NC State 23 App State 10 (Updated 9/4, 11am)

'06 Football General74

A more detailed wrap-up is forthcoming. I couldn’t be in the stadium tonight, so I will leave the heavy analysis for a blogger who was there. Since we are mad at the N&O, and merely annoyed with ESPN, we will link their recap.

That said, it doesn’t take being in the stadium to be concerned about 44 yards passing against a 1-AA opponent. That’s not going to cut it, as even stellar backs like Brown and Baker won’t find holes if teams can put 9 men in the box (especially when said teams are better than the Mountaineers). On the plus side, it sounds like our defense was great.

The best insight I can give from the radio broadcast – how embarrassing it was for our crew to crow about it being “the first time in the history of Carter-Finley Stadium that NC State defeated a #1 ranked team.” That would be a pretty good line if accompanied by a chuckle. But it was delivered with gusto and earnestness. Talk about your Kool Aid drinking.

It certainly could be worse – we could have been shut out by a weak 1-AA foe like Richmond. And I would be remiss not to mention UNC’s moment of poetic justice – having a TD taken off the board after the refs looked at the replay, then fumbling on the 4th down try. God is good, and He definitely has a sense of humor…

Bytes – Monday @ 11am
The analysis of what we saw Saturday night is about as straight forward and vanilla as what actually unfolded on the field on Saturday night. There just isn’t that much to it since State (appropriately) chose to reveal about 1% of the playbook vs the Mountaineers.

(After I wrote this section I jumped over to Section Six and saw the exact same adjective of “vanilla” used as the headline. GREAT MINDS THINK A LIKE!!! My comments in this section dovetail nicely with the comments at Section Six)

The following are some quick game-related bytes from Saturday night (we’ll have more anaylsis from the weekend’s events as the week progresses):

* Saturday Summary – Tom Suiter logged some quick comments his thoughts on the weekend over on WRAL’s Blog that succinctly sums the whole thing up:

State has good players and good depth, and I think they’ll be a good football team. As the season gets tougher, though, they will need to have Stone do more than just hand off the ball. Defensively, you couldn’t ask for more, limiting Appalachian State to just 133 yards in total offense. Mario, Manny, McCargo and the rest of those guys from last year couldn’t have done better. I would expect the Pack to make it 2-0 next week hosting Akron.

* Marcus Stone – In his customary fantastic syle, Caulton Tudor truly nailed the whole Quarterback-Marcus Stone issue in his column on Sunday. Make no mistake how important Stone is to the Pack’s success this season.

No one in the Wolfpack camp was about to complain about a relatively painless season-opening victory, nor should they. But the predicted improvement in Stone’s game just didn’t surface against the quick Mountaineer defense.

There’s no way to knock Stone’s winning percentage and it’s entirely possible the Wolfpack can win again next week against Akron — and perhaps even at Southern Mississippi on Sept. 16 without getting big numbers from Stone.

But eventually the ACC schedule is going to hit — starting with Boston College on Sept. 23 in Carter-Finley — and eventually the Pack is going need a more aggressive, potent passing attack.

* The Season – After watching this game, I think that main question for the entire season is simple – CAN Marcus Stone execute a more potent passing attack? I think that NC State can go 6-6 this season playing the style of football that produced last year’s 5-1 finish and Saturday night’s win over ASU. But, NC State can go 8-4 or better if Stone improved more in the offseason than he showed on Saturday night and can complete just 55% of his passes.

* Offense / Play calling – I can understand both sides of the arguments about the offense & play calling that are inlcuded in the comments section of this entry. For now, I am going to choose to believe that State didn’t want to take any risks against a team that we knew that we could beat by running the ball, controlling field position, and forcing to drive the field when they never proved that they could. The goal of playing the game is to WIN. The goal of playing the season is WIN AS MANY AS YOU CAN. Why do anything more than we have to do to win?

* Toney Baker – TB22 fumbled on Saturday night, a problem that continues to plague him and ultimately relegates him behind Andre Brown on the depth chart.

