Key Stat of the Day

'08 Football Stat of the Day86

Number of bad decisions by Russell Wilson – zero.

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.

'08 Football Stat of the Day

86 Responses to Key Stat of the Day

  1. Greywolf 09/14/2008 at 9:55 AM #

    If you don’t know what it takes to put together a secessful Div. I football team, then statistics might be your only access to how this team is doing.

    To you guys who think stats tell the whole story, Ohio State will be lucky to win another game this year, right? Don’t bet on it.

    Can we get off the O-line sucks BS? Successful running against 2 very strong Ds says something very different. And has anyone who says we got 2 seconds to pass actually timed this? Strong pass rushes have as much to do with strong D-lines and outstanding individual efforts as the O-line sucks.

    How did TOB do his first year? Ask UCLA and Rick Neuschiel (Sp). 59-0, that’s an ass whipping.

    Can we stop some of the “we should always win against Mid-Majors and Div 1AA teams. That’s just stupid.

    How much ESP can one group have? The coaches are thinking… the players are thinking… the recruits are thinking… the administration is thinking… Get a gripe. The only thing we know from a statement of what you think others are thinking, is that is what you would be thinking except you and I are sitting at home doing the thinking instead of in the spotlight.

    The glass is half full or the glass is half empty… we see the world through our own eyes.

  2. Astral Rain 09/14/2008 at 9:56 AM #

    I have no complaints about Wilson’s performance. Even the pick was a reasonable risk, given the anemic state of the offense in general.

    The real question is, what about next year when Glennon is avaliable?

  3. BJD95 09/14/2008 at 10:03 AM #

    I’m glad Beck stuck around, too. He’s light years better than Evans, and we will almost certainly need him again this year. Also, if we need a Hail Mary at the end of the half of game – he really throws that pass well.

    I’m sure the coaches will see from the film, but it’s hard to tell as a TV viewer which receivers were open and which ones Wilson should have seen going through his progressions.

    Wilson will trust his arm more as he gains experience. You saw that in the second half.

    Incremental improvement over today’s performance beats BC for sure, and gives us a fighting chance against ECU and USF. Beating a Top 15 opponent (however overrated) would be huge for our program.

  4. sf59 09/14/2008 at 10:14 AM #

    “I believe when you don’t have a very good team you make the other team beat you by out-executing you, not by taking wild chances to hit home run balls … Some would rather take more chances and I understand that, but for me Russell is the guy.”

    Summed up very nicely

  5. SMD 09/14/2008 at 10:23 AM #

    BJD said –

    “Wilson will trust his arm more as he gains experience. You saw that in the second half. ”

    That’s the best observation I’ve read on here yet. It’s also why I didn’t suffer too much despair over yesterday. We saw RW start to grow as a quarterback over the course of the game. He’s got a LOT of growing left to do, but as long as he/we can keep making progress, this should be fun to watch.

    We’ve got to get some O-line help though. There were several plays where Clemson guys just manhandled our guys. Were I TOB, (and aren’t you glad I’m not?? 🙂 ) I might look at some JUCO help for next year, to help us build to 2010 and beyond.

  6. Noah 09/14/2008 at 10:31 AM #

    The OL is a major problem. Clemson was only rushing three on a couple of times and just beat the crap out of us.

    I want Wilson starting. I think Beck is a fine backup. But I do want to see Wilson making progress. He’s not done.

    (that’s not a criticism, just a statement of the obvious)

  7. ncsslim 09/14/2008 at 10:48 AM #

    It amazes me why our o-line is so problematic. On paper, we do not appear so weak (yes I understand there are some depth issues involving walk-ons, etc..) but we really appear overmanned, to the extent of not being able to run the ball against W-M. Are Wake’s guys that much better than ours coming into school? You would think after a 1 1/2 years in the system of a coach that prided himself in o-line dominance/prominance, there would at least be some obvious dividend, but to me, it’s not apparent at this point.

  8. Noah 09/14/2008 at 11:02 AM #

    The greatest OL coach in the world can’t transform bad players into great ones.

  9. b 09/14/2008 at 11:43 AM #

    Linemen take time to develop, and they need time together to be truly effective. This is 3-4 year process and when you are starting with a group that was poorly coached for their first few years of experience, it is difficult to change the bad habits they’ve developed.

    The line will improve this year, they are patchwork and two of the starters have not played O-line on this level. Most notably the center. They get beat QUICKLY (like first step quickly) every other play, and from a different spot each time. O-line is mostly about footwork and 290-300 pound men with good feet are hard to find. Amato couldn’t find them, TOB has proven he can.

