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NC State sports podcast hosted by Griffin Cunningham, Stone Boylan and Patrick Simon of WKNC.
Griffin Cunningham 00:00
Music. Welcome back to light it red. Today is our fall sports wrap up day. It is late, getting to late November here, so we're going to sprinkle in some winter sports. But yeah, we have a couple of of key talking points regarding fall sports today and a couple other of noteworthy news events that have happened within the realm of NC State sports. I guess we'll start off with women's soccer, right? Because, sure, let's, let's to truly and genuinely wrap it up so their season's over. They're the only fall sport whose season is officially over, and, yeah, they're the first one that ended. Yes, so that makes it easier for us. We were talking a couple weeks ago on our on the podcast, we were like, yeah, like, Tim Santoro, head coach, you know, he's been here for so long. Like, it'd be really hard to pull the trigger and fire him after two bad seasons.
Stone Boylan 01:17
November 8, literally, the next day, the next day, so, and I think the podcast came out after he was fired, yeah, too, because we recorded it the day, but
Griffin Cunningham 01:17
Like, you know, maybe he turn it around, but, you know, maybe he might get fired, and then the next day, the very with
Stone Boylan 01:35
we recorded the seventh, and the podcast came out the ninth. So technically, if anyone was listening, he they were like, he's already gone. But yeah, the technician Santoro dismissed as NC State's women's soccer head coach. He was there for a while, 13 years. Yeah, since 2012 he had a record of 90 108 and 33 his record in the ACC, though, was 2869 and 16. So 28 wins to 69 losses. ACC is a tough conference. It is, and it's getting tougher. So, I mean, still, like, that's, that's kind of crazy, but he, you know, he did have that stretch in between, like with 20, I'd say, price, starting around 2016 where they had three straight NC a tournament appearances. They had three sweet sixteens with between 2016 and 2019 and then after that, when 2020 kind of COVID, after that, I think it all kind of fell down, and you were expecting another jump up. I feel like with some cases like you have your recruiting group that you really love, you keep a lot of them, maybe get a transfer to get your seniors, that's your peak for two years, and then you got to go back down into the well, sometimes, you know, and it's almost like a wave. And he just never, after that dip, after 2019 he just never, never got up. Maybe it would have happened. Maybe wouldn't have, I don't know, but they, they decide to move on.
Griffin Cunningham 03:05
Yeah, I have a so this is an anonymous source. Oh, I cup two, two anonymous sources, interesting. Okay, are both glad players, two anonymous players, oh, are both
Stone Boylan 03:20
Oh, they're glad he's gone, yeah? Two anonymous put Oh, glad he's gone. And I think someone, one of the other players, was like, yeah, he had to go. So I wonder what that was about. Then I wonder what, the what broke the camel's back. That's interesting. Yeah, did they explain anything after that?
Griffin Cunningham 03:40
I didn't ask questions because I wasn't doing I wasn't trying to be like an investigative journalist on them.
Stone Boylan 03:46
Oh, you should to do that funny. Maybe you you could have uncovered like a crazy thing and then leaked it. What if something crazy? Yeah, and why they fired him, I don't know, I
Griffin Cunningham 03:54
I guess, yeah, I really don't know if there was much more to it than you know. He just wasn't a good coach. Probably, yeah. Like, I think, I don't know when I came here to go to school my sophomore year in 2022 they were one of the more high regarded, highly regarded programs, and people like technician beat for women's soccer, he was like, yeah. Like, they're really good. And they were shit the whole time I was here, yeah, unfortunately, just kind of the way, the way it happens when you go to school there, you never know what's what's gonna be the case. But I think the biggest thing, which says this is why I brought it up, because I was a little more like, I feel like it's gonna get fired, but you never know. And it was because while you do have, you know, peaks and valleys it was the past two years were the worst two years that NC States had under him. So I think if they weren't that bad, like second to worst slash, worst than the ACC for two years in a row, bad this probably wouldn't have happened. But I think because it was the worst they've ever been under him. Um.
Stone Boylan 05:00
Two years in a row. That's that's probably why they they thought it was good to part ways. And I guess if you're mentioning the players, maybe there was some kind of other, maybe not direct influence, but maybe, just maybe, if they're thinking about, hey, maybe we should do this, and maybe they ask the players, and if they're not totally saying, No, we need to keep him, then it's probably better to move on, if your sources are correct. Yeah, I've grown up, I played soccer, and so I can, I mean, it's hard to look at it and be like, Oh man, this coach sucks, because it's just like, as as viewers and as media, we see it, and we're like, Okay, this is the performance. Like, we don't really know about the interpersonal things, but the reality of it is there are, like, those coaches interact with those players every day, and so those players are, like, totally entitled to have an opinion on the coach, their personality, their coaching style. And yeah, I mean, both this coach for men soccer and men's soccer coach last year both apparently sucked for men's Yes,
Griffin Cunningham 06:03
yeah. Why are you shocked?
Stone Boylan 06:06
Wait, did the players Wait? Do you mean the one that was fired,
Griffin Cunningham 06:09
they were both fired,
Stone Boylan 06:11
who men's last year, the men's from last year, and they brought him up, yeah, sorry I was yeah, this year. I'm like, this year's guy seems pretty good. No, last year, yeah, last year's coach, apparently, yeah, was not good either. No, which I now. We went to soccer games last year. I went to I went to two. I think I went to one with you. I went to one this year. So I've talked with both of these coaches for men's, at least. And if you're, if you're bringing up how men's you said was also not good based on the players, like, I could totally get that. Like, when I interviewed him, it seemed like he, like, he was, seemed like a good guy. I've said this a lot, but he, like, didn't, you'd ask him a question about, like, a strategic thing, what happened? And they talk about, like, yeah, I just want to be there for their future or whatever. Like, coach, yeah. And it's like, this is great when you're, like, winning, not when you're when you're losing, it's the worst, I think you can say, because it almost seems like there's not a lot of accountability, and you're not taking it as as serious, and it didn't come off very well when you're losing. So I wonder if that's what he was saying to the players as well. That's probably what it is. And I'm sure the players were like, Hey, I like that, but dude, we're, we're ass. Like, I don't, I don't. I want to be good. I want to win. That's why I'm playing, yeah, you know. So yeah, last seems like last two coaches, maybe there, but I think men's got a pretty good one, so maybe when, yes, does that as well. But I mean, just to piggyback the last time, I mean women's, like I said, they made the round of 16 in 2019 2018 and 2016 under him, but in terms of getting past that, in terms of getting to, like, the quarter finals or the college cup, or even making it, or winning it, or being a runner up, they haven't even gotten past the round of 16 since 95 so while there has been, I guess, a little success there, I think you know, at least credit to him, He was able to have some extended stint in that, that 16 to 19 window, but that that was about it. I mean, he me, he technically made the tournament in 21 but they didn't do a ton in there. So I don't think he's a terrible coach, I guess, because he had success, for sure, but seems like just couldn't really put it together this year in last year. So it's a tough business. You know, sometimes you you go, gotta, like, get let go earlier than expected. And maybe you thought you building something, and people think otherwise, and you got to go. But he was, I think, either the longest or tied for the longest tenured coach. I think it was the longest tenured coach in women's, NC State Women's soccer history. So, oh well,
Griffin Cunningham 08:48
it'll, it'll look different next year. Good luck. The whole team will look different next year. Hey, I had a on my bingo sheet. I had coach fired me too.
Stone Boylan 08:55
I did as well. I'm gonna, I'm gonna X that off. Coach fired, and we can get into that the actual good soccer program, which is men's and I had that they win by three or more points, which they have not done yet, but maybe they have the chance to do because we have made the NC a tournament we were going to anyways, no matter what happened in the ACC tournament. But unfortunately, the ACC tournament ended quickly, as we mentioned last episode, we lost to Virginia two to one. So wish you could have won stuff there, but it's fine. We made the NC a tournament in I think what was a very surprising and good bounce back year. Oh yeah, great job with the first year coach. When I interviewed him, I thought he was way more straight to business. And I kind of, I prefer that, to be honest. And the game I the game I went to, was the best one. It was versus you, who was the top 10 team? Top, maybe top. I can't remember if they were top five or top 10. I think they were 1010, and blew out of the water at home. It was their best one. In in years, and that kind of, I think, is the reason that they got catapulted, whether it's momentum or resume. I think that's a big reason why they're in the tournament this year, at least one of the biggest ones, and they start off in the first game. They're going to be playing Charlotte. There's their first round opponent, the 40 Niners, in terms of them, the
Griffin Cunningham 10:24
1949 oh, yeah, no, no, you're right. It's the 40 Niners, but not the gold rush. It's, did you know this? No, so yeah, you went
Stone Boylan 10:34
to Charlotte. But yeah, Griffin was at Charlotte, and then he came to NC State. You were there for one year. Just one year. Yeah, one year, one great freshman, Charlotte here. Yeah.
