Friday Farrago

'11 Football ACC & Other College Football112

September 23, 2011

NC STATE FOOTBALL

ncsu helmet

J.P. GIGLIO (N&O)
Wolfpack deflated in Cincinnati loss

If it could go wrong for N.C. State on Thursday night, it did.

Cincinnati turned the national showcase game on ESPN against the Wolfpack into a national embarrassment with a 44-14 bludgeoning at Nippert Stadium.

N.C. State (2-2) was hoping for a bounce-back from a loss in its first game against a major Division I opponent this season. Instead it took a step back with a barrage of turnovers and mental miscues.
“Any time you lose like that, it’s an embarrassing loss,” senior linebacker Audie Cole said.

The stat to best sum up N.C. State’s performance? Minus-19 rushing yards, compared to 242 for the Bearcats (3-1).

J.P. GIGLIO (N&O)
Observations

N.C. State has major issues on defense but it clearly misses running back Mustafa Greene. The Wolfpack had minus-21 rushing yards in the first half of Thursday night’s game at Cincinnati.

Take away Mike Glennon’s negative yards for sacks, and Curtis Underwood (four carries, 3 yards) and James Washington (two carries, minus-1 yard) still could barely break positive yardage.

Akula Wolf (BackingthePack.com)
Cincinnati 44, NC State 14

Eventually Rece Davis had to bring up what he termed the “elephant in the room,” though the references to said elephant didn’t come nearly as often as I would have guessed beforehand. Let’s bear one thing in mind before this spirals out of control, because the Russell Wilson ordeal was the big news of the off-season and will be the overriding topic throughout the rest of 2011: you remember when Russell Wilson was here and we had a defense that was awful? NC State won a total of five games, two of which came against I-AA teams. We’re going to hear about how much Wilson could help this team, and I love him and I’m sure he could, but I’m not going to sleep tonight worrying about the quarterback position, and neither should you. Shit’s hitting the fan much harder in many other places.

GoPack.com
Pack Falls at Cincinnati 44-14

NC State entered tonight’s game with two red-shirt senior defensive linemen on the sidelines and a third defensive lineman back home in Raleigh. By halftime, one more was down (Brian Slay) and another was hobbled (A.J. Ferguson). Starting weakside linebacker Terrell Manning also missed tonight’s game after undergoing knee surgery on Monday.

Senior Audie Cole’s 15 tackles on the night marks a new single-game best for the linebacker.

Sophomore cornerback David Amerson picked off his fourth pass of the season in the second quarter tonight. He entered the contest leading the ACC and tied for second nationally with one per game and now has more picks than any other player in the FBS ranks.

TheWolfpacker.com
Cincinnati crushes Pack

Matt Carter (TheWolfpacker.com)
Quick Hits from NCSU’s loss at Cincinnati

That was bad

No way to beat around it or spin it. NC State got whooped on a nationally televised game. The Pack got spanked on the line of scrimmage, and no stat tells that better than the rushing yards. NC State ran for negative-26 yards net. The longest gain was a 12-yard scramble from redshirt junior quarterback Mike Glennon. NC State quarterbacks were sacked seven times. This was the first time that State had been held to negative yards since they were stopped for negative-13 yards against South Carolina in 1987.

For the Bearcats, that was the third lowest rushing total they ever allowed and the fewest since negative-34 yards against Wichita State in 1974. Cincinnati meanwhile rushed for 240 yards and gave up just one sack. NC State never once reached the red zone and allowed Cincinnati to convert 9 of 16 third downs, which has clearly emerged as a significant problem for the Pack this year.

TheWolfpacker.com
Cincinnati locker room report

On their first punt changing things:

“That was a big play. Even though we gave up the PI to give them the first down, still the field position was critical. I thought that was a big part of the game with Pat’s (O’Donnell) punt. Obviously we answered the call and we were very opportunistic again on defense which is great. I thought our defensive front did a great job of applying pressure and we knew we couldn’t let him sit back in the pocket, he is too good of a quarterback. We needed to disrupt their rhythm of their timing and their throw game and our defensive front did a good job.”

Tim Sullivan (TheWolfpacker.com)
Cincinnati dominates NCSU, 44-14

A career day for wide receiver T.J. Graham was spoiled when his seven catches for 176 yards was not enough production for NC State to avoid a 44-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats.

“I don’t look at the numbers at all,” said Graham. “I’d rather win. I’d rather catch zero balls, make a couple blocks, and win the game. I had a couple drops and I had a fumble that was recovered by the defense, so I didn’t have a very good day.”

Packpride.com
BOX SCORE: Cincinnati 44, NC State 14

Associated Press
Pack Falls To Bearcats, 44-14

About 1.21 Jigawatts

Class of '98, Mechanical Engineer, State fan since arriving on campus and it's been a painful ride ever since. I live by the Law of NC State Fandom, "For every Elation there is an equal and opposite Frustration."