* Passing – The think that bothers me most about Stone/QB is his unwillingness (inability?) to even attempt a pass DOWN THE FIELD. Almost every pass attempt (and definitely every pass completion) are nothing more than little dumps and outs. To join the the critical bandwagon for a moment – if a junior quarterback in the ACC does not have the ability to complete a forward pass that travels more than 10 yards from the line of scrimmage then something is definitely wrong. The Wolfpacker stated the following in their Monday Morning Quarterback:

There were times Pack receivers were open and they did not get the ball. Junior John Dunlap was seen open downfield twice.

* Passing, II – Similarly, I picked this up from the comments section:

Something Terry Harvey said on the postgame show that rang true. This offense needs to prove that they can complete a forward pass when in an obvious passing situation. They haven’t been able to do that since PR left. At some point there will be games where a State QB will have to WIN the game for us and right now that won’t happen.

* What Penalties? – 3 penalties for 20 yards. AWESOME!! Turnovers continue to be another story for the program; but, after the improvement in penalties at the end of last year this issue should be put to rest. GREAT JOB!!

* Offensive Line – other than the play of Marcus Stone, the offensive line was the next most worrisome performance from Saturday night. Coach Amato said after the game that he was pleased with their play, so I will defer. But, the OLine appears to be much better at run blocking than at pass protecting. Marcus is going to need everything that he can get from them.

* John Deraney – no comments about NC State football in 2005 or 2006 would be compete without highlighting John Deraney’s play.

* Defense – Heading into the season I wasn’t nearly as worried about the defensive line as the rest of the world seemed to be and it looks like I got that one right. On the whole, the defense played great. The linebackers missed some assignments and have a lot of room to improve but they are sandwiched by a lot of talent in front and behind them.

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

'06 Football General

74 Responses to NC State 23 App State 10 (Updated 9/4, 11am)

  1. Wolfpack4ever 09/04/2006 at 12:13 PM #

    1973 NCSU vs. UNC W 28-26 included a 99yd, 14 play drive with ONE pass. Coached by? Lou Holtz. Comment by All America guard Bill Yoest, “That drive was a back-breaker for them and a momentum switch for us. It was just a great in-your-face kind of drive.”

    Maybe we should sticdk to back-biting Lee Fowler and leave the football to the coaches and players who know what football is all about. And let’s give Sid a couple of years before we turn on him. Our players are wolves of a pack but some of us here are just hyennas pretending to be wolves.

  2. WolfRed 09/04/2006 at 12:19 PM #

    For those of you who want to see all or most of our offense in the first game, ask yourselves this: Why do coaches and players devote such incredible amounts of time to studying film of games?

    Because they can get a good idea of weak spots on the other team. They can see things the average (or even good) fan misses in the other teams performance. The more different types of plays you give other teams to look at, the better it is for them to pick out your weaknesses. It is not just the type of offense you run, it is the details of how you run it. The West Coast offense is not just one offense. There are many variations. Think about it.

  3. redfred2 09/04/2006 at 12:22 PM #

    “but that just shows his inexperience.”

    I guess Stone will get his “experience” in conference instead. Trestman’s being uncomfortable calling a pass play even against App State cannot help in any way for the rest of the schedule.

  4. redfred2 09/04/2006 at 12:24 PM #

    Sputter…sputter…sputter…THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN WIDE OPEN AND CLICKING ON ALL CYCLINDERS.

    It just doesn’t happen.

  5. wufpaxno1 09/04/2006 at 12:35 PM #

    Wolpack4ever, Amen Brother!!! It’s getting pretty depressing reading some of the posts here. For goodness sake people, we won the game.

    And speaking of Whine, there will be a reception for all those Gloom and Doomers immediately following the Akron game, which I see as win number 2, the menu will consist of ‘Whine” and cheese, and beer to cry in.

    h It’s football season!!!

