MCLAMB: The Final Step Is The Hardest To Take

The expressions of the team were blank but also told a complicated story. 

The current NC State squad lost more than a game on Saturday. The Wolfpack lost a chance to be unique. 

There has been only one team in school history that won 10 games. This season’s unit will not be the second. 

Dave Doeren has done a solid job of finding ways to re-adjust goals as the current campaign has progressed -- not exactly a skill he likes having -- and he will probably have no trouble doing so after the loss to Wake Forest. 

The opportunity to be the first team in over two decades to win six ACC games and the first one to win nine overall in a season since 2010 still exists. 

There is also the motivation of smashing a rival on Senior Day, a victory that would give those outgoing players a winning record (3-1) against North Carolina while also leaving the program in a better standing than the Tar Heels going forward. 

The seniors have never beat UNC at home. Next Saturday will be their final chance. 

There is plenty left for the Wolfpack to play for this season but being a unique team in NC State’s history is no longer one of them. 

The western part of North Carolina has been unkind to the Wolfpack this season. Charlotte, also the scene of a bowl loss in 2015, and Winston-Salem both saw NC State win the statistical matchups but somehow lose the game. 

The Wolfpack will have many questions when looking back at the 2017 campaign. 

What would have happened if Nyheim Hines stayed healthy? How in the world did the team manage to struggle finding a reliable kicker for so long? Would Josh Jones have helped? 

There are plenty of questions but only speculation as answers. 

The NC State players that addressed the media after the loss were quiet. The responses were short. They have been down this road before but this particular portion of the journey appears to have cut deep. 

Outside of BB&T Field many other players, standing near the buses and conjugating with family and friends also had the same expression as others tried to console them.

The NC State seniors can look to Clemson, the one Atlantic team they were unable to vanquish in their career, for insight into how it has to be done in big games. 

Whether it was lining up to kick a game-winning field goal or leading at halftime with the opening kickoff coming their way to start the third quarter, the Wolfpack just could not do what it takes to close out the Tigers. 

When given a respite great teams will make their opposition pay and Clemson always did.

The Tigers will line up in Charlotte against Miami for the ACC title in a couple of weeks and the Hurricanes also have provided a blueprint. The Coastal champs have often snatched victory from defeat this season, and it has created the separation from being just simply a good team to being elite. 

Both Clemson and Miami are in the mix for a national title as well. The great teams always find a way and they are ready to pounce when they do. 

The inclination to lament how close they were to reaching a new level will be impossible to completely overcome for this NC State team. Time will heal wounds but there will likely always be a part within that wonders what could have been. 

Two of the four games lost were when the Wolfpack dominated everything but the scoreboard -- with another being an offensive statistical advantage in their favor. Three of the four games lost were with one of the best players hurt  

There is no such thing as a jinx. Leaning on that as an excuse is soft and lazy.

NC State lost because they could not make the plays that would have made the Wolfpack a unique team, whether it be from starters or backups. In a game of inches, they came up inches short. 

And so the current NC State group will have to settle for the chance to be one of several that have won nine games instead of one of the few that has won 10. 

The margin between great and elite is often small, yet profound. The time will come when the Wolfpack will get there. Perhaps Doeren will lead them to that point sooner rather than later. 

The final step can be the hardest one to make. Once again, it is the step where NC State came up short.