On the Brutal Cost of Losing to Teams that You Should Beat

North Carolina State has a murderous schedule this year and so it was imperative (if they wanted a winning record and a bowl invitation) that they win the games that they're supposed to.......and, so, yeah, losing to East Carolina represents a huge problem. But it also goes far beyond wins and losses in that within a few days of that game, N.C. State also lost two of their best verbal commitments for 2017; wide receiver, Emeka Emezie, and defensive back, Jacobe Clement (both of whom are currently rated in the Rivals top 30 of North Carolina high school seniors). Yeah, they could eventually get them back in the fold (not to mention, their ball-coach off of the hot-seat) but they had better start winning (starting this Saturday against a much improved Wake Forest squad).