NC State Erases Racers, 65-7 (w/ Video Highlights)

In a game not even as close as the final score, the Wolfpack ran completely roughshod over the Division I-AA Murray State Racers this evening in Carter-Finley Stadium.  With the first string Wolfpack defense in the game, Murray State was only capable of a single first down in the first half, and have -2 yards total offense.  NC State, on the other hand, scored the first ten times it had the ball, punting only once in the game, in the fourth quarter.

Doubts about Russell Wilson’s health seemed to be put to rest as the sophomore QB ran elusively and smoothly — on the few occasions he needed to escape the Murray State defense.  Most of the game, the offensive line vilified after the South Carolina game provided adequate protection and time for Wilson, who threw for 228 yards and four touchdown passes.

Wilson also extended his interception-free streak to 293 passes, moving him into second place in NCAA history.  The record is held by former Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson and is 325 consecutive pass attempts without an INT.  That leaves Wilson 32 passes shy of the record, making it possible for him to hold the record all on his own within the next two games — both at home.

Photo courtesy of News & Observer/Ethan Hyman

Photo courtesy of News & Observer/Ethan Hyman

Another highlight of the evening was the success of Wolfpack tailback, Toney Baker, who scored three touchdowns on the night – two rushing and one receiving. Baker generated over 100 yards in total offense by gaining 74 yards rushing on just 12 carries and scoring on a 39 yard touchdown for his only reception of the game. The N&O’s picture gallery can be seen by clicking here.

 

Although it did not score its own points, the NC State defense put the Wolfpack into scoring position on Murray State’s first two possessions, after Leroy Burgess recovered Murray State fumbles. On special teams, speedster T.J. Graham returned a punt for 57 yards to the Murray State 1-yard line, setting up another point-blank drive for the Wolfpack.

Video From The Game:

James Washington Scores a TD

Redshirt Freshman Brandon Barnes Makes a Nice 9-Yard Gain:

And on the next play, Barnes scored:

Some comments from Backing the Pack:

— Murray State had as many drives gain zero or negative yardage as they did drives that gained positive yardage. They managed more than four plays on a drive just once–at 13-play march late in the game that resulted in their only score.

— For the game, the Racers 36 total yards (1 rushing yard) on 45 plays.

— Murray State possessed the ball for less than 25 minutes; longest time of possession in a quarter: 6 minutes, 50 seconds.

— NC State, meanwhile, restored as much confidence offensively as is possible against this sort of opponent. Four hundred and eighty-four yards on 77 plays (6.3 yds/play), 4 yards per carry, 10.1 yards per pass attempt.

— NC State’s average field position for the game was the Murray State 48 yard line.

— The Pack converted 9-of-14 third downs and converted all eight of their red zone scoring opportunities.

— Toney Baker ran for 74 yards and a pair of scores and also scored on a nice 39-yard screen pass.

— Eleven different Wolfpack receivers caught a pass.

— Starting the wave while NC State is on offense: still a problem.

'09 Football

58 Responses to NC State Erases Racers, 65-7 (w/ Video Highlights)

  1. rdjennin 09/13/2009 at 12:12 AM #

    Yay, we beat a division 2 team.

    Riddle me this, how come we beat them 65 to 7 but Mike Glennon only had 7 passing attempts???????? WTF, glad he is going to be ready in case something happens to wilson with a whole 7 attempts against a division 2 team.

  2. packgrad2000 09/13/2009 at 12:22 AM #

    It was 35-0 just 3 minutes into the 2nd quarter. I wouldn’t expect TOB to air it out too much after that (although he certainly did call passing plays into the 3rd quarter, just not that many). Glennon will be just fine.

  3. Alpha Wolf 09/13/2009 at 12:30 AM #

    “Mike Glennon only had 7 passing attempts????????”

    Like Packgrad2000 said, Glennon’s throws were limited because clearly Tom O’Brien was not trying to further embarrass Murray State.

    Glennon was effective when he did pass, and he proved on one play to be elusive in the pocket. Does that make him ready to be a starter? No, but he did get some minutes and he did a good job. I’d rather TOB and Dana Bible build him up slowly and get him some confidence, and that’s what they did tonight.

  4. NCStatefan172 09/13/2009 at 1:19 AM #

    Nice to sit back and enjoy this one.

  5. LRM 09/13/2009 at 8:30 AM #

    For the record, Murray State is Division I (I-AA/FCS), not Division II. There is a difference.

    And I really wanted to hang 70 on them in retaliation for when they beat us as a 14-seed in the first round of the 1988 NCAAT.

  6. StateFans 09/13/2009 at 9:09 AM #

    Glennon was impressive managing drives and exercising good decisions of when to run and when not to run. He doesn’t need practice throwing the ball; he need practice managing & running the team in live situations. That is what he is getting.

  7. 1.21 Jigawatts 09/13/2009 at 9:23 AM #

    I don’t know exactly who starts the wave but it always begins over in the area of the students/band/cheerleaders.

  8. Wulfpack 09/13/2009 at 10:13 AM #

    It is great to see T. Baker have a nice game after his tough outing against South Carolina. I don’t think we can take much from this game, and we probably can’t take much from next week either. Don’t get me wrong, we were dominant. And we will likely be dominant again next week. If we are dominant against Pitt, then I will begin drinking the kool aid!

  9. BJD95 09/13/2009 at 11:22 AM #

    ^ You’re right – take nothing from this game. The level of competition was kind of pitiful, and I couldn’t make any judgements one way or the other.

    We didn’t make any stupid mistakes, at least.

