I was at the NC State - BC game on Saturday. It was my second trip to NC State this year, so I will only report on new observations. My wife is a BC grad and very active alumni, so we were lucky to be a tailgate with a few former BC players and a Sr. Associate Athletic Director. I had a good time and interesting discussion which I will add at the end.
First the game. I feel for BC. They really don't have much talent. They play very good defense with players who are playing with more heart than size and speed. On offense, the talent level is even less. Nevertheless, they came out at NCSU and played hard for the entire game and held on for their first ACC win in 2 years. NCSU is a total enigma to me. Should have beat Clemson at Clemson and have not shown up since. It was a beautiful weather day, they have a very nice stadium with good parking for tailgating. Stands were almost full in the first quarter. At halftime, NCSU allows fans to leave and come back in. I would say about 2/3 of the fans left and never returned. The student section was essentially empty for the second half. The game is very close and they have a decent team. I don't get it. NCSU does have a good band, which the other regional ACC teams do not.
Now for the tailgate stuff. I talked to a former B.C. player named Ivan Boyd. He was a pretty good receiver for some decent Tom Coughlin coached teams. I asked him about his experience playing PSU. He immediately came out with Shelly Hammonds. Told me that B.C. was better than PSU that year and the game was at B.C. The news all week was that PSU was out of running backs and was converting a second string defensive back to Running Back. He said B.C. was sure that they would win. Well, Shelly Hammonds had well over 200 yards rushing and PSU won. He told me that he still has nightmares about that game.
Ivan also talked about coming to PSU. He told me that the B.C. team stayed about 20 miles from the stadium. He talked about the bus trip through miles of fields until you see the stadium on the horizon. He said the player next to him looked at him and said, "see that." "That is where it all goes down." He told me that B.C. won at PSU that year over a team that had Kerry Collins, Kijana Carter and Kyle Brady. Funny though that the first story was not that win but the loss to the team with Shelly Hammonds.
All in all, I would rather have been in West Lafayette, In cheering on the Nittany Lions.
First the game. I feel for BC. They really don't have much talent. They play very good defense with players who are playing with more heart than size and speed. On offense, the talent level is even less. Nevertheless, they came out at NCSU and played hard for the entire game and held on for their first ACC win in 2 years. NCSU is a total enigma to me. Should have beat Clemson at Clemson and have not shown up since. It was a beautiful weather day, they have a very nice stadium with good parking for tailgating. Stands were almost full in the first quarter. At halftime, NCSU allows fans to leave and come back in. I would say about 2/3 of the fans left and never returned. The student section was essentially empty for the second half. The game is very close and they have a decent team. I don't get it. NCSU does have a good band, which the other regional ACC teams do not.
Now for the tailgate stuff. I talked to a former B.C. player named Ivan Boyd. He was a pretty good receiver for some decent Tom Coughlin coached teams. I asked him about his experience playing PSU. He immediately came out with Shelly Hammonds. Told me that B.C. was better than PSU that year and the game was at B.C. The news all week was that PSU was out of running backs and was converting a second string defensive back to Running Back. He said B.C. was sure that they would win. Well, Shelly Hammonds had well over 200 yards rushing and PSU won. He told me that he still has nightmares about that game.
Ivan also talked about coming to PSU. He told me that the B.C. team stayed about 20 miles from the stadium. He talked about the bus trip through miles of fields until you see the stadium on the horizon. He said the player next to him looked at him and said, "see that." "That is where it all goes down." He told me that B.C. won at PSU that year over a team that had Kerry Collins, Kijana Carter and Kyle Brady. Funny though that the first story was not that win but the loss to the team with Shelly Hammonds.
All in all, I would rather have been in West Lafayette, In cheering on the Nittany Lions.
