC-CH and Duke at No. 5 in the nation, plummeted out of the top 25, resulting in an early exit in the NCAA Tournament’s opening round.
Though a trip to the College World Series from the baseball team sparked life into State fans, their spirits were quickly crushed when the football team ended with a 3-9 record and a goose egg in its ACC win column.
The low point of the campaign came during the 2013 football season after a loss to East Carolina on Nov. 23. After being down by 28 at one point, the Pack fell to its old rival, 42-28. The following day, the Pirates had a billboard of their own, reading “ARRRRR State”.
From that point on, State fans could not escape the criticism. After every loss to an in-state school, snide comments would be aimed at State fans.
Making matters worse, the losses came often. Since adopting the slogan, the Pack has struggled mightily against other schools in the state of North Carolina. Since the infamous claim was made, the Pack has posted records of 1-5 and 10-9 against in-state schools in football and men’s basketball. If non-ACC schools are removed from the men’s basketball record, State falls to a dreadful 4-8.
With this being said, the “Our State” slogan needed to go. By no means did the decision come too late. Ditching it in the middle of the season would have been a huge admission of defeat on the part of the State Athletics department.
But if the slogan is ever used again, as Yow said in an email that it may be, the game must be a guaranteed win. For the sake of N.C. State fans across the state, another Carolina fan making an “Our State” joke after a State loss might set them over the edge.
