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. TruthBKnown Returns 09/23/2011 at 9:50 AM #

    There is really no excuse for a fifth year TOB team to be this bad. I’m beginning to think we just need to fire HIM. I’d like to keep Tenuta, and maybe some of the other “lower level” assistant coaches. But I think I’ve about had it with TOB. I’m feeling the same way about him as I did about Sidney Lowe after he got some talent and still couldn’t win.

    I’m thinking TOB’s success at BC was mainly due to having good assistants. He doesn’t have that here, and doesn’t seem too concerned about GETTING any. If he can’t see that Archer needs to be gone, then HE needs to be gone. Period. End of story.

  2. NCStatePride 09/23/2011 at 9:51 AM #

    TBK, I absolutely loved that post. So many really, really good points in there that really need to be discussed. As you said, is there bad luck going around? Sure you could argue that, but luck wouldn’t have changed the result of that game.

    You are definitely my favorite poster of the week just for this post.

    “Again, this bad luck is NOT why we lost. Not even close. These things just made the ugliness all the more complete. We had chances to get back in the game, but didn’t capitalize. And once we were out of the game, nothing we could do was going to help. It was over in the first quarter.”

  3. TruthBKnown Returns 09/23/2011 at 9:54 AM #

    It’s been said before that we need to open the checkbook and pay for a REAL coach. A big-time coach. A big-NAME coach. That is the only way we will ever succeed on the football field. We either need a young coach that is good and just not yet discovered, or we need an established guy that will revitalize the program. At this point, we can’t really take a chance on hiring a young gun and hope for the best.

    Say what you will about Butch, but he is the caliber of coach we need to hire. And say what you will about UNX, but they do want to win and are willing to pay the expense of bringing in people that will win. Yes, they cheated and got caught. But they had the right idea. An average coach is only going to take you so high. I’m tired of this. I pay too much money to get THESE results. And I know what I pay is NOTHING compared to the big donors. So hopefully they feel the same way.

  4. TOBtime 09/23/2011 at 10:00 AM #

    Manny Diaz has been putting some pretty good defenses on the field for the last couple of years. Trouble there is we probably can’t out-bid TX for their next head coach. Archer is almost (and I said ALMOST) as bad as Marc Trestman on the offensive side.

    And Paul Johnson wanted to come here. Sigh.

  5. TruthBKnown Returns 09/23/2011 at 10:01 AM #

    I thought about you last night during the game, Pride. You were right. I was hoping we might correct what we were doing wrong. But this year, it seems that we’re out there playing uninspired ball. We see a celebration once in a while after a good play. But we don’t really see any SWAGGER from guys that are confident (or cocky) and know they’re going to go out there and win.

    Sometimes I think I see players out there emulating our coach. Low key, quiet, etc. We need a fiery coach that can fire up the team. I haven’t seen that this year, and it’s disturbing. We should be building on the success of last year, and it looks like we might be as bad as TOB’s first team was here.

  6. NCStatePride 09/23/2011 at 10:13 AM #

    “I thought about you last night during the game, Pride. You were right. I was hoping we might correct what we were doing wrong.”

    You know what they say… even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then… I think I noticed some of the futility in rationalizing TOB’s performance because I was so insistant that Lowe might be able to turn things around when he was here, but obviously got burned. I’ve “been there”. I think some of the guys on this blog community are a little overly-harsh about their analysis when it comes to relying on nothing but numbers to tell how a team is doing (sports are emotional activities), but the whole Lowe era was a life-lesson for me and a lot of those guys kind of brought me around to being more fact-finding on how I set expectations.

  7. packbackr04 09/23/2011 at 10:16 AM #

    paul johnson would have been a perfect fit. TOB;s gotta go

  8. JasonP 09/23/2011 at 10:16 AM #

    Giglio writes Greene might redshirt this season. First time I’ve heard that. Bad – no, terrible news.

  9. Ed89 09/23/2011 at 10:19 AM #

    ^^^He’s old now and unlike an old Lou Holtz at SC, has no fire or passion for the game.

    I don’t think TOB knows what fire and passion are. He’s never had either, and players usually take on the personality of the coach.

  10. WuffDad 09/23/2011 at 10:25 AM #

    I don’t disagree with any of what has been said about the team, preparations, schemes, injuries, etc. Its all obvious, and the media delights in rubbing our noses in it.

    BUT, one thing the tarHOLES do well is stick together. They are the best in the country at arrogantly ignoring their own issues and either putting happy face on it OR remaining silent. Recruits see the games, but they also see this stuff, and are influence by the image it portrays and reinforces.

    We don’t need to be part of the problem when it comes to getting better players or coaches.

  11. TOBtime 09/23/2011 at 10:26 AM #

    You know Jason, that might not be a bad thing. The next coach will need all the talent he can get and Mustafa should be a good one (from what we have seen so far) behind a decent line. No need for him to risk injury running behind the line performance we have seen so far this year.

    What ticks me off is the O-line has the talent to be good. REALLY good.Unfortunately it isn’t being utilized.

  12. GAWolf 09/23/2011 at 10:33 AM #

    TBK: I want to live in a 5 million dollar home, too, but I don’t. The bottom line is that INC has more money than we do until one of our supertechie alumni wants to go Phil Knight to Oregon and change the face of our athletic program in one swipe of the pen.

    That’s some great rah rah stuff you have there, but unless you’re one of the top 1% of alumni giving to the WPC, there’s not much you can say pal. I’m a member, but I don’t give enough to demand more than we can afford.