Griffin Cunningham 10:45
So their mascot is a minor Yeah, like a gold miner, yeah, like, with a pickax and everything. But they are called the 40 Niners because they were founded in 1949 the San Francisco 49 like the San Francisco 49 they are called the 40 Niners because of the night, because of the 1849 Gold Rush, California. Yeah, yes, which is why it's in San Francisco. Yeah, uh, Charlotte is 1949 so 100 years later. But they are also called the 40 Niners, and they also but, but their mascot is a minor Yeah, which doesn't make any sense, because that's not what it's based off of.
Stone Boylan 11:23
They just took the they tried to figure out a name, and they're like, sure, we got founded this year. Let's just use this and everything.
Griffin Cunningham 11:29
Yeah? But then they stole the San Francisco 40 Niners mascot, yeah? Well, wait, I don't know what the 40 Niners mascot is.
Stone Boylan 11:35
I mean, kind of the same. Probably something to do with the gold rush. Yeah, it's like, the same thing. I didn't know that. I thought it was because they just wanted to use that their friends, yeah, their friends, interesting, dang.
Griffin Cunningham 11:46
And yeah, I mean, technically, technically, they're a little bit better than us in men's soccer. But Well, actually, I was looking at this, and I'm not really sure why it's being hosted here, because I'm pretty sure they're actually ranked above us, but I
Stone Boylan 12:03
maybe I'll take it. I'm not sure. I cannot remember. It's a it's really cool. That very marginal, if it is, yeah, yeah. I think, I mean, they are 10th in the country in terms of goals against. So very good defense for Charlotte. But yeah, it helps being at home for sure. That's that's going to be huge in terms of that game, like you said, I think they're probably a little bit better. We don't have any, like, top tier stats or anything. I think we're kind of just a pretty solid team. We
Griffin Cunningham 12:39
have a few states for sure, we had a harder schedule than they did. Yeah, we did. I play in the crap. What conference is Charlotte in American, right? I think so. Is that the AC American athlete? I
Stone Boylan 12:52
think they just call it the American now American, yeah, well, yeah,
Griffin Cunningham 12:56
that's definitely gonna be a lighter schedule. I mean, soccer is a little different, like, obviously, I'm going off of what I my perception of college football is
Stone Boylan 13:03
because, I mean, you know, some programs that you'd be like, why? What are they? And, you know, and you think about them in basketball or football and in soccer, they're like a top tier what's true, but for but ACC soccer is still very good, like, it's very women's and men's, it's very good. So, yeah, that's
Griffin Cunningham 13:18
a good point. I
Stone Boylan 13:19
think the biggest thing though, is men, NC State men's soccer was one, two and three on away games. They won one, lost, two, tied, three at home, they were seven, two and two. So this being at home, I think, is huge. And if I were to guess, and honestly, I could go on a limb, I do feel like we win this game. I honestly think we do, hopefully by a large amount. I hope we do it's gonna be harder, but I think with how we've looked at our home games against Louisville, who's a good team, we won at home. SMU, I just brought up. Virginia Tech was ranked 24th and we tied zero to zero, along with Stanford, who was number two in the country, and we tied zero to zero. So clearly we have good defensive you know, makeup kind of similar to Charlotte, but I feel like Charlotte being 10th in the country and goals against, if they were playing maybe in the ACC, that would I don't think that'd be the case. So I think it's maybe more even than we think. And maybe we probably do have a slight edge, just based on the team itself, plus being at home, I think we I honestly do think we beat Charlotte there. So hopefully we do that. And then after that, it would be Georgetown, who is ranked four in the country.
Griffin Cunningham 14:27
They're already in the next round. Yeah,
Stone Boylan 14:30
they get a buy. So there's teams that in the first round, the second round, these 16 teams, I believe, get a buy, which, by the way, mentioning smaller colleges, teams that are also getting a buy include Missouri State Marshall, Hofstra. We pay Hofstra, yeah, we tie them, yeah, Hofstra, Penn and Denver, Denver, Denver university, so yeah, soccer is a little a little different with, you know, who obviously is, is there and everything, and even other teams. Got Bucknell, Evansville, North Florida. Liu, I don't even know what college that is, to be honest. Iona, wait. Liu, yeah.
Griffin Cunningham 15:09
What'd that stand for? Louisiana institute that would be.
Stone Boylan 15:17
Liu, let's look at Long Island, Long Island that makes me way more sense. I feel like I've heard of that. But Fordham is in there. FURMAN plays Carolina. We're in the same bracket or region as Carolina. So Carolina plays Furman. Yeah, Carolina plays Furman.
Griffin Cunningham 15:33
Beat Virginia. And the Oh yeah, dude, NC double. I
Stone Boylan 15:36
love it. You know the guy that I don't know if you know, but in that game, I think the guy who I can't remember if he hit the shot or got the assist, but either the guy who hit the shot or got the assist in that firming game, and the the guy who was on Virginia, who had, like, the meme of him crying after the game, or whatever, the Virginia guy went to Texas, and the other guy, I can't I think he went to Texas Tech, and they played each other. I other, and it was like, years later, because I watched that game, and I was like, that's the guy who was on Virginia. And he was like, he was a forward. I forget his name, but he's from Raleigh. Oh, he's from, he's from Carrie, or Fuqua. I think Fuqua, I can't remember, but he's from Fuqua. I can't remember where I know it's either sometimes, you know, they just bunch, yeah, Raleigh, if it's there, the
Griffin Cunningham 16:26
general Raleigh area, yeah. But
Stone Boylan 16:28
the, I'd have to look it up. But the guy who is the meme for crying after Virginia losing in that crazy, if you don't remember, look up Furman versus Virginia NC tournament. Just in men's, men's men's basketball, insane, insane shot. Yeah, he's from, like, the triangle area and everything I remember. And they played each other funny enough. But yeah, in men's soccer, Furman in North Carolina play winner of that plays Marshall. We play Charlotte. So North Carolina is getting a ton of stuff, at least the east coast here, and we play Georgetown, and then the winner, obviously would play each other, and then you'd go on to the next round, which would be kind of, you know, we have no idea, yeah, be so ever. So
Griffin Cunningham 17:12
the cool thing about that bracket is we have a game at home, and then we'll play at Georgetown, but potentially in the third round, we get Carolina that's going to be either in Chapel Hill or here. Yeah, that'd be interesting. And then the, I think either the next round of the round after is actually hosted at Wake med soccer Park, it is, and Carrie, yeah, wow. So big year for Wake Med, because they hosted the ACC cross country championships too. So yeah, they're actually the regional site of that round? Well, semi, I think it's the semifinals so that, yeah,
Stone Boylan 17:46
I think if we can get past Georgetown, which is the biggest roadblock, to be honest, then that we have
Griffin Cunningham 17:51
home field advantage in a neutral site, technically, yeah, which
Stone Boylan 17:55
do you know if this game against Georgetown is at Georgetown? I believe I think, I believe
Griffin Cunningham 18:02
so. I think, okay. I mean, they're a top seeded team, yeah. So
Stone Boylan 18:05
Georgetown is not as reliant on home as we are, but they're pretty close. They are.
Griffin Cunningham 18:11
Where is Georgetown? Huh? Where is Georgetown?
Stone Boylan 18:13
It's up north, east, northeast coast.
Griffin Cunningham 18:19
Anything more specific than that.
