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[QUOTE="RF2044, post: 1908156, member: 40"]
All I have to do is look at what happened in the other games hosted in north carolina yesterday.  ND had ZERO points at halftime, and finished with three.  Pass-happy / high scoring  UNC got beat something like 34-3.  The weather yesterday wreaked havoc on all three games for the teams that emphasize moving the ball through the air.  So it wasn't just us struggling and having an "off" day offensively.

When your team emphasizes moving it on the ground, and your primary offense is three yards and a cloud of dust?  Well, not surprisingly NC State and Wake Forest did pretty well.  Because having to run played to their strengths.  Our OL hasn't opened holes in the running game all season long, and our RBs don't run inside effectively.  So when that's what we tried to do, no surprise we were ineffectual.

I'm not excusing Dungey--he had a lousy game.  But pointing out causal factors isn't making "excuses," they are in actuality reasons.  This was a--pardon the pun--perfect storm of events that significantly advantaged WF [and NC State, and VT] and hurt us [and ND and UNC] as teams that use the deep ball as a staple of the offense.

In terms of talent, I liked what the coaching staff did in limited time last year with the class of 2016, and I like what they're bringing in for the class of 2017.  Probably not a bad thing that the majority of the class is already lined up, given our record.  But I think the talent issue is going to be addressed BOTH by bringing in better players to replace the incumbents AND letting some of the young players on this team who've been thrown to the wolves too early to mature.  Like what we've got at DE and OL.  It will be a process, and there's no question that having to experience the growing pains in the middle of that process suck.
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