NC State hasn’t won an ACC championship since 1979. There was a wind of cautious optimism that blew into Raleigh this summer about the 2017 team. This was going to be the best football team to wear Wolfpack uniforms since 2002. The dry spell, the prolonged suffering of a fanbase and football program yearning for any kind of nationally relevant success, might finally come to a close. It didn’t.
The optimism was not misguided by any stretch. State had a good team. State competed for an ACC Championship. State came within two plays of beating Clemson. State came within two plays of playing Miami for the long awaited conference crown.