Now that the ol’ State fans’ optimism is running high after beating the Pirates, let’s take a quick look at where State stands and what we have to look forward to over the last half of the season.
State’s current national and conference ranking in the major statistical categories.
|
National |
Conf |
|
|
|
Rushing |
109 |
11 |
Passing |
53 |
4 |
Total Offense |
103 |
10 |
Scoring |
94 |
12 |
Passing |
104 |
11 |
Sacks |
87 |
7 |
|
|
|
Rushing |
103 |
12 |
Pass |
T-34 |
4 |
Pass |
29 |
5 |
Total |
76 |
11 |
Scoring |
68 |
11 |
Sacks |
62 |
10 |
Tackles |
56 |
10 |
|
|
|
Net |
58 |
8 |
Punt |
15 |
2 |
Kickoff |
55 |
5 |
Turnover |
119 |
12 |
Now let’s look at the opponents:
|
ECU |
UVA |
|
Rushing |
86 |
78 |
57 |
Passing |
75 |
92 |
98 |
Total |
94 |
101 |
96 |
Scoring |
59 |
89 |
70 |
Passing |
80 |
89 |
54 |
Sacks |
85 |
61 |
41 |
|
UNC |
WF |
UMd |
Rushing |
102 |
64 |
56 |
Passing |
48 |
82 |
105 |
Total |
90 |
83 |
98 |
Scoring |
90 |
50 |
76 |
Passing |
39 |
70 |
62 |
Sacks |
T-101 |
10 |
T-109 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ECU |
UVA |
|
Rushing |
55 |
23 |
46 |
Pass |
116 |
T-34 |
22 |
Pass |
106 |
37 |
57 |
Total |
103 |
21 |
32 |
Scoring |
103 |
21 |
35 |
Sacks |
43 |
T-15 |
T-15 |
Tackles |
13 |
74 |
24 |
|
UNC |
WF |
UMd |
Rushing |
49 |
38 |
62 |
Pass |
43 |
60 |
42 |
Pass |
77 |
26 |
45 |
Total |
42 |
50 |
51 |
Scoring |
50 |
51 |
36 |
Sacks |
38 |
T-30 |
93 |
Tackles |
T-29 |
T-29 |
101 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ECU |
UVA |
|
Net |
87 |
23 |
79 |
Punt |
101 |
59 |
60 |
Kickoff |
6 |
105 |
83 |
Turnover |
7 |
60 |
47 |
|
UNC |
WF |
UMd |
Net |
26 |
76 |
36 |
Punt |
55 |
61 |
66 |
Kickoff |
87 |
72 |
115 |
Turnover |
89 |
T-32 |
T-32 |
OBSERVATIONS
As many people have noted, the second half of State’s schedule is much easier than first half. However, ECU is clearly the easiest team in the last half of the season.
None of those teams are unbeatable….especially when you look at their offenses. This underscores the double-edged nature of State turnovers….
– Option 1 – Throwing away scoring opportunities that are few and far in-between for State’s anemic offense.
– Option 2 – Giving scoring opportunities to the opponents that they would have trouble earning on their own.
As many people have said many different ways, State can simply not afford to turn the ball over if they are going to have any chance to win.
Not only was ECU the weakest team in the last-half of the schedule, their defense is substantially weaker than the ACC teams that State will face. Right now it looks like State will face the two best (statistically speaking) defenses (UVA and Miami) over the next two weeks. It’s also important to note that UVa and UM have the best pass defenses that State will face for the remainder of the year.
– I guess it won’t take long to see if State’s offense has really improved or not.
Consider the following:
– NC State’s best two running backs are out for the year.
– State’s rushing attack ranks 109th in the country.
– State’s OL ranks 87th in sacks allowed.
So could everyone that keeps claiming that “State needs to establish the runâ€, please give it a rest? State hasn’t done it against anyone other than Wofford and there is absolutely no reason to think they will against any of the remaining teams. (Wofford is the only game that State managed to get over 100 yds net rushing.)
VIRGINIA
– I’ve seen UVa play twice and I wasn’t overly impressed either time.
– I look at their stats and I’m not impressed.
– Losing to Wyoming is certainly not impressive
– UVA struggled with both MTSU and UConn…not impressive.
– However, a team that wins their last three games by a total of four points impresses me.
– A team on a seven game winning streak impresses me.
Somehow UVa is playing to the level of their competition but still manages to come out on the winning side. They are either a team of destiny or they are ripe for a fall. Hopefully, they will look past State and be preoccupied with their game against WF next weekend.
RUSHING DEFENSE
As shown earlier, State’s defense against the rush has not been that good so far this season. You know that this will be an issue when State travels to Winston-Salem, but I was surprised to see that Maryland ranks second in the conference (to GT) in rushing yardage. So State’s rush defense will be one of the keys to the last two games of the season.
STRANGE FACT
BC currently has the nation’s #1 rushing defense. However, their pass defense is ranked 105th in the country and last in the conference. What’s up with that?