Following an exciting fourth quarter comeback, the NC State defense wasn’t able to keep Boston College out of the end zone after the Wolfpack tied the game at 31-31 with about 3:30 left in the contest in today’s ACC matchup at Carter-Finley Stadium.
That’s no surprise considering that BC had pretty much played through NC State’s defense with ease most of the afternoon, but still, it was a frustrating loss for Wolfpack fans because the team didn’t quit and had fought their way back in a game they were clearly outmanned and outgunned.
Some things I noticed this afternoon…
The good news:
- With the exception of the USF and USC game, NC State seems to always find a way to hang around and make things interesting. Given   that the team has more injuries than a typical M*A*S*H unit, and that it has three walk-ons starting, that’s a good thing. It shows that the coaches have instilled an esprit-de-corps in the Wolfpack players that doesn’t allow them to quit.
- NC State finally has a decent quarterback, and at times the offensive line blocks for him long enough to let a receiver break wide open and get a big gain. Russell Wilson makes freshman mistakes once in a while, but he is the best thing under center since some guy who wore #17 played for NC State. Let’s hope he doesn’t pursue a baseball career immediately, because it would be nice to have to put Mike Glennon under the gun as the only quality QB on the roster next season.
- The Wolfpack also has a pretty decent set of backs, even without Toney Baker back on the field.
- T.J. Graham is turning into the next Devon Hester, and his 103 yard touchdown return against Boston College was one of the most exciting Wolfpack plays in the last ten years. You could almost see it coming after he had nearly gotten a free run into the end zone on the previous BC kickoff.
- George Bryan will be one helluva tight end by the time he leaves NC State.
- Carter-Finley can get pretty loud in its new configuration…even for 12pm games.
The bad news:
- NC State’s defensive backfield is simply awful. They seem to be four steps behind every decent receiver. Is this the Mike Archer soft zone or personnel issues? No matter what it is, call it what the secondary what they are: a sieve. It’s almost like there are 5 Greg Goldens back there nowadays A decent quarter-receiver tandem can eat them alive, which may not completely be their fault:
- The pass rush has been almost non-existent lately. It did show up in the second half, but on the clinching drive that won the game for BC, once again the BC line kept the Wolfpack at bay long enough for receivers to get open. Bottom line: against USF and BC, QB’s have all day and receivers can and will eventually find the interstices of a zone pass defense. Quite honestly, as bad as the pass defense has gone, I wonder why NC State doesn’t go man-to-man and bring a blitz. It’s not like the receivers would be any more open than they have been against USF and Boston College.
- The kicking game is highly dubious — it’s hard to believe that at a university the size of NC State there’s no one that can kick a ball seventy yards in the air. Or anyone that can punt a football farther than the kids out in the parking lot at the tailgates.
- Dare I say it: why do people say that Anthony Hill has NFL skills as a tight end when he seemingly drops every important pass thrown to him? I love the guy, don’t get me wrong, but he needs to get stickier hands if he plans on playing for money on Sundays after his days at NC State. And before you say that this is due to him just coming back from injury, think again — he has done this through most of his career.
- Maybe one day NC State will replace the beat up jambox they bought at Reliable Pawn and stuck in the scoreboard and put a decent PA system in.
Your thoughts?