    There were times the LG (I think the other DT that moved over) would actually dive at the man that beat him off the snap rather than chasing. That tactic can be effective as a run blocker but is poor in pass pro. Maybe due to inexperience, maybe he wanted to maintain his gap, but if there isn’t a blitz on its ok to leave your gap open. It might even help clear the field for RW to scramble or step up.

    The QB has a fair amount to do with the blocking assignments, and we have a new QB and a new center learning on the fly. I give our coaching staff enough credit to trust their instincts about the linemen, in 3-4 weeks they should be able to hold up long enough for patterns to develop, but the timing is off right now. The QB can’t step up and has to move away from the pocket due to the heavy middle pressure and probably about the time WRs are breaking to complicate the play. Hard to make a solid throw when you are ducking and dodging. Beck can because he has a cannon and throws fairly close to target with bad mechanincs, but it prolly scares TOB/Bible to death every time he does.

    They were better yesterday than against USC and they will be better next week, but they still breakdown way too quickly and are adjusting poorly to stunts. I haven’t seen a lot of the rollout packages they used in spring ball, and I kind of wonder why. Any ideas?

  10. ChiefJoJo 09/14/2008 at 11:47 AM #

    “Yeah, I really got tired of Wilson throwing the ball away so much. Why can’t he just chuck it blindly downfield off his back foot (like Beck) or fall down/throw to the other team (like Evans)?”

    I LOL’ed at that, but it is so true. Wilson should be and is starting, and Beck should be and is the backup. We may not see Evans again in a Wolfpack uniform.

    I also agree with the above comment about the good sign that we had four 9+ play drives against one of the best opponents we’ll play this year, talent-wise. No, we still aren’t a good FB team, but there is a lot to build on here.
    * we ran the ball well
    * we moved the ball effectively, giving the D some rest (not SC)
    * Wilson made good decisions and is improving
    * George Bryan did some good things for us
    * Nate continues to show he’s the best player we have on the roster
    * we were in the game in the 4Q at Clemson

    Negatives:
    * we have no playmakers on offense (Steven Howard, please make the next open catch)
    * special teams was terrible–we have to find a way to play at least even here
    * defense took a step back–no pressure from front 4 vs depleted OL
    * got to learn to finish drives

    BJD, can we really say that Clemson has better athletes than ECU? Maybe marginally, but an ECU team that solidly beat VT and steamrolled WVU gets my attention. They *might* be the best team we face all year (or S. FL).

    We have (an almost unheard of) FOUR straight home games, folks. If we can continue to see development of the young guys, get a bit more healthy, and fix special teams, we have at least a shot.

  11. PAJ 09/14/2008 at 11:58 AM #

    I think this season offers an opportunity to watch two coaches dealing with equally lousy teams while employing two completely different strategies: TOB and Cutcliffe. It will be interesting to see if we are able to keep Duke’s offense — a high risk, high reward, throw-it-downfield unit — out of the end zone enough to win a low scoring ball game.

    Wilson gained 92 yards on 21 pass plays yesterday including a 4 yard toss that Andre Brown ran for a 30-yard gain. Take that away, and Wilson generated 62 yards on 20 passing snaps to go with his 2 yd/carry average. Beck was 5 0f 8 for 60 yards with a 76-yard TD pass dropped. I’ll take the latter over the former every time.

  12. st8family 09/14/2008 at 12:22 PM #

    Russell Wilson gives us the best chance to win games. If the read option is run correctly, it is pretty hard to defend.

    We moved the ball well, but penalties turned manageable 3rd downs into longshots. I thought Wilson threw it away too much early on, but I didn’t have the ability to see how well Clemson was covering our WR’s.

    His one INT was likely the play that was called from Bible. It was a low risk play because if it was intercepted, it would have been inside the 10. With our punter, who the hell knows what would have happened with a punt on the 4th down (maybe backwards).

    I was impressed with Wilson’s ability to scramble and find open receivers dragging across the field. I know he hit Andre to pick up one 1st down this way. I don’t know what else you could have asked from RW honestly in this game.

    Ultimately, I hang a lot of this loss on (in order): air tackling, kicking game and penalties. The first and last are correctable, the middle one needs to be lifted up in prayer.

  13. MatSci94 09/14/2008 at 12:33 PM #

    This is the first time in a while that I feel like we are making improvements from game to game. We are light years ahead of where we were at this time last year.