'11 Football ACC & Other College Football

112 Responses to Friday Farrago

  1. MISTA WOLF 09/23/2011 at 6:30 AM #

    Cincinnati held NC State to -26 rushing yards last night. The -26 rushing yards is the fewest rushing yards in a game by an ACC team over the last 10 seasons. YAY SPAGHETTI!!!!

  2. tuckerdorm1983 09/23/2011 at 6:35 AM #

    season 3-9

  3. Tampa-Pack 09/23/2011 at 6:38 AM #

    Will GT even attempt to throw the ball next week? Seriously, I’m not to confident we’re better than any D-1 team, and they ran for 600+ recently. Nothing could follow up this embarrassment like some record setting rushing against us next. It looks like another one of those seasons where our opponents are named conference player of the week after facing us. Long, long season ahead.

  4. MattN 09/23/2011 at 6:39 AM #

    This is the beginning of the end of TOB in Raleigh. Last night was the football team’s equivalent of the Wisconsin basketball disaster. He has lost the fans.

  5. tuckerdorm1983 09/23/2011 at 6:46 AM #

    injuries are things TOB can’t control. Still, for me, the season is coming to a close.

  6. Wulfpack 09/23/2011 at 6:50 AM #

    Lucky to win 2 more on the schedule. Just an awful football team. If this is to be the case, I fully support a change. Something definitely isn’t working.

    I would just like to add that I love Cincy’s style of play. I know it helps to have a guy like Collaros – but it’s night and day as compared to us. One team is exciting to watch. The other is like pulling teeth.

  7. lsutton5144 09/23/2011 at 6:50 AM #

    I agree with Jesse Palmer (TV). If he could see that we needed to stop blitzing every play, since it was not working, and drop back in pass coverage (especially on third down), then why the hell can’t someone on our staff see that? I’ve been a TOB supporter all along until last night. If he’s willing to lose his job because he refuses to do anything about Archer, then so be it.
    And do we not have a running play that goes around the end instead of up the middle? We’ve got a huge fullback that could be a blocking machine.

  8. packplantpath 09/23/2011 at 7:05 AM #

    dude, we have archer whose only defense is a soft zone and tenuta who only knows varieties of the blitz. What else was there?

    Though it would have been interesting if the had shown blitz and then dropped back occasionally. I don’t think our problem was the blitz, per se. The problem with our blitz is that everybody knew exactly which player was blitzing every down. Our boys couldn’t disguise a hooker in a low rent strip club.

  9. JK3 09/23/2011 at 7:06 AM #

    TOB certainly can’t control injuries, but, after almost 5 years, it is obvious he is not good at dealing with injuries, or adjusting well to them. All schools deal with injuries. I would hope that a good season for us is not dependent on whether or not NC State has, what seems like, a few more injuries than normal. If we had every single hoped-for starter in the game last night we still would have lost, and ugly. Wilson and Irving masked many of our not-yet-dealt-with flaws; the main ones being that we should have more quality depth than we do at this point, and he has yet to get rid of Archer – which may turn out to be his fatal mistake in terms of his still being the coach.

  10. TOBtime 09/23/2011 at 7:10 AM #

    Well well well. The 40+ point bloodbath was a prediction I didn’t want to make but you could see it coming. Our defense is simply silly like school-girl silly. They don’t know what to do or how and THAT comes from coaching. I just had to laugh on the 3rd touchdown that Collaros ran in. Just before crossing the line you could see one of our guys TURN AROUND and go the other way. It left the entire left flat open and Collaros scores. Way to stay in your zone. Are these guys so afraid of doing something out of the system that they can’t play football? Getting to the ball carrier is pee-wee stuff!

    ^Agree with sutton. We have other things we could do on offense but choose not to. But, with an O-line as bad as ours I guess you are limited. There isn’t a thing RW could for us this year except MAYBE make the score a little closer. I’m not too sure he wouldn’t already be injured with our O-line. What a long year this is going to be.

    The WI basketball game and the Southern Miss football loss were landmark games for our coaches at the time. I can’t help but wonder if last night was as well.

  11. BJD95 09/23/2011 at 7:19 AM #

    Glennon is getting over 8 YPA despite running for his life and having to throw pretty much every play. The suck of this team has NOTHING to do with RW. I’m just glad the kid didn’t have to end his magnificent college career aboard this woeful Titanic of a ship.

  12. Hungwolf 09/23/2011 at 7:21 AM #

    Glennon has a strong arm and his height gives him many advantages, but as long as he keeps locking in on one receiver defenses don’t have to cover they just got to watch Glennon and the INT’s will keep happening.

    My concern is other teams seem to know what we are going to do and are well prepared to attack our defense. They also seem to be able to predict what we are going to do on offense the vast majority of the time. I go back to the Duke game two years ago, never forget after we lost the Duke QB kept saying how easy it was cause they knew exactly what we were going to do. Looked like Cincy was a lot more prepared for us than we were for them last night.

  13. LifeLongWolf 09/23/2011 at 7:23 AM #

    I have to say that I was prepared for us to be worse this year. I even expected us to lose last night. But I was not prepared for the awfulness that I witnessed. That was horrific. Just…epic fail.