Stone Boylan 18:20
I pretty sure it's Pennsylvania or no, is it? I'm gonna sound so dumb while you put me on the spot. I'm really this, I'm not this, I'm not this good. It's either DC or, Oh no, it's DC. Yeah, DC. I thought it was either Pennsylvania or DC. Yeah, it's DC. A lot of those schools up there sometimes, well, hey, like, tell me what you know. Like Purdue. I didn't know where Purdue was until they made Final Four, isn't
Griffin Cunningham 18:42
it in the Indiana Yeah, I
Stone Boylan 18:44
just had no idea, because I never, I never paid attention or cared. Um,
Griffin Cunningham 18:47
no. I mean, I'm glad I asked, though, because, like, if you're a real wolf pack fan, go and you can go to DC. Like, that's not super unrealistic. No, go to DC, for sure. I
Stone Boylan 18:58
see these guys play, man, but they're, they're on a three game winning streak, and the game that they lost was to St John's in overtime Georgetown, yeah. And after that, they've basically, I mean, technically, if you want to go through other games, their last loss that wasn't in overtime was in September 28 so against Akron, which Akron is in the tournament as well. So looks like the Big East is a good basketball conference. Georgetown is sixth in the country, and goals against, so our two opponents that we might play are in the top 10, and goals against. Putting my predictor hat on and realism hat, if I were to guess, I'd say we beat Charlotte, and unfortunately, might lose to Georgetown, because they seem like a better team, and that's just because it being on the road, which is unfortunate, because we've struggled on the road, but if we can get over that, and, you know, we can, I mean literally, we only have one road win, which is, which is why I say this, because it's very, you know, scary and doing all that. But we've had good road performances. We tied against. Stanford, who was two in the country at the time, we tied against Virginia Tech, who was 24th in the country. We tied against Hofstra, which that was at home, but we played a lot of ranked teams. Our only road win is against William and Mary. So if we beat Georgetown on the road, it'd be unprecedented based on our schedule, but it's very possible, so
Griffin Cunningham 20:19
no ties in the playoffs. So it's make or break here, yeah, man, I think it's so cool that we're hosting that because I knew that, like, I mean, kind of the direction we're going with the men's soccer stories with our print publication, we weren't really sure what we were going to be able to produce, because I want to do a post season story on the men's soccer team, but it's like, we might not have visuals or quotes because they might be on the road, yeah, but they're not. They're gonna be here. So I think that's really cool. We've been kind of plugging them all year, honestly. Like, I know you talk more about football and even basketball, but Men's Soccer has been more successful, sneaky good all year. And we're always like, yeah, go see him play. Yeah. Well, if you're gonna go see him play, this is, like, really the time, like, go out to the shirt, yeah, Charlotte, uh, on Thursday, the 21st Okay, at 7pm
Stone Boylan 21:12
Yeah. I'm like that, yeah, I might go to that game. That
Griffin Cunningham 21:15
is the game, like, a play, an NC double, a playoff game. Like, at home, we've only had, I mean, we got to experience that with the women's basketball team, but not everyone gets to, you know, host tournament games like that. So, yeah, I'll be there. You'll be there. Yeah, we'll go.
Stone Boylan 21:35
We'll go to that game.
Griffin Cunningham 21:36
Yeah, for sure, certainly, did you have anything else to say about men's soccer? No,
Stone Boylan 21:41
we don't know a lot about them, but that's, that's soccer, NC State, 20 minutes of it. So, yeah, you want your soccer content? There you go. You got a lot, because men's been successful. So shout out to them. True. What? What's next on the agenda? What do you want
Griffin Cunningham 21:55
to we can talk a little bit about volleyball real quick, because they're about to wrap their regular season up as well. I guess what I would say about volleyball is, what the kids call is mid, right? Yeah, so dang,
Stone Boylan 22:11
unfortunately,
Griffin Cunningham 22:12
is that really? Is that dang?
Stone Boylan 22:14
I know it's just going into the year or, I guess not. I kind of knew we'd be that. I guess because we were like, last year, it was like, Okay, you were, you had so many high, top tier moments, and then so many, like, Dude, what the heck? Like, come on. Like, bottom the
Griffin Cunningham 22:32
record was 22 and seven
Stone Boylan 22:33
last year, yeah. But which was good, yeah, like, but even then you were like, Dude, you beat Louisville, and then you lost sometimes and got obliterated by mid ACC teams. Like, if you just get more consistent, that was the thing. Like, you're looking good, and this is and they returned, like we said, basically all their main people, and unfortunately, they just totally are down there. Yeah, they're 14 and 10 overall, for nine and seven on the conference really reliant on home as well. Yeah. I mean, you can continue, but just really, really unfortunate. We didn't, I don't think we've beat a ranked team yet either. No,
Griffin Cunningham 23:12
and I know we were talking about that a couple weeks ago because you had that on your bingo sheet, and it just didn't happen like Florida State and Miami. Those were the two. You know, those are the best teams that we've played in a minute.
Stone Boylan 23:24
Georgetown, Louisville, we played earlier, yeah, but we lost in October. We lost three, oh, and all of them, yeah? Well, we
Griffin Cunningham 23:30
won one set against Florida State, yeah. Or ranked 24th the only
Stone Boylan 23:34
team we've owned has been Wake Forest. We like, yeah, got him both times.
Griffin Cunningham 23:39
Well, we yeah, we bodied them at home, but on the road, we went three to two, and we were actually down, I think, two one in that set. And actually, yeah, one of our photographers left after that. They're like, down, two, one, really, they
Stone Boylan 23:53
just did, yes,
Griffin Cunningham 23:55
she didn't, she didn't know it was best of five shows, best of three. That's crazy. Yeah, that was pretty shit. Wait, she she left after the third set because she didn't know NC State lost, but then they won the next two sets and won the
Stone Boylan 24:12
Are you kidding me? No,
Griffin Cunningham 24:13
she was there to take photos, too. Oh,
Stone Boylan 24:17
they went to the game and they thought it ended after they didn't know his three sets, yeah,
Griffin Cunningham 24:21
it went all the way to Winston Salem, oh, what? I think she's, she lives over there. That's, I think so, okay, but yeah, that's still though. Oh, man, yeah. But yeah, after that, it's SMU on the 22nd and pit on the 24th Miami on the 27th and then SMU again on the road on the 30th.
Stone Boylan 24:48
SMU, we obviously haven't played pit, we haven't played either, but Miami, we played, and we lost three. Oh
Griffin Cunningham 24:54
yeah. So that's our last home we end of the season. It's on November 27 I'll be there. But. But Yeah, unfortunately, this just might not be the squad. I will say that they seem to have found this little like silver lining that I've seen on social media, and that is that they have a winning record against all North Carolina schools.
Stone Boylan 25:14
Yeah, Duke Carolina, they beat both of those and wake. Wake Forest is owned, so at least they own, they own the state. But
Griffin Cunningham 25:23
to me, honestly, to me, that doesn't mean anything. Like, I the grand scheme. Yeah, it doesn't at all. Like, I'm sure they'd rather have a winning like, a they have a winning record, but like, a lot better of a winning record. I'd rather have that than just like, oh, like, we and we did that on a Would You Rather we did the Would You Rather thing? Would you win your rivalry games or win, like the ACC championship? Yeah, you'd rather win the ACC champion? Yeah, yeah. So that's pretty much all I have for volleyball. And haven't looked at the Cross Country results yet, but I know that they just have the southeast regionals. Did you look into that at all? No,
Stone Boylan 26:04
after they lost in Cary, after that, I was kind of like, what? Like, come on. Like, what are we doing? If you don't know, because cross country for NC State, for women's has been obviously amazing. One like, back to back to back to back, whatever. Titles nationally, like they've been insane, lost their best runner, and normally they just kind of recoup and go back in. But they literally got what, fifth at a, yeah, at a regional in Cary. So they hosted it, and got fifth after being the defending national title. They
Griffin Cunningham 26:37
had, they're they had one. They had the first place finish. Was one of
Stone Boylan 26:41
an NC. Yeah, they did have a good fit. But then just totally as a team, the team, yeah, didn't, didn't do anything. Hey, I
Griffin Cunningham 26:46
will say I saw that Sam Bush, she was one of the top runners last year. She's coming back in the spring, like she graduated, and I think is coming back, which I don't know how that works for the spring, for the track and field season. Oh, okay, yeah. But like, I think she ran in some professional races. So, like, as far as the eligibility stuff is concerned, I don't know how that works, because I thought that was, like, against the rules.
Stone Boylan 27:11
Maybe it's a COVID thing, because we're kind of at the end of the COVID Extra eligibility, whatever, like 2025 I mean, you still have some people. That have an injury designation and a COVID Like, some people can do that. I mean, in football, it gets a little nuts. There's some guys like playing a seventh year of college football. But for other sports, like this is kind of the end of the extra COVID stuff and everything. So maybe that's, that's it, that'd be my only guess, or something. Yeah, maybe there's a special thing for people who graduated, I don't know, I only saw, like, in the spring, or who graduated in the winter, and then, like, oh, sure, you can finish the whole year, or whatever. I don't know, yeah, just guessing,
Griffin Cunningham 27:54
yeah. Well, I mean, at least it's something to look forward to with the track and field season. But, yeah, other than that, like NC, double A championships for cross country, that happens on the 23rd which is the end of this week. So Cape your eyes peeled for that. So we covered volleyball, cross country, men's soccer, women's soccer, football, yeah, yeah. So this will be one of the last sports to conclude as well, because there are two games left. But they were happy they're coming up real quick. So yeah, we got Georgia Tech on Thursday and then Carolina next week. Or is that on Friday?
