Random Football Thoughts

'06 Football General68

Jeff said that he was giving Daniel Evans one chance to reignite his enthusiasm for FB before the BC game. I guess I’m a little harder to ignite. I was absolutely tickled to death with the BC win…but didn’t expect to do much against FSU. By the final FSU drive in the fourth quarter, I was truly excited about the 2006 season…and would have stayed that way even without the game saving interception and clever illegal procedure “play� to help run out the clock.

With a renewed enthusiasm for football, it is only natural to harness a little of that energy and start providing some meaningful commentary around here. So I have decided to throw a semi-random collection of thoughts together and see what I could come up with:

Deja Vu

Did anyone else notice a similarity between the State game on Thursday night and the Chargers game on Sunday night? Neither offense did much in the first quarter. A little down field passing opened up the running game. With the complete offensive playbook in use, both offenses were able to put points on the board, occupy the clock, and let their defenses seal the win.

A balanced offense is so incredibly important for success at any level. Defenses are too sophisticated and the talent is too evenly spread for one-dimensional offenses to succeed. State will probably not win every remaining game. However, they will now be favored in most of them and will not be prohibitive underdogs in any game (barring major injuries). Being able to salvage seven wins after the Akron and USM losses would qualify as a very good season in my book.

Defense

I simply can not get a feel for how good State’s defense is this year. Sometimes they have looked great and sometimes not. I can’t project how they are going to perform from one quarter to the next….not to mention one game to the next. However, they have been good enough the last two weeks. Any time you have an offense that can score more than the defense gives up….you have to be happy.

With all of that said, the defensive stats are pretty depressing.

I have some advice for State fans:

– Don’t slit your wrists because of the stats.
– Don’t start buying tickets for the Orange Bowl either.

The next three games will tell us a lot more. WF, UMd, and UVa should all be winnable games….but State would not be a prohibitive favorite if any of these three teams were scheduled for this weekend (and could well be considered an underdog against Wake and UMD).

Has anyone seen the betting line for Saturday against Wake? (I am just curious. I’m not looking to place a bet.)

Wide Receivers

I don’t know when I have ever been more impressed with the entire receiving corps at State. Evans would throw the ball up and the State receivers would go up and over the DB’s, make an amazing grab, and come down with the ball. However, I have no doubt that Coach Dixon has spent this week pointing out the many mistakes that were made during the course of the game. (That is why I work for an engineering company and he is an outstanding receivers coach.)

Here’s my advice for the receivers:

– Be very, very happy about your performance against FSU. You done good!
– Listen to Coach Dixon and I will come to expect that type of performance, rather than be pleasantly surprised. (Which is a really, really good thing for you and for State fans.)
– Call Jerrico Cotchery if you want to know what kind of return you can expect if you work hard and learn what Coach Dixon is trying to beat into your heads.

Wake Forest

Hopefully we’ll have some more thoughts around here about this weekend’s key match-up (look for that phrase to be worn out the rest of the year). I don’t know anything at all about the key personnel suiting up for the Deacons. However, having seen Coach Grobe’s teams play over the last several years, there are several things that you can say about the Deacons without even watching a single play.

The key to stopping the Deacons offense is the defensive line. If you can blow up their complex blocking schemes, their runners simply have no where to go. Look for the 240 lb defensive ends at State to spend a lot of time on the bench…especially on first and second down. IIRC, Ray Brooks (as a true freshman) replaced Manny Lawson in the last game in Raleigh. After that change was made…State’s defense held the Deacon offense to virtually no yardage in the third quarter and allowed State to get back in the game (won by State in OT).

If the Wake running backs are getting to the linebackers….then it could prove to be a long day in Raleigh. This was true in 2003 and State’s LB’s are not the strongest part of the defense this year.

Wake’s defense is always “decent�, but never outstanding. I hesitate to draw conclusions based strictly on stats generated mostly against weak teams (Liberty and Clemson are the only two teams with winning records)….but Wake’s defense may be the best that Grobe has ever had. If Wake’s defensive stats to date prove to be prophetic….then Wake is not going to flame out this year like any number of message board geniuses have already proclaimed.

I have the utmost respect for Coach Grobe and what he has accomplished at Wake Forest. Let’s wrap this entry up with a little non-football related talk about Coach Grobe.

I have a cousin who has lived in Winston Salem virtually her entire life. She is a school teacher there and went to the Wake Forest campus for one of those teacher conferences that tax payers love to under write. Coach Grobe was the scheduled speaker and my cousin said that she was dreading the thought of listening to a football coach (said with a tone that means “knuckle-head�).

