Upsets happen in sports, particularly in college football. You can run into a team that’s banged up, you can have a perfect, lucky day, have your opponent play a sloppy game and, of course, anything can happen in a rivalry game (see: Michigan-Michigan State Saturday).
So, one upset win over a top-25 team, while great for any program, is not necessarily indicative of the winner being on that level itself. Doing it twice in three weeks? Yeah, that’s the mark of a good team, and a team that belongs on the same level as its opponents. Following Thursday night’s 39-25 win over then-No. 17 Louisville (the Cardinals are out of the latest AP poll) at Carter-Finley Stadium, that’s exactly what the No. 20 NC State football team is.
It’s time to face facts, Wolfpack fans. This is a good team. Perhaps a great one. Beating a team that drubbed it last season, and one helmed by the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, by two touchdowns on national TV shows how far the Pack has come.
Going into the season, it was well-known this was a talented team, and that talent has manifested itself clearly on the field. Redshirt junior quarterback Ryan Finley has the longest-active streak in the FBS without an interception. Senior defensive end Bradley Chubb leads a stacked defensive line, and ranks tied for third in the country in sacks and second in tackles for a loss.
Senior all-purpose back Jaylen Samuels has been his usual electrifying self. Junior Nyheim Hines has completed the transition to running back and added a dynamic element to the Pack’s ground attack. A deep receiving corps led by sophomore Kelvin Harmon and redshirt junior Stephen Louis specializes in big plays.
It was known coming in what kind of potential that group had for this team. What wasn’t known was whether or not the team could find a way to execute in its games against top opponents, which was an issue last season. Those questions were magnified after a frustrating season-opening loss to South Carolina.
Fast forward five weeks, and the Pack has won five in a row. The team is 3-0 in the ACC for the first time since 2002, with wins over two top-25 opponents. Coming into this season, head coach Dave Doeren did not have a signature win with NC State in four seasons. Now, he has two in the past three weeks, as the labor of his four-year building process for this program starts to bear fruit.
“I’m excited,” Doeren said after the win over the Cardinals. “We worked really hard to get to this point. I told our team it was coming, told y’all it was coming. Some of you believed me; some of you didn’t. But I’m really excited. You can just feel it right now in our locker room. They believe they’re the best team. They’re playing hard, they’re playing together, they’re tough and it’s fun; it’s a lot of fun. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into it.”
This is a team loaded with seniors on both sides of the ball. Some were here for the early years of Doeren’s tenure, including his abysmal first season in 2013, when the team went 3-9 and did not win an ACC game. Those players are being rewarded for staying with it as well.
One who is seeing the benefits of sticking around is Chubb, who easily could have been a second-round draft pick in the NFL last year. However, he elected to come back and finish what he started, both helping this team reach new heights and improving his draft stock. Now, he’s looking at a legitimate shot at being a top-10 selection, and the opportunity to do something special with the Wolfpack.
“The sky is the limit for this team,” Chubb said. “I truly believe that. That’s the main reason I came back. I knew we weren’t done. It’s just good to see things come to fruition.”
While the team will rightfully stick to its “one game at a time mentality,” it’s fair for fans (and writers) to look ahead a little. The wins over Florida State and Louisville have given this team a good shot at its ultimate goal of an ACC title. There is business to take care of between now and then, namely the lone ACC game remaining before this week at Pitt, but the Nov. 4 matchup with the defending National Champion Clemson Tigers at Carter-Finley looks like a battle for control of the ACC Atlantic.
If Doeren and the ACC players have their way, they’re going to take this opportunity to seize the chance that’s in front of them.
“They don’t want to be denied what they feel is theirs right now,” Doeren said. “They’ve had the struggle. They’ve had to learn what the word ‘perseverance’ means. It’s one of our core values today. You don’t just choose to persevere, you have to have adversity. You have to have the struggle, you have to face your fears, and to do that, you’ve got to grow up, dig deep. Our guys did that. They’ve invested so much, they can’t give in right now. They’re going to find a way. Offense is feeding the defense, defense is feeding the offense. That’s the fun part of it. You can hear them on the sideline encouraging each other and it’s great. There’s no flinch in these guys; I can tell you that.”
This team has already shown this season what it is capable of. For sure, the Pack should be worried about a matchup with a top-ranked Clemson team and trips to face Pittsburgh and Notre Dame. But here’s the flip side: the Panthers, Fighting Irish and Tigers should be nervous too. Because NC State is a very good football team.