Stone Boylan 28:40
Saturday? Is Saturday, Saturday. Sorry, yeah,
Griffin Cunningham 28:42
so you'll be going to that one, yep,
Stone Boylan 28:43
final, final game of the year, which I went to, the last game that we played, um, previously, because we had a bye week this, this past week. So the one before that, which was against Duke, and it was a 19 to 23 loss at home, being the last home game, meaning it's senior day, and it was veterans celebration. And it was the worst game they've played since Tennessee,
Griffin Cunningham 29:13
really, yeah, I did not watch it. It was the worst game
Stone Boylan 29:16
they played. The scoreboard might not show because you think of Clemson or something else. It was the worst game they've played since Tennessee. And that's weird to say, because Duke was held to zero for nine on third down. Didn't get a single third down. They averaged barely over one yard per carry rushing. NC State had more time of possession. They only had eight less yards of offense, and they lost by double digits. So I mean, but I can say all those stats and still say they played terribly.
Griffin Cunningham 29:43
Where was the game? One? Then red zone. Okay, absolutely.
Stone Boylan 29:47
Red Zone. So, dude, red zone. More and no. NC State sucked. Okay, in the red zone, they kicked four field goals in the red zone, and it was like, all of them, huh? They converted all I think so, yeah, I don't think they missed. One, but even if they did, it wouldn't if, even if they missed one or something, it's what 22 to 19 or 29 it wouldn't have, wouldn't matter, because you didn't get touched down. But I think the thing was, I mean, our defense wasn't bad, but the the coverage really got, got beat up. I mean, oh, wait, no, I did see that. I did see that touchdown, that catch was crazy. Like, yeah, dude, no receiver for sure, but I wasn't on Aiden white, I think so, which is why I've, like, meant to bring this up in the podcast a few times, because he's been on my mind randomly, because you think about him, yeah, because I tried texted you about him, right? Yeah. And I was, I was like, going off, because I do actually genuine when I think of NC State football, like, I want to think about, since we follow the NFL, I want to think about players that are like, who they think are going to go to the NFL. And Devin van was, like, one of them this year, obviously last year, we was awesome with Peyton Wilson, but he's actually on the Steelers and is playing really well. So shout out to him. That was cool. But interception and he got honored, actually, at this game as well. He literally was there. He came in and was like, hyping up the players and everything and so really annoying game to lose. Like, yeah, sucked against Duke at home, final, like, whatever. But Aiden White was like a project. I looked it up. Was a projected second to third round pick going into the year. I didn't feel that even last year. And I guess his big year was the year before that. So it's now been two years since he's had a really good year, and this year he has sucked. I'm like, I'm straight. He's been every time I feel like I'm watching something i and it's a big, deep catch or something. He's getting lost, or he's getting beat, or he's getting out, just literally the guy out runs him or has a better route. And I feel like he has just not been good at all. And I feel like they've put a lot of trust in Him to be like the for sure, CB one, he obviously has had good moments. Maybe saying terrible is a overstatement or a bit much, but from I feel like there's been five different plays and it's like, oh, this is a gigantic play. Like, this matters a lot, and it's a catch on him, like, so the secondary was not good, the run defense and everything was good. Linebackers actually played pretty well. But offensively, like we it's not like we would have these crazy plays to get down the field. I mean, it's, I didn't want to say that. I want to say it's not like our offense looked amazing and then got in the red zone and sucked, because there were some times where we just got, like, Duke had like, 80 yards of penalties, so sometimes we just get penalties to go up there or be a super long drive. But we had some crazy, like, triple option plays, like receivers throwing the ball like we we had some, some really good plays, and then we get to the red zone, and they wouldn't do anything. They just wouldn't, I mean, they would suck. And so we had four red zone trips and got four field goals. So that's why we lost. So it seems easy that if we got any of those, we would have won. But even then, the team itself, they just didn't play very well. And I think the one thing I brought up last episode was about keeping CJ Bailey's performances in perspective in terms of who his opponents were while he was having these games. And I brought it up with, obviously, Stanford and Cal and all that. And then I was going around like, Okay, this is the first real game of a defense, and it was against Duke, and it was the best defense he's faced, and it was the worst game he's had. Now, I'm not trying to shit on him, but I'm just saying, like he wasn't horrendous, but he wasn't great. He had two turnovers, a pick one pick one fumble. He did have a touchdown, but again, they couldn't do anything in the red zone. And part of it was kind of him, just not really. I mean, he would, he would read one guy, and then just try and run and panic. I saw that a lot like a lot, which is why I think it's part of the reason why Kc is not getting the ball. Because last year with Brendan Armstrong, it was a similar thing. It was look at KC or run with Grayson. The plan was to be you can actually get progressions going through. And I think they installed that offense, and now that they have CJ in there, they had to throw that all away. And you know, they say that for rookie quarterbacks in the NFL, but you could say the same thing for freshmen in college. What's quarterback's best friend tight end? And that's why Joe Lee is getting everything, because if something goes wrong, where's my tight end? He's big. Let me just throw it to him. And I feel like, KC, it's hard to really get, like, Okay, here's the post route that you need to throw. Watch the safety coming in. Here's the slant you need to why? Watch the line. But, and I feel like, you know, he's very talented, he just hasn't learned that yet because he's young, so, yeah, I feel like that's part of the reason why. Also, Casey hasn't been getting going, and you want to get that guy going because he's still, I think. Your best, you know, explosive weapon. So again, don't want not to, don't want to crap on him, but it was an expected lower game and lower performance from him, because it was his first real game. It's just, I wish it would have been better, because you were at home, and you get a lot of backings there. I think at home saves a lot. And you know, I feel like I wish we would have been a little better. I mean, he had one red zone trip that was good. It was like a fourth down at the end of the game to bring it within one score, and he had this. It was more so the catch by I can't remember if it was Noah Rogers. I can't remember who caught it, but it was a great catch in the back of the end zone. He got his knee down, but other than that, couldn't, couldn't do anything. So that that was, I think that game was really annoying, which is why I'm going to cross out my bingo card of I go to a game and I'm not enjoying it. So I crossed that off because that was just so annoying. I feel like they didn't run it enough either. But, you know, whatever. So now they play Georgia Tech. Like you mentioned, they're next on Thursday. I'm worried about that game that's been a game that since they started the year, they've looked like a team. Because, you know, when we previewed the roster or the schedule, we were like, hey, this we could win like, 10 games. That was literally the and it wasn't wrong to think that, because our schedule was like, just funny now, oh, dude, yeah. I was like, Oh, dude, we can, like, totally like, it's totally possible it looked like a weaker, yeah. And it was, Well, I think it still is. We just aren't as good. And I think CJ, obviously the switch at quarterback, you know, didn't help. But, I mean, that was taking into account losing to Tennessee and Clemson, you know. And I mean, the rest of the games it was, you know, we still lost at home to Wake Forest at home to Syracuse, like bad losses, just annoying at home to Duke, and so our only road wins are is California by one point on a comeback, we had to come back in the fourth quarter and be Cal, who is a bottom four ACC team. Can I say something controversial? What with boo Corrigan, pull the trigger on the women's soccer code. Oh, you know I was gonna, you were gonna say that. I was gonna, it was at the end of my notes. I was gonna, totally okay. We can skip to it, but sure, yeah, get through your, get through your Carolina preview, and we'll talk about, but, I mean, I know where you're going, but, yeah, our only main, our only road win is, is Cal, but like I said, by one point, they're a bottom ACC team, and it was CJs best game, for sure. But now we go on the road to Georgia Tech, who's honestly, they have a similar defense to Cal. Their defense is not very good, but their offense is so much better. So in terms of at least having hope that CJ has a better game against Georgia Tech, I think you should have that. But for us winning, I don't know. We're, we're literally nine point underdogs, I believe in Georgia Tech, so as a football team, yeah, I you know they're coming off a win versus Miami. So maybe we get them while they're too high, and maybe they, they don't think about us, and they look over um, but they have better losses and better wins like all their losses are reasonable, all their wins are good, and if they win, it's not like winning, you know, against Western Carolina while being tied most of the game, winning against Louisiana Tech at home, while losing at halftime and getting destroyed. There was a point in that Louisiana Tech game where it was 17 to three earlier in the year, like our our losses are dominant losses to Tennessee and Clemson, a close loss that we should have won to Wake Forest and Syracuse and then just straight up getting beat by Duke. So I think they'll win that which, you know, has us at a losing record in the which I don't, I can't remember the last time NC State, at the very end of the year has had a losing record like it's not, yeah, and obviously, you know, if you can do math, we'd be five and six. And you need six wins to win a bowl game or to make a bowl game. And the last game is at Carolina, with bowl game on the line. I'm just gonna, I don't give an F about the bowl game. I get that. I think, I think we can just go into it, because I think that the team and Dave Dorn absolutely should, because if NC State loses to Carolina and finishes with five wins, one of the lowest i You can look it up. I can maybe look it up one of us, while we're talking, it would be one of, if not the lowest win total that Dave Doran has had, let alone, if anything was lower, it probably would have been him first. Being at NC State. You know, when you're first at a program, you're lower. I mean, there would be a lot of talk. I think, I think they bear lots up. There was saying they would do it, I don't know, but I think we have to see how these games go. But if they beat Carolina, I think he's fine, because they make a bowl game and they beat their rival, and you can say the CJ Bailey quarterback excuse and everything, and you still were able to at least somewhat succeed and win a bowl game. But this year has been insanely disappointing. I mean, dude, they started off the year ranked in the they were ranked in the low 20s, and they are not a very good team in the ACC for ACC standards, so we're going in most likely to a win the game. You make a bowl game, lose it, you're out, and you have a five win season, and it's against your biggest rival, who's also not having a good year. By the way, UNC is not having a great year, and they already secured a bowl game. They got six wins. I think we're pretty even, to be honest. I think if I were to even just analyze the game, I would say we if we're not favored, it would be because it's just a road game. I think we're relatively close, but I do think we are the better team. But again, with it being on the road Carolina, I think would, they would love to send NC State packing with five wins on the year, and maybe their coach on the hot seat, like they're they're not going to just be like, Oh, whatever, we don't care about this game, like they're gonna be ready. So especially after what we've done to them the past three years, the win football in a lot of sports we have, obviously, basketball, they've been good. But last year, you know, we had that amazing run, and so we've been talking a lot of shit. NC State fans have with UNC last year we sent their star quarterback who got picked number three overall, Drake May. We sent him packing. You know, Peyton Wilson ended his season on a game winning pick, and we beat him up at at home, and that was a great win, but to get us obviously to a big pop tart bowl. But yeah, this we lost. Yeah, we unfortunately lost, but this is a big game for Dave Dorn, I think I agree.