  6. redfred2 09/04/2006 at 1:07 PM #

    I am glad they won, I didn’t have as much doubt that as some fans. I do believe that the offense and Stone can play much better, not really knocking them for that game. What I am concerned about is why not practice big play offensive schemes in the early OCC schedule and in front of stadium crowd. Those types of executions are difficult anyway, especially in a noisy stadium and will be even harder when facing better quality competition, even moreso when the outcome of the game is in the balance.

    This is early non-conference, THE time to work on the offense.

  7. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 09/04/2006 at 1:08 PM #

    With friends like…

    Stone 6-1. It kills some of you doesn’t it.

    If the offense doesn’t improve there will be plenty of time to call for Stone’s head but can you wait until the team loses a couple of games first.

    A team that averages nearly 5 yards per carry and a strong D doesn’t need to have a big passing day. 344 all purpose yard v. 144 and 4 turnovers will work every week.

  8. VaWolf82 09/04/2006 at 1:27 PM #

    Stone 6-1. It kills some of you doesn’t it.

    Not unless there are some UNC fans posting here. What “kills” people is knowing that there are more games like last year’s BC game ahead.

  9. redfred2 09/04/2006 at 1:51 PM #

    t-t-t

    Even at 6-1 Stone’s ability is still in question, by everyone, including the coaches. I am not beating the kid down when the coaching staff doesn’t give him an opportunity to fully play his position. That is not Stone’s fault. I hope when he needs to step up in a real game scenario that these wasted opportunities won’t come back to bite him. His coaches need to biten on the ass for that.

  10. Wulfpack 09/04/2006 at 1:52 PM #

    Am I happy with the win? Of course, as I stated earlier I think App State is a worthy opponent and it’s a great way to start the season. The issue is we won’t be playing App State every week. In no way shape or form did this win convince me that our offense can score against a sound defense. And I don’t buy any of this “we don’t want to show too much” argument. Fellas, look at last year’s results…our offense couldn’t score consistently. Period. I do think we’d rather show “too much” than not be able to show anything much at all. And right now, unless I see some major changes, we’re going to be sputtering along when we play a quality opponent.

  11. redfred2 09/04/2006 at 2:36 PM #

    To be totally fair here, Bunting is gasping for air right now in comparison. Any win by the Wolfpack helps Amato’s cause at this point. We will probably see a coaching staff that is fearful of trying anything too demanding on the QB position until we are behind in any game this season.

    I’d give Amato next season and that’s more time than some. I know it’s too much to ask at the moment, but personally, I’d rather see the staff trying to improve the offense for the later stages of the season and beyond, irregardless of the W/L’s now.

    Even in what most said would be a down year, college football doesn’t allow for that kind of patience nowadays.

  12. PapaJohn 09/04/2006 at 3:38 PM #

    I hate to listen to those like D Glenn and 850Buzz describe us as a bunch of wrist slashers, but read these posts! Good grief!

  13. packpigskinfan23 09/04/2006 at 3:59 PM #

    redfred- as the year goes on Stone will get more and more experience… I mean seriously… if you want to talk about his experience at the postition talk to the guy who had him out for the first half of last year, and Jay Davis in…. the same guy who had Baker out for the first half of last season.. Here Stone is a Junior and he dosnt even have half a years experience at the position… thats sad because I think we can all agree that Stone is better then Davis…. and I swear, if you guys disagree to that then the fans here are all doom and groom….

  14. class of 74 09/04/2006 at 4:19 PM #

    For all of you who love to point out our record while Stone is QB, look again at who we’ve beaten during that stretch. If he can produce ugly wins over Clemson, GT, UNC, BC and the like then I’ll sing his praise. But IMHO, Stone may be a football player but he certainly is not a Div. I level QB. And Trestman has few options to turn to this season due to our poor QB recruiting over the past couple of years!

  15. packpigskinfan23 09/04/2006 at 4:41 PM #

    Trestman has only a few options in his PLAY BOOK as far as i have seen

  16. Hogwild 09/04/2006 at 9:57 PM #

    You guys are pathetic. I just found this blog a couple weeks ago because I was jonesin’ for some Wolfpack football. You’d think you were all UNC fans by reading the posts.

