State 43, Liberty 21 (Sunday Morning)

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Photo by Ethan Hyman, News & Observer

It wasn’t pretty…and NC State’s offensive line could have been out played by a high school team tonight…but in the end, the Wolfpack forced seven turnovers (three fumbles recovered and four intercepted passes) to get the Pack past Liberty in the first game of the 2011 season.

The seven forced turnovers tied a school record last set in 1983.

All eyes were obviously on Mike Glennon in his first start. Glennon finished the night with an unspectacular 18 of 31 for 156 yards and one touchdown to Mario Carter (and no interceptions). He could have had close to 200 yards and another touchdown on a beautifully thrown ball that was dropped by George Bryan. Glennon took at least four sacks and saw consistent pressure as the Wolfpack offensive line did a poor job of both pass protecting and providing run support. State ultimately finished with 161 rushing yards led by 114 yards by Curtis Underwood and 67 yards (and 2 TDs) by James Washington; but much of that came in the fourth quarter.

ESPN had the following thoughts on the Wolfpack game. (Link)

This was sloppy. Ugly. And Liberty turned this game over as much as NC State won it.

Liberty had seven turnovers — nice job by NC State’s defense — four interceptions and three lost fumbles. NC State lost two fumbles as well. At one point, Liberty had five turnovers and only trailed by nine points. Liberty brought pressure, and quarterback Mike Glennon had to feel it in his debut as starter. He was sacked three times, and never really got into a groove. Running backs Curtis Underwood (114 yards, 1 touchdown), and James Washington (67 yards, 2 touchdowns), both had good games, but the Pack is missing Mustafa Greene. The defense was making plays left and right. The good news is that NC State got the win, bottom line, but if the Wolfpack is going to build upon last season’s success, it needs to get better quickly. That being said, the rest of the Atlantic Division hasn’t exactly lit it up this weekend, so NC State is in some pretty good company.

State travels to Winston-Salem next Saturday for a 3:30pm kickoff against Wake Forest on FS South.

Sunday Morning Update:

News & Observer
J.P. Giglio, “Pack Sloppy in Win Over Liberty”

Photo Gallery

Caulton Tudor: “Glennon Struggled but Kept His Cool”

Game Observations

GoPack.com
Game Summary

Stats

Postgame Comments

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77 Responses to State 43, Liberty 21 (Sunday Morning)

  1. Plz2BStateFan 09/04/2011 at 9:06 AM #

    I somehow doubt we will win at Wake now.

  2. wolfonthehill 09/04/2011 at 9:16 AM #

    Thoughts:

    * We were more talented at nearly every position on the field. They had a more effective game plan than we did, and except for the turnovers, they executed it better (aka, they wanted it more).
    * To me, the key to this season has always been the O-line. Based on last night, I’m now thinking a losing record is a distinct possibility.
    * Glennon’s got a cannon… but as a few others have mentioned, his decision-making last night was abysmal. He threw into double- and triple-coverage on multiple occasions when he had someone wide open on a checkdown… or someone streaking down the opposite sideline 3 yards behind their single-coverage man. This one is baffling… he was throwing toward the side where the safety was… instead of to the side where we had single coverage. Repeatedly. And he never looked at his wide-open back in the flat.
    * Over time, our size took over in the trenches & just wore them out.
    * Our defensive philosophy is infuriating… but we’ve sure as hell got some horses in the backfield now. Those are some talented, athletic DB’s.
    * The new video board is astounding. 🙂 The PA system is still astoundingly bad.
    * Our offense was far too basic… maybe a function of new guys and first game. But til the 4th quarter it was either a run up the gut or Glennon with a 5-step drop. Need more 3-step quick hits… slants, etc… and more off-tackle, which is what worked when we ran it. Need to take Glennon out of situations where he needs to think, and just let him step back, look, fire.
    * WTF with George Bryan? Both his limited opportunities and not having his head in the game?
    * Rashard Smith is a talent, no matter where you line him up.
    * When TJ can hang onto the ball, he’s gotta be terrifying to opponents. That was not his last return TD this year… far from it.
    * Can’t wait til Mustafa’s back… Underwood & Washington are great backs, but neither is the primary, carry-the-load guy. Get Mustafa back, and the running game shapes up nicely.