  10. rdjennin 09/13/2009 at 11:29 AM #

    “For the record, Murray State is Division I (I-AA/FCS), not Division II. There is a difference.”

    Yeah, I know that, but I will always refer to them as Division 2.

  11. 1.21 Jigawatts 09/13/2009 at 12:09 PM #

    The only stupid mistake I saw was the Spencer TD that was called back for not enough men on the LOS.

  12. wolfpack95 09/13/2009 at 12:26 PM #

    ^^
    Then you are technically inaccurate in your reference.

    You may reference Gardner Webb’s talent as Division 2 b/c this is GW’s first season as a Div 1-AA school. GW moved up from Division 2.

    The score for next week’s game should be even larger than against MS.

  13. RagingWolf 09/13/2009 at 12:35 PM #

    The biggest thing I learned about our team yesterday didn’t come out of CF. It came out of Athens, Georgia. I feel a bit better about our losing performance two Thursdays ago once I saw SC put up 37 points on UGA and was extremely competitive against a legitimate SEC team.

  14. PhilipRiversWannabe 09/13/2009 at 12:52 PM #

    When was the last time we scored that many points?

  15. TheAliasTroll 09/13/2009 at 12:54 PM #

    Yeah that’s right. And BJD kept saying how we aren’t ACC contenders after we lost to an improved SC team. You still think we aren’t ACC contenders? I mean seriously.. look at the rest of the ACC.

  16. PackerInRussia 09/13/2009 at 1:01 PM #

    “When was the last time we scored that many points?”

    According to GoPack.com, it was 2002 against Navy. I can’t remember the exact score.

  17. GAWolf 09/13/2009 at 1:24 PM #

    Raging Wolf: It’s funny how different folks look at things differently. I, too, watched the SC vs UGA game and it concerned me that Georgia put up that many points on USC’s D that held us to a field goal. I’m not saying what I saw is anymore correct than what you saw, but that’s my take on what I learned from the game in Athens.

  18. charger17 09/13/2009 at 1:40 PM #

    Watching the post-game with TOB, it’s interesting that his approach is all about what the team can do to improve, and the results will be what they’re gonna be. I’m actually pleased with this approach and I guess that is the difference between being a fan and doing your job.

    When, NC State becomes a National Championship caliber team, I wonder if his approach will change. At that level, when you become one of the top teams in the sport, the only yardstick is the W-L column. For now, I am very glad TOB has the perspective to allow both a 7-3 loss and a 65-7 win on consecutive weekends benefit this team.

  19. BJD95 09/13/2009 at 1:40 PM #

    I said we weren’t ACC contenders BEFORE the SC loss (which I predicted, BTW – with a vastly incorrect score). I actually criticised people who were spouting “ACC champs!” before the season, then “we might lose to Murray State!” after SC.

    We will go 4-4 or 5-3 in ACC play. That assessment hasn’t changed, although 5-3 might be a bit more likely after seeing how awful some ACC teams are.

  20. packalum44 09/13/2009 at 1:44 PM #

    This was a good game for us. Your OK and FLs score around 60-70 on these Div. II teams and you want to show a similar level of domination. Amato’s post-River teams would usually win these 30 to 14 or something. There’s a difference between annihilating a team and just beating them by a few touchdowns.

    Also, really good for us that Clemson and FL State already have an ACC loss. Knock on wood but we have a chance to win the Atlantic. We should start the ACC 3-0 by beating Wake, Duke, and BC before we play superior talent in Tallahassee. Thank God we don’t play Miami. They are really good with Jacoby Harris.

    TOB summed it up best pre-season….we will be alot more competitive this year. No one looks forward to playing us, I can promise you that.

  21. packalum44 09/13/2009 at 2:06 PM #

    BJD: I think 5-3 is about right…but what makes you so sure that won’t win or tie for first like last year? Especially after seeing the best team, FL St., almost lay an egg against Jacksonville St. last night.

    Also, Clemson and Kyle Parker are good but they are Clemson, Dabo will get out-coached almost every Saturday. Plus, Kyle will make some mistakes as he’s a freshman and they still have Miami, FL St, and us.

  22. ChiefJoJo 09/13/2009 at 2:34 PM #

    I think we learned that we have good leadership among the players… much better than we did in the post Rivers Amato era. I think we have guys that made sure that we would be focused and not make the kind of mistakes we did last week. Yeah it was an over matched Murray State, but our guys were intent on taking control right away, and giving them no hope for a close game. The execution was outstanding, and we probably could have scored 80+ if we left the starters in.

    It was good to see, and this is the type of effort we need next week.

  23. packpowerfan 09/13/2009 at 2:50 PM #

    Anybody think our basketball is jealous of how many points we scored?

  24. Sw0rdf1sh 09/13/2009 at 4:30 PM #

    James Washington had a good game. He had one drive where he pretty much brought it all the way down by himself. Me and my brother kept laughing and called it the James Washington Show.

  25. ryebread 09/13/2009 at 6:18 PM #

    In BJD’s defense, I had us at 8-4 (5-3) before the season started and with a loss to SC. I actually thought the defense would let us down in that game — not the offense. I was right and I was wrong about that game.

    I’m feeling pretty good about 5-3 in the league. We’re not world beaters, but I’m not seeing anyone in the Atlantic who is. I still think 2nd in our side is within reach.

    I’m a little more worried about the Pitt game than I was before the year. I was expecting the same punchless Pitt team that we’ve seen in years past (and that aligns with every team Wanny has ever coached). The points they’re putting up under Cignetti are alarming. I’m not as comfortable about that game now and think it will be a pivotal one for our season.

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