Griffin Cunningham 42:26
I did pull up his his stats. So he was hired in December of 2012 so it's been a long time, long enough for him to have established a program and a reputation absolutely as a solid coach. Now 2013 was his first season here. Three and nine season expected everything else outside of an outlier, 2019, season where they finished four and eight has been seven wins or higher. So yeah, this is definitely, like, one of the worst years he's ever had. Yeah, which. And I think the issue with it is that he's been given all the resources to have a successful season, like multiple years in a row. Now I think
Stone Boylan 43:12
I totally I don't want to Okay, I agree, because you're coming off of having the Player of the Year and making a big bowl game, having Casey, who's like, looked at as, Oh my gosh, like, this guy can be a top five receiver in the country, and he's a freshman, and obviously You lose Peyton Wilson, but that only makes your program look better. So ideally, you should have more players that want to go there, which I think we did. We had true so that's why I think it's a coaching thing, because it was set up to succeed in the offense totally did, and defense, you say, Okay, we're going to build internally, and these guys are going to get better. And a lot of them, to be honest, didn't. And the offense, obviously, Grayson McCall, it sucks. You have this situation going. That's the only thing I think he can really fall back on.
Griffin Cunningham 44:14
Is that, well, same thing last year. Yeah,
Stone Boylan 44:16
that's the but you can't, that's what I'm do, that I was about to say that you can't use it as an excuse, because you look at last year, you went through different quarterbacks and were able to succeed, and you found a way to do it, and this year, I think it's better than last year's situation, because you were CJ, was able to get more adjusted than going back and forth between MJ and Brennan, you know? Because it's not like Brennan had a concussion where he literally couldn't play and you know, so I think it's it was more set up this year for them to actually have success. And I think it's going to be a thing of you're either going to see both the coordinators gone, or maybe. Be, did Doran gone and they get rid of, obviously, the coordinators. But I mean, in terms of who the fall guy is, it's either going to be the coordinators and that's it, or Dave Doran brings everyone and they go, if they lose to Carolina, I think if, I think if they win the Carolina, he's safe. But if they lose to Carolina, I mean, I don't even, I don't know what happened in that 2019, year, I think they had some kind of injury or something I can't remember, but did they have Devin Leary that that year was 19?
Griffin Cunningham 45:26
Yeah, his last year here was 22 so I don't think so. I was 2019 I was a junior in high school, so I'm gonna be honest with you, I was not following NC State at that moment in time. I was watching a lot of NBA basketball, though, yeah, Toronto Raptors, 2019, NBA champions. Oh, yeah, I guess that is true. That's kind of my, my peak moment there. Uh, no,
Stone Boylan 45:48
they, they had a produce, a low tier, um, roster. It, it seems like, um, I know they, obviously, I think they did have, have injuries that occurred, but seems like their schedule was a little harder. They played Wake Forest, Clemson, who were both ranked. They had road games, but still very, you know, disappointing. But I mean, if you still have the list pulled up, what did they do after that, in terms of after a down year in the middle of what you think should be good, which also tell me what the record was before 2019 and then after? So
Griffin Cunningham 46:19
I'll go through it. First, wait, did was 2018 the year Kareem hunt kicked that lady in the face. I just thinking about that.
Stone Boylan 46:27
Why is that? I may have been 2018 I can't remember what I think he was. Man, he was so good out 2017 and then 20 good,
Griffin Cunningham 46:36
yeah. Man, that sucks. Um, it sucks for a lot of reasons, obvious, hey, at least he got to come back. Yeah, he's back now, yep, um, anyways, 2013 three and nine, as I said, 2014 eight and five. Okay, so we get a little bit better there. 2015 seven and six. Little bit of regression. Okay. 2016 that I just say? 2016 No, seven and 620. 16, oh, yeah, yeah. 2017 nine and four. Good season. 2017 2018 nine and four. Okay. 2019
Stone Boylan 47:19
was the the down year? Yeah,
Griffin Cunningham 47:20
that was a down year before and 820. 28 and four. Okay, so that's another eight win season. 21 that was like, that was the good year. That was our freshman year of college. Yeah, nine and 320. 22 Devin Larry's back. They're gonna be good. Eight and five. Larry gets hurt. He wasn't playing good before that. Anyways. 23 last year, nine and four. Lot of weird stuff happened, but they finished strong. But, you know, like, I think, I think the big thing is just having, like, a strong roster that can win the tough games. And I think you, I mean, I know both you and I watch a lot of NFL football, and you see that like in the best example I can think of here is, is Jim Harbaugh, because you watch those games like the chargers, right? You they call it charger. When you lose those close games, you blow that lead against the Jaguars in the playoffs four years in a row, the Super Bowl, something like that. And I think you just have to have a strong presence on the sidelines to win those games. And I mean, you can pull the stats up on Dave Doran against ranked opponents, and it is like it's both shocking and not shocking, because, I mean, the record is horrible. Yeah, he the him and his staff have not gotten the job done against the tough teams and with the way college football is going, I don't foresee it getting any easier, and it's a time right now where NC State really has to show its worth in the sports that it's good at, or else they're probably not going to be around just because of the way the legal things are going, and so it's just really disappointing, because that's such a huge sport, and I don't want NC State to be reduced to a cross country school.
