UNC’s offense with NC State’s defense: How good could one unified North Carolina team be?

The thought occurred late Saturday night, as it has often these past few seasons, sometime between N.C. State sealing its 20-6 victory against Miami and Dave Doeren punctuating the moment with another memorable postgame interview moment.

“Chancellor Woodson, turn on the red light, big dog,” Doeren said on the ACC Network.

(Side note here: How many times has anyone addressed Randy Woodson as “big dog?” Do his fellow plant molecular biologists call him “big dog?” Probably not. But we digress.)

The overarching thought, watching the Wolfpack again use its defense to dispatch of a supposedly more talented team, was this: What if State had even an average or slightly above-average offense? And then, naturally: What if it had North Carolina’s offense?

Earlier in the day in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels snoozed through the first quarter against Campbell but woke up and pretty much did what they wanted the rest of the way during a 59-7 victory against the Camels of Buies Creek and the Big South Conference. You can’t take much from most games against FCS opponents but, once sufficiently awake, UNC’s offense again impressed.

And so here it is, the question of the day: How good of a college football team would it be if UNC’s offense and N.C. State’s defense could be squished together, in some sort of Frankensteinian football concoction? There’d be some things to work out in this scenario, like the purplish hue to the jerseys after mixing red and light blue, but let’s leave those things to the side for now.

Such a team — State’s D; UNC’s O — might just become the favorite to win the ACC. It’d probably be good enough to make the College Football Playoff and, who knows? In a season without a truly dominant team (though, with a lot of formidable ones) the TarPack (WolfHeels sounds like an edgy ladies shoe brand, OK?) could be a national championship contender.

You can imagine the possibilities. In Drake Maye and Payton Wilson, you’d have arguably the ACC’s best offensive and defensive players on the same team. You’d have UNC’s deep and talented receiving corps on one side, and State’s secondary, probably the best in the ACC, on the other. Up front, the Tar Heels’ offensive line is average but the Wolfpack’s defensive line is not (in a good way) — and if you’re going to pick just one to be a strength, you’re going with defense.

Combine the two units, and N.C. State isn’t losing that home game against Louisville (which, the Wolfpack probably shouldn’t have lost, anyway). And UNC isn’t losing against Virginia and Georgia Tech (which are games the Tar Heels probably shouldn’t have lost, anyway). Of course, the imaginary mock-up here is another exercise, for both these programs, in the realm of what-if?

What if State hadn’t melted down in the second half against Louisville? What if UNC had beaten even one of Virginia or Georgia Tech? And what if the state’s two Power Five public schools didn’t have to share talent and support and everything else?

It gets to one of the eternal questions surrounding college football in North Carolina: Can this state really support as many FBS programs as there are? There’s seven of them, all vying in their own ways for talent and money and fan support and attention. And, for UNC and State, there’s now four decades of proof — and growing — that North Carolina really isn’t big enough for the two of them. At least not in terms of allowing both to become nationally competitive at the same time.

UNC appeared close to a national breakthrough just a few weeks ago, but ... then came crashing back to reality. State has had its moments, too, over the years. Neither one, though, has won the ACC in 42 years (43, for the Wolfpack) and there’s a good chance that in a month the streak grows another year longer. At which time the what-ifs will become louder, again.

What if the Wolfpack had just beaten Louisville? What if UNC hadn’t melted down?

What if the best of both teams could somehow be combined? (And as for a team that’d blend State’s offense with UNC’s defense, well — there’s proof for both that it could always get worse.)

ONE BIG THING

It was fitting that Doeren became the most victorious coach in N.C. State history with the kind of win representative of so many throughout his 11-season tenure. Indeed, it was gritty. Tough. Physical. Hand in the dirt. All those cliches. One might say it was ugly and, yes, that word came up during a postgame interview. To which Doeren responded that it looked pretty enough to him.

That his 78 victories at State haven’t included a conference or divisional championship remains a valid criticism. But it’s clear that Doeren is the Wolfpack’s best head coach since Dick Sheridan. A program can’t break through unless it’s in a position to do so, and Doeren more often than not has had State in a good position.

REALIGNMENT RUMBLINGS

OK, hear me out: Did you happen to catch Bedlam Saturday afternoon?

Oklahoma State’s victory against Oklahoma provided college football with its best environment and best moment of the weekend, with students rushing the field and tearing down the goal posts and depositing at least one of them in a nearby pond. Fare thee well, Sooners.

Watching it unfold, it was hard not to root for Oklahoma State, which is being left behind by Oklahoma in this latest round of College Sports Musical Chairs. The Sooners, after this season, are off to the SEC, where, chances are, they’ll more often be an 8- or 9-win kind of program than the 10- or 11-win program they think they’ll be. (A little known fact about all this realignment: not everyone is winning 11 games every year, like fans and schools seem to think.)

