Keeping The Wolves At Bay

Tom O'Brien's first year as head coach for the NC State Wolfpack has had a rough beginning. His team is 1-4 going into Saturday's contest with the Noles.

A year ago he was the long time coach at Boston College and had built the team into an annual contender in the ACC. O'Brien is BC's all-time leader in wins with a 75-45 record in 10 seasons at Chestnut Hill. He guided the Eagles to eight consecutive bowl games, winning the last six. Boston College has the longest active winning streak in bowl games. O'Brien also led the Eagles to at least eight wins in six straight years. Boston College was 9-3 in 2006 led by first-team All-ACC quarterback Matt Ryan.

His predecessor at Boston College has the team undefeated and ranked number six in the USAToday Coaches poll. O'Brien meanwhile is having to keep the wolves at bay at NC State. Just this week, three of his football players quit the team. His starting quarterback is injured and his team has been looking for an identity.In addition,NC State has had a rash of injuries and a ton of turnovers. One NC State blog describes the team as follows,"The Wolfpack offense has not found its stride this year, especially on the offensive line. That's made the running game suffer, and that in turn has allowed the opposition defenses to sit back and wait for NC State to revert to its passing attack."

If FSU plays like it should, O'Brien and his team will have one more loss as they head toward dates with a resurgent Virginia, Miami, Wake, and Maryland. Keep those wolves at bay Tom. Chestnut Hill probably looks pretty good right about now.