Stone Boylan 49:11
I don't know that would happen. There's no way. But I think just in terms of being relevant, like
Griffin Cunningham 49:21
you gotta bring someone in that can get the job done. I
Stone Boylan 49:23
Okay, so let's say in the hypothetical, because if they beat Carolina, I don't think he's gone. I say not. I don't think so, because I'm sick of he's gonna because he can fall back on this 2019, year, where you came off of a nine win season, which he I guess that's his specialty, nine, eight wins. You have a down year, and then he brings it back up to nine, so he can fall back on this 2019,
Griffin Cunningham 49:46
year, even if they make the college football playoff, gonna get bodied in the first round? No, I'm
Stone Boylan 49:50
just saying in terms of sometimes, if Relevancy is enough for some, for some people up top, sometimes it's the case. And so you build a relationship, and sometimes they have to make. You kick them out, you know, if you have such a relationship with them, sometimes it's very hard. And I think with Dave Norton being more of a players coach, I would, I think it'd be obviously you wouldn't have, like, I said, soccer players anonymously coming an honestly coming to you saying, Yeah, I'm glad this person's gone, you know, like, if that was the case, I think it'd be easier to get rid of him, but I think he can fall back on this 2019, year, where he was four and eight, and then after that, and before that, had nine win seasons if they beat Carolina. I don't think he's gone no way if they lose. I think the odds are higher, and I wouldn't be surprised, but to be honest, I feel like it'd be more likely that he's not, because I think there's a lot of stuff that he can say and that they can say, and I think you'd really have to be like, you're down here, like, bottom of the barrel this, for them to be, like, moving on, or I would say, if they have another season like this, he's gone, because I don't think He's had back to back years where it's been under, you know, six wins or whatever, besides his first two years here, you know. So if he has back to back years like this, I do think he's gone. And I think you mentioned all the big games and stuff like, it's weird because I'm not talking about him. But when you know you've interviewed him, I've interviewed him stuff. He's a hard ass that's just what he is. He's a hard ass coach, and he doesn't give a f sometimes. And you obviously can tell that in media. Obviously, last year with that you know, Steve Smith clip, like he doesn't, he doesn't care. When I watch the games, I feel like I don't see that. I How many times I just go ahead and I want people to watch I'm sure you can. There'll be clips of him being fired up this or that. I just He seems so complacent. Sometimes on the sidelines, I feel like I don't see a lot. And then he goes after the game, and you know, he's not yelling at you, but he's giving you, you know, hard ass comments or whatever, responding accordingly how he feels his best, in terms of, like, you know, just more, more strict, I'd say, with what he responds with some sometimes it depends on his mood, like any person, but he's More like that than other guys, and I feel like on the field, it almost doesn't feel the same, like they
Griffin Cunningham 52:27
don't, well they say, like the players are a reflection of the coach's attitude. Yeah, right. But
Stone Boylan 52:34
it almost feel, I mean, there was literally a thing where we I asked a question about the Louisiana Tech come back. And we brought up, Oh, what was the thing? And everyone said the players just led everything, like Dave Doran Just had to play, which can be good. But I'm almost like, Okay, well, if I'm analyzing my coach, you know, what if he doesn't have the players in place that can galvanize guys and lead them? Like, what if you got to do that then? So I'm like, even just little stuff like that, I'm like, I feel like it's almost a point where the the way he is, it's almost worse when you're losing I if I were to bet, I don't think he's fired unfortunately this year. And I know, because I think this is such a big thing, and I like the guy, but you gotta produce, and I am gonna be a little more hard, harsh, just like you, because I, you know, let's have actual opinions here. I sometimes I don't do. That we've been the fine college for football, but, yeah, they're fine, solid, we've been the solid, fine Football Conference, or for football team for the ACC, right? I, I just want to see something like basketball. Basketball last year was so special, and we're so freaking lucky to have experienced that. For men and women, people don't understand like when you go to a college at NC State, obviously, it's a good college, less than 50% acceptance rate, high graduate rate, so much different stuff. It's huge. They have a lot of different stuff you can do for sports, you know, for the main football and basketball, they're not known as these powerhouses, you know, like a Carolina basketball or Clemson football. They're obviously not known like that. They have their peaks and stuff, but they're not what they're known for. To experience that for basketball, last year was amazing, and I feel like, you know, and Kevin Keats was almost going to be fired, like, actually, last year, if he lost the first, or maybe, I can't remember if it was the first or second, if he lost one of the first or second ACC Tournament game, he was gone. I think if he lost the first ACC Tournament game, he was done. I
Griffin Cunningham 56:15
agree. I
Stone Boylan 56:15
and I say, yeah, really quick. I think I just want to get I feel like I agree with you in terms of, it's almost like you got to just cut it and be like, Hey, I know there are you have stuff that to your resume. In terms of having eight win nine win seasons, someone has got to get to where we build it back down. We tear it down to build it back up. And Kevin Keats was the risk, and it seems like he was a great coach for that team, because he empowered his players. He's a very nice guy, and it seemed like his stuff was finally put together and work with how deep his team was, and the players galvanized around that. And I feel like maybe at some point you got to cut it loose and be like, we got to find a guy that can get us to at least 10 freaking wins, because it's been too many nine and eight and seven win seasons.
Griffin Cunningham 57:05
I think you make a great point about the basketball thing. But the the crappy part about football is that there just aren't enough games to find that rhythm, and then you don't have an ACC tournament in football where you can go on that sort of miracle Cinderella run and then that doesn't propel you into the next round. Yeah, true. It's just college football is broken, which is why college basketball is so much better than college I will die on the hill. College basketball is better than college football.
Stone Boylan 57:34
I don't care. I love the NFL. NFL is my number one. College basketball is so close to number two. Like, I totally agree. Totally agree. It's the talent in college football, if you're not an ACC big team fan or a fan of a team that occasionally makes a good run, like Oregon was Oregon, Washington last year, a few years, obviously, in between there, Michigan, it's almost like annoying, yeah, I agree. I don't, I don't like college football. The state of it is, yeah, I agree. I don't like it. Right now they are making changes to college football. The NC double A is, and the, honestly, the SEC in the Big 10 conferences, and the changes aren't been going to be beneficial to the smaller schools. I do think the college football playoff is, the college football playoff is and that rule is already implemented. But the rule, the pending stuff of transfer portal stuff realigning is the big thing as well. Yeah,
Griffin Cunningham 58:32
it just, it always it right now, it just feels like the ACC as a conference is playing catch up, and it's not. They're just not going, yeah, if you were to, we're getting a lot off topic, but I don't think it matters, you know, you know. But if you were to look at the conferences, okay, what's the next big power five conference to crumble? It's the ACC. It's the ACC. I mean, look at football. Obviously runs it. Basketball is not too far behind. Look at it. I mean, basketball, we luckily save ourselves, because we produce in the tournament a lot. But who are the cons? I mean, you know basketball, you have the two consistent, amazing teams of Duke and Carolina, you know? Yeah, with basketball, even it's almost been like on any given year, there's only like two or three other ACC teams that even make the tournament, and other teams like the SEC are getting much better basketball. Big 10 is obviously great at basketball. Big 12 is the king right now in basketball and in football, which runs it. The big 12 is not as strong, but they have way more schools I think, that are just relevant in that stuff. And the SEC, obviously, with the Big 10 run college football, there's only going to be one ACC team in the college football playoff. There are 12 spots, and they're going to lose in the first round. There's 11 spots for Power Five schools. One spot is reserved. So 12 spots you get the conference champion guaranteed. There's not another ACC team who, unless you win the ACC that's going to make it. It's Miami SMU or.