In direct contrast with my cousin’s expectations, the seminar was one of the best that she has ever attended. The parallels between teaching elementary students and teaching football to scholarship athletes were simply amazing to her. She said that Coach Grobe was entertaining, interesting, informative, and extremely well-spoken.

I have absolutely no problem pulling for Wake Forest every week except one during football season.

About VaWolf82

Engineer living in Central Va. and senior curmudgeon amongst SFN authors One wife, two kids, one dog, four vehicles on insurance, and four phones on cell plan...looking forward to empty nest status. Graduated 1982

'06 Football General

68 Responses to Random Football Thoughts

  1. choppack1 10/11/2006 at 10:39 AM #

    c of 74 – “Grobe does more with less than anyone in the ACC at this time.”

    Agreed. He also shows that you don’t have to be Ohio State, Michigan or Nebraska to run the ball. That’s why if Duke was smart, they’d hire Paul Johnston (from Navy) tomorrow. I just doubt a guy w/ Roof’s background can succeed. You need to be in a position where you are used to being physically outmatched. Grobe learned his offense and skill-building methods at Air Force. Johnston has proven his “eye-bone/flex-bone” can translate well at Navy. Running a solid offense at Duke ain’t gonna cut it.

  2. packpigskinfan23 10/11/2006 at 10:52 AM #

    I dont mind Coach’s off topic rants TOO MUCH… what gets me is how he always says everything TWICE!!!! its kind of funny listening to him really.

    but all those useless mind numbing quotes aside, I will never forget “what critics? I dont know what your talking about.” THAT is what I like to hear. Confidence.

  3. BoKnowsNCS71 10/11/2006 at 10:57 AM #

    Gawolf — “After the game when he talks to the media going off the field I can hardly listen without cringing.”

    True — Chuck is what he is: high pitched, emotional, and not one to cuddle up to the media when he leaves the field.

    Maybe he could designate an eloquent assisitant coach to do media babble to state the obvious in a nice, sweet sounding way. I’ve heard Coach K send out his underlings (Wojo et al) to do that while he concentrates on the game plan.

    Speech classes and a vocal cord operation is probably not scheduled for the off season. Guess we will just have to cringe and bear it.

  4. Packaholic1 10/11/2006 at 10:58 AM #

    He says things twice because he works with teenagers all day long and they never hear anything the first time you say it.

  5. BoKnowsNCS71 10/11/2006 at 10:59 AM #

    Coash says things twice? Says things twice?

    Surely he doesn’t. Surely He doesn’t.

    Does he? Does he?

    LOL — at least we are not Chicken Littleing and only belittling.

  6. class of 74 10/11/2006 at 10:59 AM #

    ^
    Duke is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish. They have more problems than a chinese math book.

  7. BoKnowsNCS71 10/11/2006 at 11:03 AM #

    Amen Packaholic. Teachers of yonger students and teens often have similar repetitive habits or speech. THey need affirmation that the message was heard and that the student understood it. Probably also emphasis. And it’s hard to turn it off when on camera or in a game.

  8. noah 10/11/2006 at 11:04 AM #

    “That’s why if Duke was smart, they’d hire Paul Johnston (from Navy) tomorrow.”

    Why would Johnson leave Navy for Dook?

    I consider Dook to be one of the absolute WORST jobs in the nation. They can’t possibly be competitive in terms of pay and it’s ridiculously hard.

    I heard the Stanford president talking to an alumni group a few years back. He was talking in particular about Tyrone Willingham and the job he did recruiting.

    He said, Take your National Top 100 list. Of those 100 guys, a school like Auburn or Alabama or Miami can recruit anyone on that list. They can handle the academic situation, they can handle any problems, they can afford to recruit nationally and they can get in anyone’s door.

    Then he said, Cut the list down to about 75. That’s who schools like Ohio State and Michigan can recruit. Then cut the list down to 30 or 40. That’s who schools like Notre Dame can recruit.

    Now cut the list down to three. That’s who we can recruit.

    He went through the reported GPAs and SATs of the top 100 football players (I think he said he used Tom Lemming’s list) and only three players on it would be accepted at Stanford.

    What Stanford DOES have is recent history. Bill Walsh coached there (recently). Dennis Green coached there. John Elway played there. They turn out NFL products fairly regularly. They aren’t very good now, but a 7-4 season with a bowl is not beyond the realm of possibility at all.

    They have the biggest financial endowment in the country (thanks to a couple of Bohemian Grove-ers), they have a nice stadium, California is a great base to recruit from. There’s a lot of good high school football played in northern California. You don’t have to go down to LA to find your talent.