Another thought, too, crept in while taking in the scene from Stillwater: How soon will it be before realignment destroys one of the ACC’s best rivalries? It’s coming, in time.

THREE TO LIKE

1. The Wolfpack continues to find a way. Raise your hand if you saw this coming after State’s debacle of a defeat at Duke last month? (There should be no hands raised, as nobody, in fact, saw this coming.) The Wolfpack looked like it might be headed to a four- or five-win season after that loss in Durham but, here they are: 6-3 and tied with UNC (formerly of the top 10) in the league standings. State continues to get better and grow in confidence.

2. Some pride in Greenville. It has been a long, miserable season for East Carolina, but the Pirates showed Saturday that they haven’t quit on Mike Houston. Which, maybe, makes the 13-10 defeat against Tulane all the more heartbreaking. ECU doesn’t have the pieces, clearly, but is a moral victory against a top 25 team enough to turn down the considerable heat on Houston? With FAU, Tulsa and Navy remaining, there are some wins here (assuming ECU can score).

3. Campbell has its moment. It should be state law that when an FBS opponent plays one from a lower division, it always has to be an in-state school. The Campbell football program has endured a long, weird journey over the years and it was a cool moment — one of those quirky college football things — for the Camels to play in Kenan Stadium on Saturday. And for a quarter, it was actually competitive. There are Campbell players who’ll be telling their grandkids about it one day.

THREE TO ... NOT LIKE AS MUCH

1. One step forward, two back for Duke football culture. Critiquing attendance is a tired topic, yes, but it must be said: A mostly-empty Wallace Wade Stadium for Duke’s victory against Wake Forest last Thursday night was a terrible, no-good look for Duke football. And for the ACC. The conference has been trying to shed the narrative that it’s an unserious football league and, well, it doesn’t help to have a nationally-televised game that no one attends.

2. Grumbling over the unbalanced schedule. You can hear the whining building already about the ACC’s unbalanced schedules, and their role in determining who’ll play for the league championship (Florida State has already clinched its spot; Louisville seems almost assured of getting there). Yes, the schedules aren’t perfect. But what the ACC has now is without question better than the old divisional set up. Here’s an easy solution to counter any complaints about the schedule: Win your games, and don’t worry about who another team is playing.

3. Spoiled, unappreciative fans. We’re not naming names, but there’s a team in the Triangle that was 6-2 on Saturday (now 7-2), with one of the best quarterbacks in school history (and part of a beloved family, with deep ties to that school), that played in front of tens of thousands of empty seats on a beautiful fall day. When this particular team’s fans complain about lack of respect or why folks are quick to criticize their school’s football culture, they should remember days like Saturday.

THIS WEEK’S BEST PROGRAM IN THE STATE

For the second consecutive week it’s ... the Wolfpack of N.C. State! Come on down, Dave Doeren, he of salty disposition and bequeather of monikers (Big Dog, being the latest), you’re the leader of this week’s best program in the state. Your celebratory cigar is in the mail (the red solo cup did not fit, so you’re on your own there).

CAROLINAS RANKING

1. N.C. State (Wolfpack handled the immense pressure that comes with the top position in this ranking); 2. Duke (like N.C. State, Blue Devils learning to win without much of an offense); 3. Clemson (thanks, Tyler from Spartanburg); 4. North Carolina; 5. Coastal Carolina (don’t look now, but 4-2 in the Sun Belt); 6. Appalachian State (don’t look now, but a resounding victory against Marshall); 7. South Carolina (struggling to beat Jacksonville State? Not great); 8. Wake Forest (shoutout to Dave Clawson’s enormous puffy jacket); 9. Charlotte; 10. ECU.

FINAL THOUGHTS, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER

-I think you have to credit Dabo Swinney for taking calls into his radio show. It’s a bygone relic, taking calls like that. Most coaches are afraid to do it. Not Dabo, clearly. And also: that rant of his took all the attention off his struggling team. A strategic move?

-I think the ACC needs to learn to say no to TV, or least come up with a fair and workable solution to this six-day hold madness, which makes it impossible for fans attending games to plan ahead. It’s not right. How about this: networks can do the six-game hold thing twice per team, per season. Outside of that, come up with a schedule in advance and stick to it. Enough is enough.

-I think Payton Wilson is making a strong case for being the best linebacker N.C. State has ever had. And it has had a good number. At the least, he’s quickly emerging as the favorite for ACC Defensive Player of the Year.