  3. wolfonthehill 09/04/2011 at 9:17 AM #

    And their QB is the real deal… D-1 talent at a pretty damn high level.

  4. ncsu1987 09/04/2011 at 9:19 AM #

    I thought Glennon’s only issue was failing to throw away two of the sacks – other than that, I thought he had good poise, patience, and execution. His throws were very much on target, and I, for one, was glad to go an entire game without the QB throwing a long pass into multiple coverage up for grabs. There were several inexplicable drops, including a possible touchdown from our All American tight end. The o-line needs a huge amount of work. Special teams were mixed – kickoff and punt returns were refreshingly good, but kick coverage was atrocious, and the freshman kickers were….freshmen. Defense overall was good, but they were over-aggressive during the first and second possessions. “Bend but not break” seems to be the philosophy, and was well executed; if memory servers, the defense only allowed 10 points?

    I am not panicking, nor am I going to invent reasons to disparage Glennon just because Russell Wilson had a big game on Thurs. night. Glennon had a pretty good game for his first start. If we lose at Wake AND Cincinnati and there’s no Glennon progress over the four weeks, THEN I’ll start to worry. One loss (either at Wake or Cincinnati) is in line with my preseason expectations.

  5. redwolf87 09/04/2011 at 9:47 AM #

    Predictably, it only took until the 7:46 mark of the first period for me to overhear somebody in the stands say, “We should have kept Russell Wilson.”

    Having said that, I’d have to pretty much agree with the consensus here. Glennon is talented but appeared to make some mental mistakes. But he didn’t get a lot of help from the O-line. Neither did the RBs. The OL should have been able to blow this team off the line when 2 – 3 yards were needed and for the most part couldn’t do it.

    D didn’t play all that bad. And my stock is very high on David Amerson. He’s going to be a big time corner.

    Much more concerned about the Wake game now. Liberty is a good I-AA team, but they are still I-AA (or FCS or whatever).

  6. WolfBlood 09/04/2011 at 10:20 AM #

    That was hard to watch, thank God we ended up winning by at least 20. A W is a W but geez, I should not be worrying at the beginning of the 4th quarter vs. Liberty. I think a lot of the slow start was due to this being the first real game time experience for Glennon, I sure hope so. And Glennon has to stop starring down receivers or better teams are going to pick him easily. OL needs to watch some film.

  7. triadwolf 09/04/2011 at 10:27 AM #

    While not pretty, I’m not too worried – yet. The O-line concerns me, but hopefully that will work itself out. I have to believe that we ran a very vanilla offense and defense with an ACC game coming up next week where the team has extra prep time.

    Overall I thought Glennon was good; he certainly missed some reads and needs to make decisions a little quicker. But he looks deadly accurate and definitely has an arm. We never really looked down field, but our wideouts certainly look as if the have the speed to get behind defenses; hopefully we’ll start taking advantage.

    Defense played fairly well against a quick hitting dump and dink offense. I think we played with too much cushion and gave up way too many yards, but it could have been that we were running a basic set to not give too much away on film. Somebody mentioned the high number of tackles our DB’s had; well that’s going to happen with the type of offense we played. Liberty was not going to run right at us and not give us enough time to get to the QB. I’m not worried about the d-line and LB’s at this point.

    I actually think this was a great game to improve upon. We saw a lot of different looks on defense and offense and being a close game will give the coaches plenty of points to harp on. A blowout where everything goes as planned a lot of times does not help you improve very much. We need to be ready for WF and this game should help keep us very humble heading into Winston. Next week will say a lot more about this team than last night. I not particularly worried, but we’ve got plenty to work on. Liberty let it all hang out and we tired to keep things as basic as possible; it was not pretty but win is a win.

    One final note that excites me – I don’t recall Glennon throwing a ball that had a legitimate threat to be intercepted. He threw into double and triple coverage sometimes, but put the ball right where it had to be. Remember that this is a young receiving corp and I have no doubt there were miscommunications, misreads and bad/wrong routes making some of Glennon’s throws and decisions look worse than they actually were.

