The NC State fans sure had a rude awakening on Saturday , September 7th with a lethal loss against the Tennessee Volunteers with a final devastating score of 51-10. Why were NC State fans so shocked by this huge loss? Well, that’s because NC State was ranked entering the game in the top 25, expectations were high, fan excitement was building for a nationally televised sold out game, and the significant players added to the team during the off season were all put together to create an atmosphere of victory. Clearly that is not what occurred.
Tennessee out-gained State 460 yards to 143. The rushing totals — 249 yards for the Volunteers, 39 for the Wolfpack (on a largely ineffective 28 carries) — were particularly gnarly, and indicative of the physical punishment State absorbed. Tennessee limited NC State quarterback Grayson McCall to 104 yards passing and forced three turnovers. The Vols held the Wolfpack to 39 yards rushing on 28 carries and NC State’s only touchdown came on a pick-six. “Definitely not what I expected to see from our team,” coach Dave Doeren said more than once, late Saturday night. More than once, too, he repeated variations of the obvious: “We just weren’t good enough tonight. Bottom line.”
Every student athlete is probably going to suffer a devastating loss in their athletic career. The question is how do players and coaches bounce back after suffering a big defeat? Ben Woolf, who coaches both our boys varsity football and girls varsity basketball teams, has coached through these challenging and emotionally draining moments with student athletes. Woolf has coached at Green Level for 5 years so he has seen the ups and downs of the teams he has coached at Green Level.
¨You have got to understand it’s a long season,¨Coach Woolf says. ¨ you have more opportunities to get better every game, and you have to worry about what’s next.¨
State needs to brush it aside and keep working hard for better opportunities and more progress will come on their end. The Wolfpack will try to bounce back this Saturday with another home game against Louisiana Tech.
