The State of State Football (Pre-October)

'11 Football ACC & Other NC State122

“They had more energy than we did. You can’t do that, especially on the road in a conference game.” -TOB’s post-game comments after the Wake game.

After the loses to Wake Forest and Cincinnati, the Wolfpack’s only two D1A games this season, a lot of people are left look at Tom O’Brien for encouragement and signs of life, especially before meeting up with Georgia Tech on October 1.  Showing the fanbase something to get excited over has never been Tom’s strong point and now that affect is starting to seep into the roster and the fanbase.  Let’s review where we are against D1A opponents (and stay tuned for the “NC State Football By The Numbers” segment that WV Wolf posts weekly).  Maybe we can look at where we are and figure out what to expect from here.

Where we currently stand.

First, some combined stats from our two D1A match-ups…

NC State 2011 Craptacular! 34-27 Loss 44-14 Loss D1A Totals
NCSU @WF NCSU @Cincy NCSU Opp.
1st Downs
 19 22 13 24 32 46
Total Yards 424 438 322 503 746 941
Passing 315 337 348 263 663 600
Comp-Att
 24 41 23 36 28 40 25 34 52 81 48 70
Yards per pass
 7.7 9.4 8.7 7.7 8.2 8.55
Rushing 109 101 -26 240 83 341
Rushing Attempts
 26 34 22 46 48 80
Yards per rush
 4.2 3 -1.2 5.2 1.5 4.1
Penalties 4 33 4 42 6 40 3 35 10 73 7 77
Turnovers 1 1 3 1 4 2
Fumbles Lost
 0 0 1 0 1 0
Interceptions thrown
 1 1 2 1 3 2
Possession 29:35:00 30:25:00 26:04:00 33:56:00 55:39:00 64:21:00

A few other factoids from the stats:
– Glennon is achieving a 64% completion rate.  Our opponents are completing 69%.  Consider that both Wake and Cincy’s QBs are “experienced”.  Also note that he is only completing 1 foot LESS per attempt than his competition.  Guys, Glennon is good.

– NC State out-threw both of their opponents, but is getting crushed in rushing offense (83 vs 341 yards).  Some of this stat includes the terrible offensive line which lead to multiple sacks, including one for -14 yards last night. 

– We are averaging 1.5 yards per rush.  Some of this is due to the sacks being averaged into the 83-yard statistic, but from looking at the game, it’s obvious that the predictable play-calling is part of the blame.  According to ESPN, last night’s rushing performance marks the worst in the entire ACC since 2001.

– On 1st and 10 situations, Bible called a rush up the middle 3 out of 4 times against Cincy in the first quarter for total yardage of -1 yard. 

-Glennon was not sacked once during the Wake Forest game, but suffered 6 sacks last night against Cincy.

Injuries, Personnel And Depth

NC State obviously has issues with injuries.  The question is, can the problems experienced by our team, primarily on defense, be explained by injuries?

Before last night, NC State had the following injuries: Mustafa Greene, HB; Terrell Manning, LB; J.R. Sweezy, DT; Thomas Teal, DT; Andrew Wallace, OG. During the game last night, Brian Slay was also taken out of the game as well as AJ Ferguson, who later returned.  That leaves… ummm… crap.

Things got to the point that we were sending the walk-ons to the field.  Now, for those who have never been through the NCAA recruiting circus, it’s important to note that walk-ons at the D1A level are frequently players that are extremely talented and coaches ask to come play for them with the promise that if they stick it out for a year, and a scholarship opens up the next season, they might sign them on.  I’ve heard it said walk-ons at the D1A level are frequently players that would be solid at the D1AA level.  Still, when Ferguson was helped off the field, we had Jacob Kahut (6’4″ 245 JUCO from Campbell) in at defensive tackle.  Understatement of the season: We’re thin.  Very thin.

