Davidson 72, State 67

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Despite being 9.5 point dogs in this game, State fans have to feel pretty disappointed about how this game ended. It was there on the table and for whatever reason the Pack just didn't step up to take it.

The rebounding woes continue, particularly on the defensive glass. Loose balls weren't dived for; passes weren't crisp; there was far too much inactivity on the offensive end against the zone, and when time ran out on the shot clock the shot selection went all to hell. All around just a sloppy effort.

The story of the game is Stephen Curry's 44 points, but we all knew he was going to score a ton. I could care less if he scored 34, 44 or 64, but State, had it played up to its abilities, could've easily won this game despite Curry's effort and didn't.

It's frustrating to see what this team fall short of what it is capable of.

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Davidson Player Impact Chart

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No real surprise here...All Curry, all the time.

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What Can Change in 10 Years...

As the muddled nature of securing a bowl bid continues to unwind itself, I thought I'd take you back 10 years to look at the bowl picture for the Pack a decade ago.

State entered the 1998 season on an optimistic note. Embattled head coach Mike O'Cain, after back-to-back 3-8 seasons, finished the 1997 season with three straight wins to save his job.

The team started strong and inconsistent, winning huge games against Florida St. and Syracuse with a baffling loss to Baylor wedged in between. A loss to Georgia Tech followed the win against the Orangemen, followed by a win against Duke, then another loss to Virginia.

Three straight wins against Clemson (in Death Valley) Wake Forest and Maryland had the Pack sitting at 7-3 and looking good heading into the first of two trips against the Tar Heels in Charlotte. The final game of the season, against a weakened Heels team, seemed to be setting up for a wonderful conclusion to the year. A win against the Heels -- which would've been O'Cain's first -- and the Pack would be looking at a pretty nice bowl, the team's first since the 1994 season.

(Continues)

But fate was always so unkind to O'Cain at the end of his tenure...a 37-34 loss to the Heels not only meant yet another loss to the Pack's bitter rivals, but it also downgraded the Pack's bowl prospects to the (then-titled) Micron PC Bowl.
The team they would face would be non other than the hometown team, The Miami Hurricanes, also experiencing a bit of a town year by their standards at 8-3 but featuring one of the nation's best tailbacks, Edgerrin James, who entered the game with six-straight 100-yard rushing performances.

It wasn't a fair fight, to be honest. James rushed for 156 yards and two scores. James Jackson also ran for two scores and some guy named Santana Moss caught a touchdown, as well. State didn't do itself any favors, as Jamie Barnette was intercepted five times and All-Everything Torry Holt was held to just 52 yards. The Hurricanes trounced the Pack 46-23.

Flash forward 10 years.

The Hurricanes left the Big East to join the ACC.

Its former coach, Butch Davis, left the team to coach the Cleveland Browns, only to return to the ACC to coach the very team that helped seal the fate of O'Cain.

An alum of the Pack came and went within those 10 years as its head coach, and State hired a guy who 10 years prior had been coaching against Davis in the Big East (whose team also left the Big East to join the ACC).

Micron PC no longer exists. It's gone through restructuring and re-missioning over the years, and now known as "MPC," on November 7th filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The bowl is now known as the Champs Sports Bowl. One can hope they fare better down the road than did Micron PC.

A lot can change in 10 years...

(For a game preview chart, head to the archived page at cnnsi.com/)

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Nice Q&A With Mario Williams in the Sporting News

It's tough not to be a Mario Williams fan.

He's genuinely nice.

He represents State when given the opportunity.

He'll break you in half on the football field but shake your hand afterwards (assuming you're able to stand upright)

So it's tough not to throw some love his way anytime you can. This time is no different. After recording three sacks against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night, The Sporting News's Tim Montemayor caught up with the former Wolfpack star to talk with him about various sundry topics.

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Duh.

Russell is your ACC Rookie of the Year

Other notables:

• Wilson was also named offensive ROY, as you might imagine
• Sean Spence of Miami was named defensive ROY
• Paul Johnson beat out Jeff Jagodzinski for Coach of the Year by a fairly sizable margin, 46 votes to 12. Tom O'Brien did manage one vote for COY.
  

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Russell Wilson named first team All-ACC

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Given how great Russell Wilson has played over the last month and a half and given the lack of any real contender throughout the rest of the league, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Wilson would win this honor. Thaddeus Lewis finished a distant second in the voting, garnering 28 points to Wilson's 106 (67 voters/134 maximum total points).

This makes Wilson the first freshman quarterback in the ACC history to ever be named to the first-team. Pretty heady stuff when you consider all the great quarterbacks that have come from the league (Rivers at State, Boomer Esiason at Maryland, Charlie Ward and Chris Weinke at FSU, Michael Vick at VT).

Nate Irving, Willie Young and TJ Graham all earned honorable mentions for their contributions (Graham as a special teamer).

Coach of the year and rookie of the year will be announced tomorrow. Tom O'Brien will get a couple of votes for coach of the year but will likely miss out to either Paul Johnson or Jeff Jagodzinski at Boston College. Wilson's first-team selection all but seals the Rookie of the Year award up for him, and he may have a shot at the Offensive Player of the Year award announced on Wednesday if he can beat out Jonathan Dwyer from Georgia Tech. It doesn't look good, though, given Dwyer was a unanimous first-team selection.

Nevertheless, an incredible achievement for Wilson who spent most of the first part of the year injured in some fashion.

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Player impact, through four games

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Some interesting things from this chart:

• Ben McCauley is tied with Javy Gonzalez in steals with eight. He's playing with a purpose on defense so far this year, which is great to see.
  
• Costner leads the team in blocks with six...again, another hustle stat that's good to see.
• Tracey Smith has nearly 21% of the team's offensive rebounds despite playing only 12.3 minutes per game. Compare that with McCauley snagging 18.6% of the offensive boards while averaging 27.8 minutes per game. Smith is really getting after it on the offensive glass when on the court.
  

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