    I’ll be pleasantly surprised if we win any more games this year.

  14. lonewolf 09/23/2011 at 7:35 AM #

    The very poor recruiting over the last few years is hard to overlook when you try to figure out where we are now. Wilson, Glennon Archer and injuries are all part of the equation but when you dont have the talent to fill in for injuries that happen to all football teams you are asking for trouble and we got trouble. Ultimately TOB is responsible. I keep hearing what a good coach TOB is but is the program headed in a good directiion? Maybe its too soon after a humiliating defeat and too early in the season but we cant just feast on UNX problems all the time. Somehow,it just doesnt help to say “at least we dont cheat like UNC” when you get your butt kicked on national TV.

  15. WolftownVA81 09/23/2011 at 7:35 AM #

    Decison time for TOB and DY. Are we striving for unlimited or will we settle for status quo the rest of the year? Leadership starts at the top. The more this goes on, the more I’m inclined to jetison the “leadership” at the next level. I think we’ve reached the point where something drastic is needed. Hopefully our administration will not wait until the hugh and cry from the fan base becomes a story in itself. Four games into season 5 is enough evidence for me. A presser today announcing some action is what I’d like to see.

  16. 61Packer 09/23/2011 at 7:38 AM #

    If losing to UNC this season would bring a new staff to Raleigh, would it be worth it?

  17. tuckerdorm1983 09/23/2011 at 7:46 AM #

    wins- cent mich
    might win- BC
    Toss up UNC, UVA
    probably Lose- MD
    ass whooping- GT, FL st, Clem (30 plus points)

  18. LifeLongWolf 09/23/2011 at 7:47 AM #

    No, 61, nothing is worth losing to the ‘Holes.

    After what DY said about jettisoning Lowe in mid-year, I think the chances of losing TOB in mid-year are approximately zero. For the record, I really like TOB. I REALLY want him to succeed. I like the way he runs the program, I like how he acts off the field. I’m proud he’s a part of our University. But the bottom line is that this he isn’t getting the job done that he is paid to do. If we lost but were competitive, I could take it. But, after last night…no excuse for that.

    Not that it’s an excuse, but Obama was in Cincy yesterday, to give a campaign speech. (Oops, I meant a policy speech, how silly of me). I wonder if our team got delayed or otherwise inconvenienced by the Presidential entourage?

  19. Wolf-n-Atl 09/23/2011 at 7:50 AM #

    My biggest issue is the lack of development on our o-line which is supposed to be TOB’s strength. Our defense came out inspired last night and our offense gave them no support. Our receivers tendency to drop balls that hit them in the hands on critical plays is also a big issue. On defense, I felt we were getting to the right spots most of the time although we continue to try to tackle around the shoulders rather than wrapping up the legs which allows the player to gain 3+ yards after contact. I would also like to see a bit of awareness on the defense when the oline allows you to freely run through, you have to recognize it is a planned screen and pull back to deny the drop off. It’s going to be a long year. *sigh*

  20. wolfpacker 09/23/2011 at 7:54 AM #

    If TOB can’t see that we have MAJOR issues on defense, that have been here for quite some time, maybe he needs a tutor. The problem is the COACHING STAFF. These guys are pathetic, they have ALWAYS blamed injuries and it’s totally unacceptable. It’s too easy to see that the problem isn’t going away. I don’t see how anyone could be SO BAD at their job (Mike Archer) and remain employed.

    The stats of our defense are the same as when he was the Defensive Coordinator at Kentucky and they DEMOTED HIM and NC STATE gave him a job? And you REALLY THINK we are headed in the right direction?

    Kentucky demoted him because his stats were the same as they are now. At least they were paying attention. They were one of the WORST defenses in the country, guess what – NC STATE GAVE HIM A JOB. He blames it on injuries and tough schemes, go figure. Some things never change!

    We haven’t even played anyone and we might as well not play Defense, we look so bad.

  21. TheAliasTroll 09/23/2011 at 8:00 AM #

    Well one thing is abundantly clear. We were not prepared to play yesterday.

  22. NCSt8_05 09/23/2011 at 8:02 AM #

    Did anyone else notice at Meet the pack day how disinterested and unhappy TOB seemed? Maybe there is something going on behind the scenes?

  23. patientwuf 09/23/2011 at 8:08 AM #

    No more excuses please. TOB knows what the problem is and needs to deal with it. If he chooses not too-then expect to see a new sheriff in town.

    He says the same thing every week. We can’t tackle, we can’t off the field on 3rd down, we can’t line up properly. HELLO!!

    It’s a shame our player have to suffer through this.

  24. BJD95 09/23/2011 at 8:11 AM #

    The next staff will lose, just like this one did. That’s what NC State does. So I don’t really care whether TOB retires this year or next.

    All we have to play for is the winning streak over the Holes. It’s the lone point of pride or accomplishment in our athletics program.

  25. DRW 09/23/2011 at 8:25 AM #

    BJD: I thought I was a pessimist about State’s athletic programs, but I got nothing on you.

    If you think things are that bad, why do you still write on a State blog?

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