ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Long before NC State football knew it was headed to the Military Bowl, it knew it wouldn’t meet its lofty preseason expectations. However, after falling flat on its face in a 26-21 Military Bowl loss against East Carolina, the Wolfpack showed it could not even reach its basic standard. For just the third time since 2010, the Pack finished below .500 with a 6-7 record in what will likely go down as the most disappointing season in head coach Dave Doeren’s tenure.
On the field, NC State has worked hard over the last several seasons to establish itself as a consistent program. Under head coach Dave Doeren, the Wolfpack generally wins seven to nine games, finishes towards the top of the ACC and wins its rivalry games more often than not. There’s certainly opportunity for NC State to perform better than that, but it is a respectable basic standard if consistently met. Yet after gearing up for its most anticipated season in a long time, the Wolfpack fell flat.
Against its in-state rivals, the Wolfpack went just 1-3. Individually dropping home games to Duke, Wake Forest or a bowl game to East Carolina would be tough for Pack fans to stomach, but losing to all three is simply inexcusable. Once seemingly the top program in the state, the red-and-white is now falling behind its neighbors, including multiple teams that made coaching changes this season.
Offensively, NC State played inconsistent throughout the year, including its finale against the Pirates. The unit, filled with talent, seemed close to clicking throughout the year but never fully established itself. Whether it was head-scratching play calls, unnecessary penalties or simply not blocking well, there was always something holding back the Pack’s offense. Against ECU this was manifested in several promising drives stalling out — a theme that became all too common this season.
“We didn’t get first downs, so yeah you can question [playcalling] — you can question blocking too, right?” Doeren said. “Easy thing to do is blame the playcaller, right? There’s 11 guys on the field that need to block and run and catch and all those things too and so it’s everybody’s fault.”
The one thing NC State consistently excels at is defense — until this season. Often operating as a gritty, defensive program, the Pack looked the opposite against ECU. The Pirates ran roughshod over the Wolfpack defense en route to 326 yards on the ground. In its first game without former defensive coordinator Tony Gibson, the Wolfpack defense looked lost — a warning sign for next season without Gibson.
While the unit improved throughout the year, the Pack ranked 15th in the ACC in scoring defense this season and reverted back to its early season struggles in the Military Bowl. NC State’s typically stout defense failed to even sniff the standard that had been set by previous iterations.
Another point of pride in the NC State football program under Doeren is the Wolfpack’s team-oriented culture. Despite that, the Pack appeared to be undisciplined and unfocused late in the year, ending its final two games against North Carolina and ECU with large brawls on the field. Once known for its culture, a part of this team’s legacy will be end-of-game fights.
“I’d like to apologize for our football team, for how that ended.” Doeren said. “I’m embarrassed as a coach and I know our players are too. … It was a terrible response.”
With nearly every facet of the NC State football program underachieving this season, the Wolfpack failed to meet its standard. The red-and-white failed to have a winning record, handle its rivals, showcase its defensive identity or even maintain its cool in games. Seemingly every issue reared its ugly head in the loss to the Pirates, whether it was an inability to stop the run or losing composure late. Doeren, his staff and the roster will have plenty of hard work ahead this offseason to try to re-establish its standard next season.
“We have a lot of growing to do and that’s what this offseason is about,” Doeren said. “We got to work really hard as a coaching staff and putting our guys in great positions to finish and coaching them well, and they got to train hard and they got to go make plays.”