  17. class of 74 09/05/2006 at 6:43 AM #

    I totally agree with Stone’s comments in today’s N&O where he said ” I stunk” in commenting on his performance saturday night. But on the bright side, so too did most other ACC QB’s this weekend and especially last night. I shudder to think what FSU or Miami’s defense would do to our offense right now.

  18. Wulfpack 09/05/2006 at 8:57 AM #

    ^Excellent point. I was thinking the exact same thing last night. Fortunately, Miami isn’t on the schedule. Hogwild, your QB was 7-13 for 36 yards with an interception against a I-AA school. You think that kind of line is going to win us any meaningful kind of game here in the upcoming weeks? You think Florida State is even going to put 2 defensive backs on the field?

  19. redfred2 09/05/2006 at 10:11 AM #

    ^class of 74

    That’s all I’ve been saying. If anyone thinks Stone got a taste of of what’s in store in near the future on last Saturday, they’re sorely mistaken. The time to gamble on your quarterback and allow him to make mistakes is right now and early on in the game. Otherwise, they’ll only be magnified tenfold when facing the likes of FSU. How will his confidence even survive the first quarter against a bunch of blurs swarming the all over the field on the Seminole defense.

    You said it earlier, the kid hasn’t faced anything like it in his 6-1 career.

    I say the first two offensive sets against Akron should have about four pass plays called, and the pass should be used regularly throughout the first half. Then after that, let the chips fall where they may.

  20. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 09/05/2006 at 11:42 AM #

    class of 74..

    You may be right but lets wait until we lose a game first. Stone didn’t make the schedule and yes not the most difficult games but what other qb for state managed to go 6-1 in his first 7 starts? I’m not saying that it is Stone but he isn’t making huge mistakes and we got a great running games and what looks to be a pretty solid D. We don’t have a Rivers- Stone isn’t screwing up so I think everyone should ease up on him.

    If he has 4 INT against Akron next week it will be a different story.

  21. redfred2 09/05/2006 at 5:50 PM #

    I guess there are no converted HS QB’s on the roster?

  22. JO JO DYNAMO 09/06/2006 at 8:42 AM #

    Stone has a good arm, he can throw vertical down the field, but most likely since this was his first season opening start it looked like he had happy feet on the interception, but whether or not it was just that or a receiver running a poor route remains to be seen. Since QB Stone has a decidedly winning record and obvious leadership skills to his credit (the team plays well for him as opposed to last years departed starter), then he will get the nod until obviously faltering. There are other arms to come to the aid of this team, Daniel Evans (son of former great Johnny Evans) can throw, so we will see if he gets some PT in upcoming game time situations as needed, you just never know. I like Steve Logan’s approach to backups, he says to play the 2nd. stringer QB in every game for at least one series, in order to bring him along, not a bad philosophy.

  23. JO JO DYNAMO 09/06/2006 at 8:44 AM #

    Stone has a good arm, he can throw vertical down the field, but most likely since this was his first season opening start it looked like he had happy feet on the interception, but whether or not it was just that or a receiver running a poor route remains to be seen. Since QB Stone has a decidedly winning record and obvious leadership skills to his credit (the team plays well for him as opposed to last year’s departed starter), then he will get the nod until obviously faltering. There are other arms to come to the aid of this team, Daniel Evans (son of former great Johnny Evans) can throw, so we will see if he gets some PT in upcoming game time situations as needed, you just never know. I like Steve Logan’s approach to backups, he says to play the 2nd. stringer QB in every game for at least one series, in order to bring him along, not a bad philosophy.

1 2 3

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. StateFans Nation » Blog Archive » Basketball Schedule Released (With OOC Analysis Added, ACC Analysis Pending) - 08/23/2007

    uywMqT dvslqszwzakm, [url=http://plhnnomqoqak.com/]plhnnomqoqak[/url], [link=http://jivjzgwerbot.com/]jivjzgwerbot[/link], http://mpowpbbdovxs.com/

Leave a Reply