N.C. State Football: Is Georgia Tech a Must-Win for Doeren?
The N.C. State Wolfpack head to Atlanta on Thursday night to face a reeling Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets team.
We’ve finally reached a low-point with this iteration of N.C. State football. The Wolfpack is an underdog against a 2-8 Georgia Tech squad that has the 125th ranked offense, 79th defense and is 103rd in turnover margin in the nation.
The Wolfpack enters the match-up at 4-6, needing back-to-back wins over Georgia Tech and North Carolina to qualify for a bowl. It’s already understood that the 2019 season will be a disappointment based on preseason expectations, as injuries, defensive struggles, and play-calling issues have contributed to the team’s downward spiral.
Still, even with the knowledge that this season will potentially end without a bowl for the first time since 2013, does a loss to the unequivocally worst team in the ACC make this season a failure?
Georgia Tech is in the first year of a rebuild under Geoff Collins, transitioning away from the triple-option and into a pro-style offense. The results have been predictable.
The Yellow Jackets have a roster built for Paul Johnson’s triple-option attack, which will take years of recruiting to turn around. The roster is woefully ill-equipped to play a pro-style offense and the reality has been an inability to pass and score effectively.
The Yellow Jackets are 120th in passing offense, tied for 90th in the nation in interceptions thrown, and 111th in passing touchdowns. Redshirt freshman James Graham has taken over the starting quarterback spot after a three-way battle for the position (sound familiar?) and has completed just 47.5 percent of his throws and has thrown eight touchdowns to seven interceptions.
Of course, Georgia Tech has struggled mightily to protect him, allowing 27 sacks this season and the hallmark running game has fallen all the way to 87th in the nation in yards per game, one spot ahead of N.C. State.
All of this adds up to say that N.C. State really shouldn’t lose this football game, even though it really feels like it will. A loss sinks N.C. State to 4-7 overall and likely dooms them to a 4-8 final record, including a ghastly 1-7 record in the ACC.
Even with all the injuries on this squad, is that acceptable?
“They understand that it’s a sudden death mentality if you’re thinking bowl season. We’ve got to win this one first. It’s the only one that matters. If you get this one, then you can talk about that,” N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren said to Pack Pride on Wednesday. “I would tell you that the senior class has never finished a season not in a bowl game, so those guys are talking about that, they want that.”
This is the true crossroads of the Wolfpack’s season. Throw out the early season wins, throw out the losses to more talented and more experienced teams like Clemson, Wake Forest, and Florida State. These last two games will define the narrative of the Wolfpack’s season.
Win both to make a bowl game and this season will be a testament to this team’s will and the coaching staff’s ability to rally their squad to end on an incredibly positive note. Win one game to finish 5-7 and we chalk this season up as a wash.
The tough part comes if the Wolfpack loses both. There will be a bitter taste in fans’ mouths, leading to an offseason of questioning Doeren, questioning the quarterback situation and the uneasiness that will follow National Signing Day, when Wolfpack fans realize that North Carolina has a Top-20 recruiting class.
This game won’t determine Doeren’s contract or future, but it sure would make the offseason easier.
That’s what makes this game between two bottom of the standings ACC teams so important, for N.C. State as a program and Doeren’s future at N.C. State.