With regards to recruiting, the battle lines are pretty clearly drawn.  There are those that think O’Brien has the right idea in trying to identify not chasing talent then there are those that are saying you can only get so “good” with solid coaching and no raw talent.  Either way, if you look at O’Brien’s recruits, you see a ton of 3-star recruits, several 2-star recruits, and a few walk-ons.  As far as four stars go…
– 2008: Brandon Barnes (ATH), Mike Glennon (QB), Sam Jones (OL), Kyle Linney (DT), Turrel Manning (LB), RJ Mattes (OL)
– 2009: Byrd (DB)
– 2010: Crisp (OT), Hunter (DE), Randolph (DT), Amerson (S)
– 2011: Hakeem Flowers (WR)
-2012: James Summers (ATH)

Draw your own conclusions from that list.  Even if you aren’t a fan of “star chasing”, just look at the 2011 and 2012 recruiting classes.  My question would be how aggressively O’Brien’s staff has been in capitalizing on the success of the 2010 season in landing top-level talent.  So far, O’Brien’s first recruiting class has been his best by far, but that was also when he was able to rest on the laurels of his success at Boston College.  Again, I’ll let the community draw conclusions from this statement.

Remaining Schedule

Left on the schedule we have 3 currently ranked opponents, 3 away games (one against #11 FSU), and one OOC opponent.

#25 Georgia Tech – Oct 1
Central Michigan – Oct 8
***BYE WEEK***
@Virginia – Oct 22
@#11Florida State – Oct 29
UNC-CHeat – Nov 5
@Boston College – Nov 12
#21 Clemson – Nov 19
Maryland – Nov 26

A lot of discussion is going on over at the SFN message boards concerning what many people predicted pre-season and what people predict will occur now.  I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that it’s going to be a tough road and absolutely nothing on the schedule can be taken for granted.

Other News and Some [Editorialized] Thoughts

Some time ago, I did a series called “Benchmark Tom O’Brien” (Link 1, Link 2) in which I compared TOB’s success to those of our previous coaches.  Some members of our community were in agreement, but after the 9-win season last year, man were not.  That is the problem with 9-win season after several years of sub-standard performance: you can’t be certain whether one season is “turning the corner” or a flash in the pan.  Tom, for whatever reason, just hasn’t panned out at NC State and there isn’t much hope to think, moving forward into October competition against a ranked and pissed-off Georgia Tech that we will get too much better.

In addition to that, JP Giglio over at the News and Observer supposedly said that the coaching staff is considering a redshirt for Mustafa Greene this season.  So why would a coach in a rut, 4 games into the season, begin considering redshirting their best running back?

Looks to me like O’Brien, the strong, disciplined legend from Boston College, has decided to follow the same template he did during the end of the Wake Forest game:

“I’m not into all this ‘we fought back’ and all that. We lost the game.”
-TOB’s post-game comments after the Wake game.

Way to fight to the end there, Tom. If this is the same mentality that surrounding the locker room, maybe that explains a lot.

About NCStatePride

***ABOUT THE AUTHOR: NCStatePride has been writing for StateFansNation.com since 2010 and is a 2009 graduate of the College of Engineering.

'11 Football ACC & Other NC State

122 Responses to The State of State Football (Pre-October)

  1. TOBtime 09/24/2011 at 10:16 AM #

    I would be interested to see how much better Glennons numbers would be if our receivers could actually catch the ball -GB. His numbers look even better if you factor in he has 1.5 seconds to throw the ball. Even Phillip Rivers will make a bad throw if he gets enough pressure.

  2. the reality 09/24/2011 at 11:33 AM #

    OK, here are 3 questions for anyone who can answer…

    1) Do you know for certain that Mike Glennon was unyielding and definitely going to leave NC State should Russell Wilson, have returned (in any capacity) to the NC State football program?

    2) Do you know for certain that Russell Wilson was unyielding in that he wasn’t willing to compromise, that he demanded his old starting position back, period, on day one, and regardless of anything else?

    3) Do you know for certain that Tom O’Brien had posed those questions directly to each of his possible QB’s, and point blank, before he had made up his mind to exclude Russell Wilson from the program under any circumstances?

    Here’s a fourth question for anyone who has absolutely and correctly answered those first three questions, (so forget about it), but anyway…

    4) In light of NO ONE knowing where Mike Glennon stood, in light of seriously doubting that Russell Wilson would make any such demand, much less one that wasn’t based on his earning his own way back first. In light of hearing comments from TOB almost an entire year earlier where he’s saying that “he”, personally, doesn’t like the situation… Then how can anyone possibly have arrived at the conclusion that this decision was ever up for debate when RW asked to begin with, or that it was ever just so good, or wise, for NC State, or any one of the parties involved?

