"State to win by 3 or more" by Rick Fields

Yeah...it's a bold prediction but you know what?  It's going to happen.  NC State, despite being underdogs will beat the Hokies Sunday evening at Carter-Finley Stadium.  Here's why.

• Vick - he's a phenomenal athlete but he should be rusty. The part of the game that will elude him will be the speed of State's defensive linemen and the mental aspect of the game. Being his first game in well over a year, he's likely to have some misreads and will make some mistakes with NC State's swarming frontline.
• State's Defense - this defense should be a killer. Last year, State had the #1 defense in the country and they return all 4 down linemen.  While the secondary will be untested, they shouldn't have to cover long with the pass rush that they'll possess.
• State's Offense - while the offense struggled last year, bringing in Trestman from the NFL and completely changing the offensive scheme will pose problems because the Hokies have never seen the Pack play this offense on film.  How do you "adequately" prepare for a team that you've not really seen on film?

Beamer is a fantastic coach and will have the Hokies prepared but I've got a gut feeling that today will be a day for the Pack. 

Comments

[Richard Hamilton]

I don't think that's going out on a limb that much at all...while the Hokies are nationally ranked - the Pack is always disrespected by the media and we SHOULD be a ranked team.

After we beat that Hokie butt today - the media will have to give us some respect.

[Wally Samuels]

I do think the pack will pull the upset but i dont think NC State deserves to be ranked right now after a disapointing 5-6 season last year. They will have to earn respect to be ranked and they can start by beating VT.

[Al Smith]

Well, a lot of good stuff was seen tonight for Pack fans and the new offense shows promise but until we learn to control these stupid penalties, we'll always be a mediocre team.

I think there's a lot to build upon and we lost to a really good team but we're making the same stupid mental mistakes that we've been making for the past couple years. VERY FRUSTRATING!!