Great teams find a way to win those games where everything goes wrong for them and everything seemingly goes right for the other guys. Good teams find a way to win those games where neither team really plays exceedingly well, and the game basically turns into a toss up that could go either way.
Mediocre teams never win a toss up, and they never win without their A-stuff. I think that makes it quite clear what NC State is.
The fact that NC State managed to maintain their spot in the driver seat to an ACC title game birth is a bit irrelevant here. Yeah, Florida State blew it at home to UNC and handed the division back to the winner of Maryland/State, providing either team can get win their two games leading up to their regular season finale showdown. What happened in Tallahassee on Saturday did nothing but render that “program defining win” nothing but a nice home win against an equally mediocre opponent.
I don't care how well State played Virginia Tech at home, this team isn't winning anything of note. You don't blow chances against teams like Clemson and then expect to beat the Virginia Tech's of the world. That's just not how it works in college football.
It was ugly for those who tuned in at noon to watch the 19th installment of the rivalry game with the lamest name in the NCAA, the Textile Bowl. Neither team had anything resembling a running game, and Clemson in particular found new and inventive ways to kill drives with penalties. NC State roared out to an early 7-0 lead after a strong first drive, and that was the last complete drive State managed all day. Everything else State touched offensively was marred and half-broken, at best.
Not only did Clemson render the run a near impossibility, they also took away the deep ball, making the State offense a series of dink and dunk passes that yielded nothing. State could not convert on third down and could not sustain any offense, and had to rely on a combination of dubious penalties against the Clemson offense and some of the worst field goal kicking seen this side of Tallahassee in order to have that lead going into the 4th.
As State fans have come to expect, it was horrible special teams play that ultimately doomed the Pack. A blocked kick cost State points in the second quarter after a clutch Terrell Manning interception – an interception that should have been a pick six if not for a completely idiotic block in the back penalty that took place nowhere near the play and showed just how flat and discombobulated State was Saturday – and State gave up its usual long kick return that Clemson managed to fail to capitalize on.
The ultimate killer for State was turnovers. They weren't numerous, but they were backbreaking. Russell Wilson's interception in the Clemson end zone in the 3rd quarter was one of the 5 worst interceptions I've ever seen. I'll, and I don't think Coach O'Brien or anyone else who doesn't live inside Wilson's head, never know what Wilson thought he saw, but what he found was 4 Clemson defenders and a second straight week in which Wilson threw a preposterous interception in the red zone. Mustafa Green handed Clemson their rally with his fumble on the State 22, which Clemson then converted into a touchdown.
This was State's chance to solidify its place in the Atlantic and they blew it. Fortunately, they are in a division that is full of teams that are just as flawed and as big a group of pretenders as they are.