  13. JasonP 09/23/2011 at 10:33 AM #

    TOBtime – good point. but you’re gonna need a new screen name.

  14. highstick 09/23/2011 at 10:36 AM #

    Those who continue to dismiss the SEC move continue to not recognize that it would take a “culture change”, Chain! Hell, it’s gonna take a culture change to remain in the ACC in football. It’s becoming obvious that we do not have the will to do anything except suck!

    In fact, why don’t we just go ahead and admit “the agony of defeat” and start playing Gardner Webb.

    I’ve got a suggestion though..Decline any further television appearances until a better product can be put on the field. There’s no sense crapping in your pants and playing like a bunch of 8th grade girls on television.

    You lost me last night, Toby! I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt, but the doubt no longer remains.

  15. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 09/23/2011 at 10:38 AM #

    A disgrace. Is Greg Schiano of Rutgers available? For the love of the god’s can State get a coach that is trying to build his career instead of coasting to retirement?

    Sick of State coaches blaming injuries on their failures. All teams have damned injuries yet for some reason State teams use this as an excuse for their inability to not insult the program on national television.

    #2 rated QB in the country cut from State for Glennon. Geezus.

    Offensive Leaders
    QUARTERBACK RATING RAT
    1. Robert Griffin III, BAY 244.5
    2. Russell Wilson, WIS 213.4
    3. Seth Doege, TTU 195.4
    4. Kellen Moore, BSU 187.6
    5. Jordan Webb, KU 181.5

  16. Baccapacker 09/23/2011 at 10:40 AM #

    Mike Leach anyone?

  17. Classof89 09/23/2011 at 10:44 AM #

    If we aren’t going to make any greater commitment to being successful at the FBS level than we displayed last night, then we just need to throw in the towel and rejoin the Southern Conference. And I’m only half tongue in cheek here. I’d get a lot more excited about seeing us go 8-3 or 9-2 every year in the FCS every year, have exciting and competitive matchups with Appalachian State and Elon, and have a shot at making the playoffs, then I am shelling out hundreds of dollars for season tickets for a team that can’t beat any FBS team anyway.

  18. TOBtime 09/23/2011 at 10:47 AM #

    ^Interesting Baccapacker but would he & Deb work out? I sort of get the feel he marches to his own drummer, but hey, maybe we NEED a new drummer. I would kill for his offense coupled with a Manny Diaz defense.

    Jason, I’ve already considered that! I’m asking for my old Pack92 back today. I should have known better.

  19. Ashman87 09/23/2011 at 10:52 AM #

    I agree with Tucker on our schedule the rest of the way. We’ll definitely beat Central Michigan, probably beat B.C. (although the game is in Chestnut Hill, so given TOB’s divisional road woes, I’m in a cautious state about that game), UNC and UVA are toss-ups, probably lose to Maryland, and definitely lose to FSU, GT, and Clemson. On the other hand, remember 2008 season, where we started out badly and got ourselves into a bowl game. (which at this point is what we’re playing for)

  20. EasternWakeWolf 09/23/2011 at 10:57 AM #

    This crowd is going to have to impress me a lot before I’m interested in going to a bowl game. Was looking forward to ATL next year to open the season, but considering the way we start out every year, may not go to that either.

  21. Rick 09/23/2011 at 11:07 AM #

    “Those who continue to dismiss the SEC move continue to not recognize that it would take a “culture change”,”

    Agreed
    Too bad it isn’t going to happen.

  22. Packfan28 09/23/2011 at 11:11 AM #

    I cannot believe anyone on here is holding up Glennon as part of the problem. They lament the loss of Wilson, and hold up his success this year as proof.

    RW’s numbers thru 4 games last year are very comparable to MG’s this year. Glennon has better passing stats, RW has better rushing stats;

    Do not reference RW’s performance this year. Those big dogs they have at Wisconsin allow him to stand in the pocket, order lunch, check out stock prices, then find an open receiver and pass it to him;

    Neither Glennon nor Wilson play defense. Nor apparently does anyone else on NC State

    Neither Glennon nor Wilson coach defense. Nor apparently does anyone else at NC State

    Think Russell in 2009. He played great, put up a ton of points, and how many games did we win?

    I personally think Glennon is a very good quarterback who is cursed playing on a very bad team.

  23. Wulfpack 09/23/2011 at 11:11 AM #

    Central Michigan is no gimmie at all. We’ll have our hands full with them just after GT beats us into oblivion. UNC will destroy us, and UVA will be out for blood. There are no easy games remaining on the schedule. We’ve exhausted those – and they weren’t so easy. We suck, plain and simple.

    I swear though, IF we lose at BC TOB should just stay up there.

  24. Wulfpack 09/23/2011 at 11:14 AM #

    Glennon has the CHANCE to be good but I am not sold on him just yet. Those were two bad INTs that put us in a hole last night, and there should have been a third (Cincy just dropped it). He’s locking in on guys far too often. And if he moves out of the pocket, we all need to hold our collective breaths. Lots of potential but a long way to go.

  25. eas 09/23/2011 at 11:25 AM #

    The thing that drives me crazy about TOB is he always stuck in neutral….NO emotion. Even with the good year in 2010 it was still like paint drying.

    Look at the coaches from the teams we play and you can CLEARLY see the emotion/fire. One side line is full of life and one is calm. As a recruit, which would you rather be involved with?

    I like TOB but I see why BC didn’t loose any sleep with the change.

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