Editorial

North Carolina State Coach Dave Doeren Says He Feels ‘Lied To’ After The Holiday Bowl Gets Canceled

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David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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North Carolina State football coach Dave Doeren wasn’t happy about the Holiday Bowl getting canceled.

The Wolfpack were slated to play UCLA Tuesday, but the game was called off a few hours before the teams should have been out there warming up because of COVID-19. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)

How did the North Carolina State coach stomach the news? He wasn’t pleased.

 

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“Felt lied to, to be honest. We felt like UCLA probably knew something was going on, didn’t tell anybody on our side. We had no clue they were up against that. I don’t feel like it was very well handled from their university. It would have been great to have had a heads-up two or three days ago so we could have found a Plan B. Disappointing,” Doeren told the media after the game was canceled, according to ESPN.

I don’t blame Doeren for being upset at all, especially if it turns out UCLA knew about problems before they were publicly disclosed.

In theory, if NCSU had enough advanced warning, they could have had UCLA dropped from the bowl and replaced, or they could have tried to find a different bowl.

Instead, The Wolfpack geared up for a bowl game that never happened, and it’s clear he’s pissed about the situation.

Given all the outrage surrounding the cancelation of games, I’m right there with him. I can’t imagine how shattered players and coaches must be when games aren’t played.

Hopefully, we don’t see too many other games called off. It’s not what fans, players or coaches want to see happen.