Stone Boylan 1:00:00
Clemson, one of those teams is going to make it, and no one else will. And to be honest, if Miami makes it, they're fun, they're interesting. They're not beating a good SEC team, and that's SMU is getting destroyed, and Clemson is fine and solid. They might win a tournament game, because I think they're a better, well rounded roster than Miami, but they're also not going to go very far. So again, like you saying it is worrisome for the ACC, because if there is one school to fall down, it'd be them. Because, I mean, you look at the West Coast teams that they got, Stanford, Cal, SMU, don't strike, no conference, even what we have. I mean it, I feel like we're almost in football, yeah, I feel like we're almost more focused on academics than than stuff, which is not bad, but for a sports podcast, that, which is what we are, and focusing on sports and everything, looking at Boston College and other stuff like that. Like, these are the teams that are, like, predominantly in the ACC and it's kind of like, you know, Syracuse, Syracuse, like, what do we Yeah, it's hard to compete. It's really, I mean, it's really, really hard to compete, and you don't have those. I mean, there are prestigious colleges that are academically exclusive, that are good, but you don't, we don't, they don't have the fan base. I mean, two teams that are up north compare Penn State to Boston College. Like, it's not even, it's not even the question, it's not even close. So, you know, I, I also agree with you. I worry a little bit about the state of the ACC and in all that. And, you know, we are NC State lies within that too. Yeah, we do. And, you know, it sucks for, like, it sucks for players like cam, Ward, you know, like, who are real NFL talent? Yeah, Miami quarter. But it's just, I mean, no chance of winning a national championship. And same thing for, I mean, Florida State's a little different from last year, but I mean, still, like, they didn't have a chance. They are the biggest collapse of any football team in the past, like 10, five years, Florida State and again. I don't want to say ACC can't win it in general. Clemson has obviously had title. You know, they had great runs, and they were getting Trevor Lawrence to, you know, be there and everything. But, you know, did they sustain like Georgia and Bama people thought they would, no, I mean, jashan, Watson, Trevor Lawrence, and then you have one bad thing with DJ U young, Galilei, and then, boom, you're back down. And they're gonna be back up, I think. But are they going to, you know, I think if you told me Clemson was in the title game in the next four years, I could believe you. But are they going to be in the hunt for the title game for the next 20 years? I don't know. I don't think so. High school players are going to Alabama. LSU, Georgia, and you brought up, KC, his brother just decommitted from NC State. NC conceptions. Brother, a three star de committed from NC State after he had a picture of him, obviously, with all the gear and everything. Yeah, I think you're gonna be right. Casey might be gone. And if I was saying I would leave and bring his junior season, or if he stays, maybe his senior year to an SEC or a Big 10 school, I think he's gonna do that too. I just never thought of it. But when you bring it up, I'm like, yeah, and guess and his brother just decommitted. Think about your you know, realistically, like he probably wants to play in the NFL. And, I mean, you can, I mean, they'll find you, right? The NFL will find you. But to boost his draft stock, and honestly, his if, if he can't make it to the next level, he's going to make more money as a college Yeah, playing, the thing is, the reason he would do again, obviously, college people from NC State had made the NFL, but just look at Peyton Wilson last year. It was his first full healthy year. He wasn't this dog that was there for five years. It was his first full health he was a fifth year. It was his first full healthy year at NC State. You know, like, that's, that's what that was like. And I mean, Russell Wilson literally transferred, well, that that was a different time. It was. But I'm still saying, like, even, even just, if you think about guys like the main NC State guys, you think of Ali McNeil from the lions office of diamonds, like Joe toonie and stuff, BJ Hill. These are offensive and defensive lineman. It's not like you're there for being a star for five years. You got to develop. And normally those guys don't leave and stuff and have anything like quarterbacks and receivers and and those kind of guys. So, yeah, that's That's why, but it's because, you know, Casey broke as a freshman, and the expectations are there, and so if they're not met immediately, you could fall off the draft board pretty quickly, like it can only take one year from be a particular projected first round pick to a seventh round pick. Like, yep. So I agree. I think he's really got to get it. But we've talked about so much with sorry for our horrible downer. We'll talk about it. But I think it's real. I think it's real that the ACC, I mean, we started off with football, but football runs a lot of stuff. I. And I think when we're talking about football, I wouldn't, I personally would maybe, you know, depending on how these games go, see what other options are. I think if he again, just a quick wrap up, I think if Doran loses Carolina, he's gone. And I would have him gone. If he beats Carolina, I think he'll stay. And I would be 5050 in terms of what I would do, maybe, depending on how the game is. And I think in the end, maybe it'd be slightly towards him staying, because maybe I honestly want to see what they do in the bowl game. Because I'm like, Hey, can we give something? Can we just do, like, something to leave with? And if he has a year next year that's under 500 I think he's gone, yeah, yeah, if he has another under 500 or maybe he proves us wrong. And I'm not saying he won't do this, and has an eight win season or something, but even then, it's like, what are you going to get for the next two years? Two more eight win, another nine win, another seven win, and then back down to four and then back up to nine. Like, I feel like, I mean, look at Washington. Washington sucks at football right now. Do you know how much they're gonna be living off of that title game appearance with all with the great coach that they took a risk on, who was a young guy from Fresno State, brought he was one to one or two years at Fresno State, and got him into Washington, who was a lower tier in the Pac 12, obviously, now in the Big 10, and they made the coach football playoff and made to the title game, and now they're nothing. And it's like, well, guess what? You ride that I would totally trade that in. It's almost like we, like you said, we just brought up, would you you could even do it? Would you rather here? I would rather be Washington than Carolina. And then, I mean, then NC State. I'd rather have that one year where we had these guys in the NFL that we can look at, because he got good recruiting and good transfers, and this coach that he has moved on, but had an amazing year, and we did so much, then nine straight years of like, yeah, you're solid, prolonged, mediocre, yeah, yeah. Like, that's what it is. And I don't want to say mediocrity, because they're making bowl games. Nine wins is not mediocre, but it's fine. It's good, it's it's just not. You're not going to make the college football playoff in the ACC with nine wins. Nope, unless you win the ACC, and if you win the ACC with nine wins, you better be the biggest comeback story, because your team was all injured in the first half and healthy in the second half, and that's why your nine win team like you know that it's so that's why we combine it with football and state of NC State with the ACC, and how it's all going and and we just really got to hope that maybe something occurs. But I Georgia Tech, like we said, I would, I think that's a loss, but look at that Carolina game, because I think it'll tell a lot, and I would definitely be crossing your fingers. I mean, maybe you want him fired, I don't know, but I think for the sake of NC State's program like you know, it'd be kind of interesting to see what happens there. But even if he loses, it might not, it might not make a difference, because he might just not be gone. But I think next year, if we're looking at big picture for Dave Dorn is almost a seats getting kind of kind of hot here, yeah, sure.
Griffin Cunningham 1:08:07
I share, yeah. I definitely share that opinion, the harsh opinion that we were going to call it, yeah, um, yeah. I just thinking while we were talking, there are three, three big things for me that kind of opened my eyes. First of all, the time that I have been here NC State Football has not been super exciting to watch, just like, like, the offense isn't super explosive, yeah? So it's not at times can be boring. And I think which is,
Stone Boylan 1:08:31
I mean, yeah, that kind of sucks. He's been known to be a defensive you know?
Griffin Cunningham 1:08:35
I mean, that's the fewer of the three reasons, yeah, eye opener was when they played Tennessee can't compete with the essay, which is crazy,
Stone Boylan 1:08:44
because I knew that was gonna happen. But I was like, okay, it'll be 35 to 10, and it was 51 today it was and I was like, Okay, well, that's not good. And you're my your eye opener was Tennessee. My eye opener was going to watch Western Carolina and Louisiana Tech, and that's not even beaten. And I'm like, What the heck? And that was all in the beginning
Griffin Cunningham 1:09:02
of the year, yeah, yeah. I mean, I don't know. I don't know. I don't even remember what the third reason was, just, just because, just because, no, yeah, he I don't know. And I mean, there's something else that happened this year that I'm just like, and,
Stone Boylan 1:09:17
I mean, it's not that they haven't been interesting. It's just like, last year, it was really fun in terms of, like, the end of us, surprisingly, beating all these teams. We beat Miami, we beat Carolina at the end of the year. And I'm like, How are we doing this with, you know, our quarterback that hasn't been amazing, but he's been fine and and we had an emerging star in KC, and that was really good. But this year it totally brought it down. And I think, you know, we're definitely gonna be one of those teams or schools that are gonna be hanging on to that run Final Four run for a while. And I think it'll be good for the you know, it'll be fine for the next two years or so, like, oh my gosh, we recently had this game and but then all the players from that team will eventually be gone. Uh, you know what? There'll be no one that would be left from that team, and then you're gonna be like, Okay, what's what are we looking at next? Like, what big sport are we looking at now? And I'm not trying to offend the other sports. I'm just saying, you know, the the reason people moved conferences was because of football, and I hate that because I think it affects basketball a lot, and I like, love basketball for college, but football makes the money, and it affects a lot of that stuff. And so while soccer and cross country may be doing great, and that's awesome, and locally, you love that. The grand scheme of things, the the two main stuff that that kind of run it, and even more so is football. And so at some point you gotta look like, Okay, what is the future look like? And what do we what are we looking at here? And, yeah, I just think when you bring up Dave Doran, I don't know, we got to see but it's not he's not in the amazing spot right
Griffin Cunningham 1:10:51
now. Yeah, I remember the third thing, what just the way that the players have talked about the soccer coaches. I mean, even though that has nothing to do with it, it's still an eye opener, like, you wonder how the players really feel, and then you see, like, you know, the athletic department making these decisions, and it's like, yeah, that's like, within the realm of possibility. And so that kind of that does make me that's my third reason of why. Like, you can move on and you can find something better. Like, the grass is not always greener, but in some cases it is, and
Stone Boylan 1:11:22
eventually, yeah, if I'm, again, you see
Griffin Cunningham 1:11:26
it with Mark Hubbard, yeah, easy. It's the perfect example of soccer. I mean, I'm sure it gives blue Corrigan the confidence to be like, You know what, I can make moves and be successful. Yeah?