  14. inhoc... 09/14/2008 at 1:01 PM #

    can someone explain the part on the fearless predictions site and other predictions sites where they say:
    “Must See Rating: (5 Hole in the Wall – 1 First Blood) … 5”?

    ….i have no clue what that means

  15. b 09/14/2008 at 1:34 PM #

    I think the reviewer likes Rambo, and felt that watching a hole in the wall would be preferable to watching the game. As for me, I’d pick the hole in the wall over Rambo.

  16. Scooter 09/14/2008 at 2:47 PM #

    We can’t overlook the fact that a lot of our o-line players this year were playing d-line last year. It is going to take some time to develop consistent quality up front on the o-line. The cupboards were bare on the o-line before Amato left, so it should be no surprise that it is taking TOB time to rebuild the unit. With a new quarterback, a change in the offensive scheme, and continued injuries at key skill positions, it would be a lot to ask of Russell Wilson and Dana Bible to put up a lot of points on well-drilled defensive units. Dana Bible isn’t in the business of working miracles.

  17. Ismael 09/14/2008 at 4:36 PM #

    You know we keep talking about the redshirt on glennon but look who TOB has been able to save as well…Brandon Barnes, Mattes, and Wallace (Terrell Manning due to the injury and we also have Mario Carter). Should also be able to slowly work in Desmond Roberts towards the end of the year too i hope. It’s really important that we redshirt as many of these guys as possible. Couldn’t really help but to play the LB’s, they are all we’ve got when it comes to the 2 deep.

  18. b 09/14/2008 at 5:23 PM #

    Good point Ismael, the Grobe theory is in full swing. There are also a lot of developmental guys (2-3 stars) who TOB and staff have made a living of getting to starter quality. The future is bright, and the majority of our defensive players will be back barring early entry. Hopefully Wallace and Mattes will be quick learners, they could be our bookends for 4 years. I’m surprised Roberts isn’t listed on the two deep.

  19. SEAT.5.F.2 09/14/2008 at 5:31 PM #

    Even if Mattes, Wallace & Roberts grow fast I think Xavier Nixon could play for us right away. If we could some how, some way convince him to come we may actually bounce up off the rocks at the bottom we are about to hit.

  20. RabidWolf 09/14/2008 at 5:32 PM #

    I don’t get why State FB coaches haven’t tapped the soccer program for a kicker. These guys have very powerful legs, and as other teams have shown, can be taught how to kick a football. Punter is a different story all together….idk what Pierson’s issue is (besides the fact he can’t punt) 17 yards ain’t gonna cut it.

  21. RabidWolf 09/14/2008 at 5:35 PM #

    BTW, any word on Eugene or Hill? Will we ever see Baker in a Wolfpack uniform again? If we got at LEAST Hill back for ECU, it would make a huge difference.

  22. GAWolf 09/14/2008 at 6:25 PM #

    WOW. PHILIP RIVERS AND THE CHARGERS ARE SUFFERING FROM RIDICULOUS CALLS, CLEARLY THE REMNANTS OF RIVERS’ SHARE OF THE CURSE OF THE VALVANO.

  23. GAWolf 09/14/2008 at 6:26 PM #

    BULL CRAP. THIS IS TERRIBLE.

  24. GAWolf 09/14/2008 at 6:27 PM #

    OH WOW. TWO WEEKS IN A ROW THE CHARGERS LOSE ON A LAST SECOND PLAY. THIS ONE CLEARLY… CLEARLY… THE RESULT OF GETTING HOSED BY THE REFS… TWICE.

  25. Greywolf 09/14/2008 at 7:53 PM #

    RabidWolf
    Sep 14th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
    “idk what Pierson’s issue is (besides the fact he can’t punt) 17 yards ain’t gonna cut it.”

    Rabid, I think the announcers said it was partially blocked. One problem with using soccer players I believe is the coincidental season. Besides that the timing of the snap, hold and kick is not a gimme with opponents coming like scalded dogs. I wouldn’t be surprised if TOB hasn’t searched places for help. It’s not easy to find.

    A personal share to illustrate what I mean. My son wanted to try to walk-on at a certain school nearby, and practiced PATs and field goals prior to this freshman year with intent of requesting a walk on tryout. He had played soccer and football since he was 7 yro. His kick offs of 50+ yds when he was 11. After 2 days of working out before the season he packed it — just didn’t have the consistency for Div 1 field goals. And he was the 6th ranked player in his age group in the state going into his Sr year at Sanderson HS and made 1st team All-State and All-South, and wound up starting for 2 years at AppSU. The point of this share is it ain’t that easy.

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