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NC State Football

MCLAMB: Pack Enters Saturday With Clarity

November 12, 2021
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As NC State trudged off the field after a workmanlike, 28-14, victory over Florida State in Tallahassee, the Wolfpack finally had the one thing that seems to elude the program on an almost annual basis. 

Clarity.

Once NC State beat Clemson (finally), the march towards that day was real – but there was doubt as to whether the Pack could get there, and that is not their fault. Injuries and a tough schedule meant looking ahead to a potential future was the surest way to never see it come to fruition. 

State knew what position it wanted to be in, who would pose the most likely threat, and when (and where) that threat would have to be addressed if business was handled. The trip to Winston-Salem this Saturday now has maximum value, and as such, so would a victory.

Fans and pundits can look ahead and speculate, but coaches and players are not supposed to.

If you truly believe coaches and players don’t know what the potential scenarios are and only focus on “going 1-0,” then I have a bridge I would like to sell you. 

That is not an indictment of NC State, its coaches, or its players. That is just a reality. It is human nature to wonder and speculate, especially when success provides hope for a better future. 

Deep down, they know the best way to get to a major turning point is to focus on immediate tasks at hand, and NC State has done that successfully despite the loss at Miami. 

Winning the Atlantic Division would certainly qualify as a major turning point for the Wolfpack’s football program. The path to get there is now clear. NC State must beat Wake Forest. If the Wolfpack pulls that off, then beat Syracuse the following week. There is another rival looming in the season finale, and the stakes will be big one way or another -- but that is where the clarity stops. 

The simplicity of the situation is in knowing what it takes. The task at hand itself will not be simple at all. 

Wake Forest’s loss at North Carolina notwithstanding, the Demon Deacons are a solid football team. They can score quickly, but the Tar Heels proved they can allow points at a frenetic pace also. NC State should know this well, as the Wolfpack squeaked out a 45-42 victory over Wake in last season’s opener.

The Wolfpack’s problems in Winston-Salem over the past couple of decades should be a minor footnote. Whatever woes NC State has at Wake Forest, it was certainly no worse than what the Pack has gone through against Clemson -- a team that, up until this season, simply beat NCSU everywhere. 

Win the game and the door opens further, including a potential division-clinching game the following week. Lose the game and then winning the division is basically an afterthought. 

Beat your opponent Saturday. If you get help after you win, great. If you don’t, handle your business and you will become a champion regardless. 

This is big time November college football on its simplest terms. The regular season does not get any better. 

Tags: Football
 
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