  8. BJD95 09/04/2011 at 10:35 AM #

    No matter the drops or OL problems, Glennon had a YPA of around 5. That’s pathetic against anyone, but against a 1-aa team, it’s unspeakably putrid.

    Hopefully this was mostly yips and rust, as the kid is under a lot of pressure. But next week Had better be different.

  9. TruthBKnown Returns 09/04/2011 at 10:53 AM #

    The O-line started out poorly, but improved as the game wore on. This was a very capable and motivated opponent. They are talented and likely will not lose another game this year. I think this team would have beaten Wake, Syracuse, Duke, and probably a number of other FBS teams last night. They were big, fast and hard-hitting. Recall that breakaway run where we gained about 50 yards but fumbled at the end (after a review). Our guy was running full speed, and was not slow. He got ran down from behind by a Porsche dressed as a Liberty football player.

    I will follow Liberty the rest of this year, and expect them to win every remaining game, and probably with ease.

    Obviously, we know what we need to work on. Our O-line needs to improve. Our receivers were covered like a glove last night, which probably hurt Glennon’s numbers as much as anything else. This was a good, eye-opening first game for us. Now we know what we need to work on. I think it was a valid test, and we won fairly handily (although it didn’t FEEL like it!)

    Keep in mind, they only scored ONE touchdown and two field goals on offense. And the TD drive was basically two big plays aided by a personal foul penalty. It was not a sustained drive.

    I think we may have just faced the most difficult opponent in the first seven games of our schedule, at least.

  10. Packfan28 09/04/2011 at 10:56 AM #

    Peyton Manning was 7 for 14 in a 10-9 victory against Washington State in his 1st start.

    Unbelievable how some people are condemning Glennon after his 1st career start. Maybe wait until he has a few games under his belt?

  11. TruthBKnown Returns 09/04/2011 at 10:59 AM #

    No matter the drops or OL problems, Glennon had a YPA of around 5. That’s pathetic against anyone, but against a 1-aa team, it’s unspeakably putrid.

    Glennon was under MAJOR duress several plays last night. The O-line was sub-par and caused that. He was rushed within 2-3 seconds several times. The line didn’t give him much time on many occasions. Receivers were constantly covered like a glove. And like someone mentioned previously, he put a beautiful pass right in the hands of George Bryan that would have been a chunk of yards and six points if his fingers had not been made of butter on that play.

    This was also Glennon’s first game ever as a starter. And he had no interceptions. The fumble was not his fault. He was blindsided by a Mack truck running full speed that was completely unblocked.

    Glennon’s less-than-stellar numbers were MORE the fault of other factors. All things considered, he did a solid job. And he no doubt had first game jitters to work through.

  12. logarithm 09/04/2011 at 11:04 AM #

    The offense did a poor job of reading a 3-4, seeing where the blitzes would be coming from. Even then, one of those sacks came when they dropped all 4 linebackers into coverage and their left D-End got around the outside. I flipped out. How do we let that happen?

    Glennon let loose the ball before his receivers had even turned their heads at least 2 times, hitting one in the foot. Tried to thread the needle through triple coverage to George Bryan on the first possession too. Bad timing and less-than-stellar decision making.

    It all comes back to the O-line but the backs did well in the end. The receivers were good enough when they had the throws. Mario Carter was good. Taylor Gentry was outstanding. The defensive secondary did well when Liberty wasn’t making quick passes to receivers who didn’t even run routes.

    The film should help. The film better help.

  13. TruthBKnown Returns 09/04/2011 at 11:04 AM #

    And their QB is the real deal… D-1 talent at a pretty damn high level.

    They also have a 6’5″ 215lb receiver that is the real deal. I was expecting those two to cause headaches for us. Today’s FCS teams are not always like our father’s D-1AA teams. Many of them now have transfers from programs like GT, Illinois, etc. They’re not just recruiting leftovers that couldn’t get an FBS offer. Some of these teams are talented and experienced, and MOTIVATED to earn respect. We faced one of those teams last night.

  14. TruthBKnown Returns 09/04/2011 at 11:07 AM #

    logarithm is right. Glennon made a few bad decisions and/or throws. But I remember one throw where it appeared that the receiver was supposed to cut to the outside. Glennon let loose before he turned around. And he didn’t cut toward the sideline like I think he was supposed to. It looked like a timing pattern, and if so, that wasn’t Glennon’s fault.

    But this was still his first game. It’s not supposed to be perfect. He may have gotten a B- on his first test, but IMO he did pass this test.

  15. TruthBKnown Returns 09/04/2011 at 11:10 AM #

    I somehow doubt we will win at Wake now.

    I still have no doubts about beating Wake. Their defense is not good. Syracuse is not good, and they did well against Wake. Our defense will shut Wake down (I believe). Especially if Price is out with that sprained knee.

    I think our offense will do better against Wake’s defense, too.

  16. TruthBKnown Returns 09/04/2011 at 11:12 AM #

    Keep in mind that we probably kept the offense and defense a little more basic in this game, so as not to reveal every trick in our playbook. Until we needed to open it up more, why would we? I think TOB would rather win conservatively and save something for later than to open it up and win big.

    Unless that is wishful thinking on my part. But I don’t think so. Once we were ahead by nine, our lead never got less than nine. There was no reason to unleash everything we may have in our arsenal.

  17. packalum44 09/04/2011 at 11:15 AM #

    We looked crappy but I saw top 25 potential. I also saw a damn good DII team.

    Unfortunately this game left me with more questions than answers, but I’ll pass on the drinking the cynical flavored koolaid.

  18. stoncuttr 09/04/2011 at 11:15 AM #

    Count me in the camp that is not going to panic (yet). Glennon will improve. This was nothing more than an exhibition game. I think will only saw 20% of both the offensive and defensive playbook. Base formations and plays on offense and no exotic blitzes or coverages on defense. The team will improve this week. Let’s beat Wake and continue to get better fillowing week against USA.

  19. Packfan28 09/04/2011 at 11:17 AM #

    Andrew Luck was 11-23 and 193 yards in his first career start. I doubt you will find too many QBs who had great 1st games. The only criticism I have is there were a number of times the past few years when the game was clearly out of hand, and TOB could have gotten MG more experience. So he’s a little behind right now, but I suspect he will catch up quickly.

  20. packalum44 09/04/2011 at 11:34 AM #

    Uniforms look really nice.

  21. tvp1 09/04/2011 at 11:36 AM #

    We’ll be fine. OL was bad but that’s been the case since…2003? Glennon was OK in his first game, no major mistakes.

    We finally have players in the back 7 who can play a zone defense the way it is meant to be played. Amerson will be the best CB we’ve had since…Lloyd Harrison? I don’t even know. He was a monster recruiting win for TOB.

    DL will be a real strength when Sweezy returns. Hope Teal is OK, he looked like a friggin tank and played very well. Norman has a great first step and will help mightily in pass rush.

    Underwood needs to get the bulk of the carries until Moose returns.

    Kickoff coverage does worry me, don’t know WTF was going on there. Sade was not getting great height on his KOs but I don’t think that totally explains the long returns.

  22. old13 09/04/2011 at 11:41 AM #

    It appeared to me that for most of the first half especially, Liberty played eight in the box on D to put pressure on MG. And it succeeded in keeping him from getting into a rhythm as they rushed six or seven, playing man coverage, outnumbering the blockers, and daring us to pass. The D is always ahead of the O early. Overall I think there were more WR problems than QB or OL problems. I’ll wait until after the WF game before I press the panic button.

  23. Boyd 09/04/2011 at 12:04 PM #

    It comes down to confidence. We don’t have it right now. There will be growing pains. We’ve got a few weeks to figure it all out, but I ultimately think we’ll be able to get it done.

    How did RW do in any of his season opening games? Poorly. Everyone has to feel out everyone else. I think we’ll win 8 this year.

  24. jpack 09/04/2011 at 12:17 PM #

    Looked to me like TOB was only running about 5 different plays and not showing anything to future opponents. O line was not very good. No passing downfield. They did just enough to get by.

  25. eas 09/04/2011 at 12:36 PM #

    RW did very well with one season opener…..Wisconson’s (good job RW). We will be fine and Glennon will be very good. Go Pack!

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