    If I were a college football coach, I’d certainly be willing to listen if Stanford wanted me as their coach. No way in hell I’d even return the call if Joe Alleva wanted me.

    Biggest mistake in my lifetime in the ACC was South Carolina leaving the conference. Second biggest mistake was the hiring of Carl Franks. Third biggest mistake was NOT hiring Bobby Ross.

  9. CaptainCraptacular 10/11/2006 at 11:14 AM #

    *I don’t know how many times FSU converted 3rd and less than 6 because our DBs were giving them a five our six yard cushion.*

    *You can’t give teams easy 5 yard completions on 1st & 2nd downs all night long.*

    6-pack & partialqualifier. That happened mainly on 2 FSU drives in the 2nd half, the 99 yard drive and the game ending drive. It didn’t really happen all night. The rest of the 2nd half FSU’s wideouts were totally shut down.

    But given the circumstances, I would wager that the CBs were given instruction to not get beat deep under any circumstance, even if that meant giving a cushion at the LOS. The coaches had to be concerned with the Noles’ wideouts athleticism, and figured on a few deep balls from Weatherford to try and break the game open.

    If the plan was truly to shut down any big plays to the wideouts, they succeeded wildly. The only significantly deep pass play the Noles completed to their wideouts was their 40 yard toss up that was ruled a touchdown even though he was out at the 1/2 yard line. On that play the DB wasn’t beaten, and could have made a breakup play had he turned around a fraction sooner.

    In any case, I’ll take the 5 yard dinkers to prevent the 60 yard scoring play where the DB is totally beaten. I think they did a fantastic job considering the opponent.

  10. SWEETS 10/11/2006 at 11:18 AM #

    Off topic:

    SFN any photos of new bball uniforms?

  11. Girlfriend in a Coma 10/11/2006 at 11:22 AM #

    Pressing FSU WRs would be insane.

    Pressing FSU WRs would be insane.

  12. Woof Wolf 10/11/2006 at 11:27 AM #

    Amen.

    Amen.

  13. VaWolf82 10/11/2006 at 11:37 AM #

    but I’d no more pull for Wake than I would the Holes.

    Based on personal experience, your prospective would change if you moved out of NC. I live in VA and am probably 2 1/2 hours from WS…..which means I probably live at least 2 hours from the nearest WF fan. 🙂

  14. acchalfbreed 10/11/2006 at 12:38 PM #

    Just a couple thoughts…
    As a former Wake grad, I appreciate the tenor of abuse directed at Wake being more respectful in this thread than others of late. I have often held Pack fans in a high respect because of the lack of ego (not ability) in addressing competitive aspects, and being treated kindly by State alum I know in person. Pack folk can often offer educated and clinical appraisal of sports teams while maintaining a supporter’s enthusiasm without getting nasty, unlike some other school’s alum (they shall go unnamed but you know who). I’d like to keep my high opinion of State folks intact.

    John Deraney has been on my radar since preseason, when a local media picked up his story and SFN linked it. I guess you could say his story made me a Pack sports fan. So I’ve been praying for him and his family since that time. After the earlier games, there wasn’t much press about Deraney, but I just kept praying that he be successful, healthy and have faith. So when the recent change of fortune centered around the new starting QB who just happens to be Deraney’s roommate, I was happily surprised, and wondered if my prayers had joined with some other folks and hit ‘fairly close to home’.

    I keep praying for John, and now for his roommate Daniel, that they be mighty in faith, humble in spirit, and play like the men they can be. I’m also praying for my Wake team, who know all too much about humility as of long and late. I’m curious what my collision of prayers will bring. Whatever the game decides, it won’t be my final impression of the NC state folk, or even Wake folk. It’s what’s said in here, and lived in the world every day. Go Pack (and Wake)!

  15. class of 74 10/11/2006 at 12:45 PM #

    Noah,
    Now I can’t argue with your post above. Duke is a career killer job for sure! But they can afford to pay far more than what they presently do, but it would create a problem with two entities, the faculty and a certain basketball coach.

  16. class of 74 10/11/2006 at 12:48 PM #

    ^^One of the nicer feelgood stories of the season, Deraney and Evans.

  17. redfred2 10/11/2006 at 1:03 PM #

    ^acchalfbreed…Wake alum/fan…Come back anytime.

    We’ll be layin in wait for your Deacs here shortly…but good luck on Saturday anyway!

  18. GAWolf 10/11/2006 at 1:43 PM #

    My best friends in the world went to Wake Forest. They’re good kids, every last one of them. As with any group of people, there are a few bad apples. But all in all, I pull for Wake second after the Pack. As the often forgotten Tobacco Road teams, I think we owe it to each other to be as supportive as our personal bias allows.