Stone Boylan 1:11:39
Again, Dave is a cool guy. We've talked with him. I had a funny interaction with him that was really cool, and I'll remember forever. But I think looking objectively, I think I would rather them move on, go, take another hit miss, and then maybe we're finally getting something that's greater than what we have in 10 years, then continue what we're doing now for the next 10 years. Because I feel like, like you said, from Since 2012 that's enough time. I agree that's enough time. And I feel like the big games just have not been able to win. Just have not been able to
Griffin Cunningham 1:12:21
do it. Things are changing outside of NC State. I think it's time to make some changes within
Stone Boylan 1:12:27
again. Yeah, I don't think we'll I know you don't think it'll happen, but we'll see, maybe I'm wrong. We'll see it would have to be next year, my guess. But you never know. You never know. Lose Carolina, then that's a big one. Yeah, we'll
Griffin Cunningham 1:12:36
go over the winter sports. Really, really, really, yeah,
Stone Boylan 1:12:39
when this episode is over, I'm running out the door and you will be editing it. Unfortunately, sorry about that. All good.
Griffin Cunningham 1:12:47
Yeah, so men's basketball is undefeated, and we're playing Purdue over Thanksgiving. That's about as brief as I can make it. Yeah,
Stone Boylan 1:12:55
I don't love that. Purdue is very you know, they're not as good as last year, obviously, but they're, they're good. All our wins have not been much close to Carolina, Colgate been fine. We are not losing to them, which is good, has to be expected. Yeah, nothing, nothing crazy here. Purdue is the is the raise the Randy or rady? Rady? Is it what I don't I didn't spell it wrong. Children's, we'll just say the children's Invitational, which doesn't sound good, but whatever. I'm not sure. It's obviously a, you know, something they're raising money for, but it's kind of a like the Maui Invitational, like an in season tournament kind of thing. And we start off with Purdue. There are a few other teams in there. Maybe we Purdue? Who knows? I don't think so. But, you know, Purdue is not a good defensive team, so at least in the power five scheme. So if we can maybe just stop their guards, then it'd be good if we played this Purdue team. End off the episode with a funny like positive hypothetical, if last year's NC State team played this year's Purdue team, we win. Yeah, because produce inside is so much worse, defensively, there's so much worse. And DJ burns would be able to eat diara, would hopefully not be shooting five corner threes, and would just be in the paint. And you know, I think it'd be a good offensive matchup. But, you know, I think with our guards, we'd be able to go back and forth. But put that in perspective, while NC State's team, obviously, when you look at the analytics, they didn't finish like crazy high or anything because of the regular season and even during the tournament. You know it's not like they were this dominant, efficient team, like they just grind it out, got it done, that team would beat this team by a few points, two possessions, let's say so, but we'll see how
Griffin Cunningham 1:14:43
we do Yeah, yeah. It says radio, R, A, D, Y,
Stone Boylan 1:14:46
yeah. Rady. Rady, the radio. Children's invitation, I'm not sure, whatever,
Griffin Cunningham 1:14:51
yeah. Women's Basketball, they have two losses on the season, both to good teams. Yep, don't, don't lose hope. That's just, that's just the beginning of the schedule. TCU and South Carolina. Yeah, TCU didn't, they
Stone Boylan 1:15:01
have that transfer.
Griffin Cunningham 1:15:02
What's her name? Van Liff,
Stone Boylan 1:15:03
yeah, yeah. She's
Griffin Cunningham 1:15:04
been, she played at Louisville for three years, LSU last year, and now at TCU, one of the, one of the better players in women's college basketball over the past few years. So, I mean, yeah, I don't, I didn't watch that game, but you know, TCU,
Stone Boylan 1:15:20
it was only by three points. So one possession, though,
Griffin Cunningham 1:15:24
I think, I think you run it back, NC State wins that game. Ideally, they also have a Thanksgiving tournament, which I think is a cool tradition that college basketball has, by the way, it's called the pink flamingo tournament. So yeah, usually they have to go to, like, the Caribbean and, like, just play basketball. That's cool. Yeah,
Stone Boylan 1:15:41
I cause. But I mean, I remember as a kid watching the stuff in the air, playing UNC versus Michigan State on an aircraft carrier, like stead. So yeah,
Griffin Cunningham 1:15:51
college basketball is in the just, yeah, I wish it wasn't affected by
Stone Boylan 1:15:55
I know. I don't care. You football lovers. I love football. NFL is my number one. That's my first sport. College basketball is better. I don't care. It's better than college football. Oh yeah, not
Griffin Cunningham 1:16:03
even close, definitely.
Stone Boylan 1:16:05
I mean, close enough, but it's, I don't think it's close. So
Griffin Cunningham 1:16:09
gymnastics doesn't have anything until December. Skip over that. Nothing. Wrestling started already, early, though, yeah. So they've already, they beat Campbell and have at Princeton. And then they isn't get good until they have Rutgers. They're ranked number 17, so that'll be something to look out for. And then swimming and diving, they've also started their season. They've already matched up against Arizona State and Georgia, and they have their first technical technically. Their first home meet is in Greensboro on the 21st so those are the winter sports that's all I have for that. We already talked about Casey's brother. So yeah, I mean, the only other note I have here is that we are finalists for an award.
Stone Boylan 1:17:01
We can quickly go over this. I have no time, but yeah, we got a nominate for it was the international students broadcast broadcasting association or something. And yeah, we checked online, and, you know, literally got tagged and we were in the nominations. I don't know if we're gonna win. I really don't know the details. We didn't get a lot of details, to be honest. I didn't know we were nominated. Me. We literally only found out because our account got tagged and, you know, on Instagram, so that's how we found out. But as Griffin said, and I agree, it'll be something we can put on our resumes. Light it read a Award nominated podcast, student run podcast,
Griffin Cunningham 1:17:33
yeah, yeah, we're being judged by a panel,
Stone Boylan 1:17:35
so Well, we'll see.
Griffin Cunningham 1:17:40
But yeah, that's cool that that happened. And I think it's, I think it's a fitting way to end it,
Stone Boylan 1:17:45
you know, yeah, totally not previewing anything. But, you know, we'll, we'll talk to you guys next episode. We'll just, we'll say that.
Griffin Cunningham 1:17:54
What do you mean next episode? I don't. Well, yeah, we'll see about that. I don't know if not, if there's not another episode, which I'm not sure about right now, but we'll see. We'll see, we'll see. I'm graduating in a few weeks. So for the people that have been listening the whole time for, you know, this is my I started this my sophomore year. I appreciate it. I never felt like I was a huge, you know, talker. I've always been more of a quiet guy, but when this opportunity came about, I just felt like this would be the best way for me to, you know, express my thoughts, because I like to write, but this is a whole different opportunity. And I just, you know, it started off a little rocky, and I just want to thank you, because you kind of came out of nowhere. But you know, I learned so much about job interviews from you when you interviewed for that position because you like and this is there was such a nothing interview, like it didn't even matter, but you had just done, like, just a little bit of research on, like, what my podcast was at the time, and you came in, I was like, I have to have this guy on here. And so it worked out really well. And I agree, I think it worked out. You stuck around, and now I'm really appreciative that, you know, I got a friend out of it, and it's just been a great experience that I'll always, you know, take with me. I mean, this has been my college experience, you know, I didn't, I didn't rush a frat, yeah, I did not want to do that either. Didn't go here freshman year to make all the friends in the dorms, you know, this is what I had. Yeah, this is a big thing you can take away. So, yeah, no, I just, I really appreciate you and and the people that you know helped us out along the way. Yeah, so awesome. You have anything you want to say? No, real Yeah, this
Stone Boylan 1:19:51
is great. I love this awesome. We'll see if we have another one. I don't know. I do want to, but depends on your schedule or whatever, we'll work that out. Just because I. You know, we would have had the football season would have ended. So, you know, we'd have the
Griffin Cunningham 1:20:03
games finishing, but we have Thanksgiving and then finals. Yeah,
Stone Boylan 1:20:07
it'd be probably somewhere in between that finals period, if we do. But, you know, you'll see if, if you, if you do, but for the future, we'll, we'll see, we'll, let's just say that we'll see he's graduating. So obviously that won't be a thing for the next semester. I can guarantee that whether there'll be another episode in terms of one more this semester, not sure. There will, for sure not be one in the spring, because we are moving on in terms of he's graduating. I got one year left doing a lot of stuff, but TBD keep this podcast on your liked, because maybe in the future you might see something we'll we'll see or maybe something different. Because I think we both like doing this, and yeah, like to keep up with NC State.
Griffin Cunningham 1:20:49
We'll work, we'll work something out in the in the future. But yeah, we're, we'll take, we'll take a hiatus focus on some other things. But yeah, no, it's been fun. So yeah, this has been light it red music in this podcast was Jonas Hooper's king of sports and vibe and sneaky licensed under creative commons from the Free Music Archive.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai