NC State drops its fourth straight, this one a wilting 34-20 effort to Louisville

I’ve been staring at a blank screen for a good 45 minutes, just trying to figure what is useful to say but also appropriately dejected, and of course nothing fairly does both of those things at the same time.

NC State had another rough time, and it was cold and windy and dark and it lost to some garish WWE nightmare, but other than that, things went well! There was even hope for a good solid quarter there.

The team deserves a lot of credit for not quitting despite everything going fully south in that first half, and they were actually paid off for their optimism with a lead going into the break. The Wolfpack managed to overcome its mistakes to take a 10-7 advantage into the half.

Then the cascade went quickly the other way. It’s a difficult thing to explain without having seen it for multiple games during the season, but it begins with the incompetent support of the offense, which farts all over itself in a wide variety of directions. The Wolfpack turned the ball over in key places several times, which didn’t hurt quite so badly in the first half, but did help snowball Louisville’s rally in the second.

And so it was cold and dark and unfortunate and NC State out-gained Goofy McNeon by 50 yards but lost anyhow, and these are the cruelties foisted upon us. It’s going to take winning out by the Pack to get bowl eligible—even if State gets there, it’s probably not going to be fun.