    Who can’t appreciate and respect what Coach Grobe has done at Wake? I heard him talk on Raleigh sportstalk one afternoon this week and was thoroughly impressed. He’s straight forward, sincere, respectful, and obviously intelligent. I’d be proud for him to coach my school’s football team if the opportunity ever presented itself. And no that does not mean I’d trade Amato for Grobe… at least not today.

    I’ll be watching the game Saturday in a friend’s box with about 75% Wake fans and 25% State fans, and I’m not concerned one bit about the civility of the scene. We’ll have a big time regardless of who wins, but I sure would love to have the chance to be the bigger guy and not gloat as the Pack takes care of business.

  19. Wolfpack4ever 10/11/2006 at 2:38 PM #

    noah Says: Regarding our linebackers, I believe our OLBs combined for a grand total of three tackles against FSU.

    noah, Seems to me like Pat Lowery had 8 or 9.

    I don’t know how to check this out, do you or does anybody here know how to check it?. It would be interesting to know.

  20. Wolfpack4ever 10/11/2006 at 2:45 PM #

    Six Pack Says: As far as the defense is concerned, our DBs need to learn to play the wideouts closer on short yardage situations.

    Six Pack, Could be but since correction was not put in during the game, it is unlikely that it is a “need to learn” thing. With the dangerous receiving corp at FSU it is more likely that the DBs were giving cushion in lieu of giving up 6 over the top.

    True FSU took what we gave them and true they drove 99 yards. Odds are that against a good D on a drive that long, a team will make a mistake and stop themselves. I am of the opinion that our bend but not break play cost FSU the game ON THAT drive. FSU ran off an awful lot of clock and had to take chances near the end that resulted in out INT.

  21. packgrad2000 10/11/2006 at 2:47 PM #

    “A balanced offense is so incredibly important for success at any level. Defenses are too sophisticated and the talent is too evenly spread for one-dimensional offenses to succeed”
    Interesting that you write this as we go up against one of the most predictable, one-dimensional teams in the ACC. This is what I don’t understand about Wake’s success. They ARE for the most part one-dimensional. We know exactly what they’re going to do, yet they still beat us and should have beat Clemson this past weekend. Usually it’s the talented teams who are able to just overpower you. The teams that rely on talent, like Miami and FSU in the past, won not by trickery or clever plays but mainly just because their players were bigger, stronger, and faster than their opponents.
    This is why Wake continues to boggle my mind. I’ve yet to see a good explanation of how they do what they do with such success. They’re predictable yet they don’t have tons of talent. They have to be one of the most overachieving teams in all of college football.

  22. Wolfpack4ever 10/11/2006 at 2:58 PM #

    packpigskinfan23 Says: I will never forget “what critics? I dont know what your talking about.� THAT is what I like to hear. Confidence.

    And for all his bluster it was the speaking of a very generous and gracious man and one of forgiveness. After all, he has taken quite a bit from some of us fans. I was touched that he took that opportunity to speak in a way that tended to unit us. Of course I am a sentimental old man. Go ahead, blast away. 😉

  23. noah 10/11/2006 at 3:12 PM #

    “noah, Seems to me like Pat Lowery had 8 or 9.”

    OLB = outside linebacker

    Pat Lowery = Inside linebacker

  24. BoKnowsNCS71 10/11/2006 at 3:15 PM #

    Wake Forest never had to deal with the lunatic fringe. Wanting victory fast and forever. Things don’t work that way.

    They gave their coach a 10 year contract and no pressure to win early or by his 7th or 8th year. He started redshirting every incoming freshman (where possible) so that in 5 years they had depth and the majority of the players knew his system. They run an elaborate system, low blocks at the feet on the line to compensate for size (which many have complained as chop blocks) plus what others have said above.

    He has built a formidable program — not a dynasty — but a program that can go to bowls more often — and not likely national championships — unless over time some talented kids start shunning the other in-state Universities doing the coach shuffle every 5 or 6 years.

    Patience is truly a virtue when it comes to building success.

    Over time, you get a team year in and year out that can lose a QB and RB and still compete.

  25. Wolfpack4ever 10/11/2006 at 3:22 PM #

    packgrad2000 Says: …as we go up against one of the most predictable, one-dimensional teams in the ACC.

    packgrad2000, If by “predictable, one-dimensional” you mean they are going to run misdirection and be predictably unpredictable running the ball, then I agree.

    What misdirection does in addition to creating uncertainty is create blocking angles that give their better-than-average-but-not-great blockers opportunities to block superior athletes. Not a bad philosophy.

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