    Answer is: You can’t. It cannot be done.

  3. TeufelWolf 09/24/2011 at 11:51 AM #

    Preseason, I thought for sure that we’d be going into FSU undefeated and that we’d compete for the ACC Championship this year. Some of you didn’t. I was wrong and you were very right. I cannot believe how bad we really are. I lack to the words to express what I’m thinking. I’m not sure that we win another game playing the way we have (CMU excluded). It’s not all Glennon’s fault. The stats are there. His numbers however, seem to all come on one big play or dump passes and YAC — at a time where it really doesn’t matter. His INTs have been horrible and we’re lucky more hasn’t been picked off. I hope Greene can make a difference when he gets back. I’m a STATE fan no matter, I just wish they could get it together. BTW, I think the banner is funny.

  4. JeremyH 09/24/2011 at 12:35 PM #

    Our linebackers masked our deficiencies in the secondary last year. We look exactly like if Irving, Manning, and Sweezy were to sit a a game last year. We should be loads better if and when Manning and Sweezy come back. It’s also really unfortunate that we only have one decent running back and he is injured.

  5. mak4dpak 09/24/2011 at 1:27 PM #

    I don’t care if the banner on this blog had NC State and RW on it, it would not have changed the outcome. Who cares if the score may have been closer. Still a loss! RW again does not play defense nor does he block on O line. He is history, and MG is our man, and doing a great job under the circumstances. The defense is a joke, as well as the O line. Changes are needed.

  6. Ed89 09/24/2011 at 2:04 PM #

    Pride: 4 games is 25% of the season. I think if you see that 1/4 of your season is as disappointing as it is, you can’t call it a “knee jerk reaction”.

    I agree, especially since 4 games is 33% of the season, not 25%, and that we’ve seen the same performances for 4+ years now.

    NCStatePride: Good catch. Thanks. Point still stands.

  7. graywolf 09/24/2011 at 2:23 PM #

    I said after the Liberty game that we would 3-9 and unless we get healthy real fast this is going to be reality. We are a horrible football team today and even if we get everyone back I don’t see us being world beaters.

    I’m not saying TOB needs to be replaced but there needs to be some serious change in recruiting, game day preparation, offensive and defensive play calling ……if this means new staff then so be it, but I don’t think TOB will follow through with staff changes because he is too loyal to the current staff.

  8. MISTA WOLF 09/24/2011 at 3:24 PM #

    The banner is hilarious. Glad someone can poke fun at the shit show that is being produced on the field.

  9. Dogbreath 09/24/2011 at 4:18 PM #

    Has it occurred to anyone that had Russell been allowed to return that Glennon would have gone to Wisconsin? Different players, same outcome.

  10. runwiththepack 09/24/2011 at 8:01 PM #

    If NCSU had not run Herb Sendek off for the extremely popular Sid Lowe, Russell Wilson would still be here. Anyone can see that this is the reality of Russell leaving NCSU.

    It had nothing to do with the standing ovation we gave him for a goodbye on Senior Day.

  11. NCSU84 09/24/2011 at 8:58 PM #

    We have had our laugh, now the RW banner must be changed. Keeping the banner up indefinitely disrespects our players and does nothing to motivate them. One could even argue that it may hurt future recruiting if recruits realize that State fans do not support their own team. It is OK to be upset with the team, the coaches, the AD, etc. I hate the fact that the team is performing poorly and I hate to lose, but I will never stop pulling and cheering for MY team – win or lose. It is called being a loyal fan. I would question the loyalty of those who would not want to remove this banner. Think of the players who are on the field playing, practicing, and trying their best to improve. Maybe they will get better, and maybe not. But I am certainly not going to kick them when they are down and SFN should not either. Guys, it is time to take down the banner.

  12. VaWolf82 09/24/2011 at 9:01 PM #

    A number of posts just found their way to the trashcan. Just agree to disagree; move on to something else; or take the bickering to PP…your choice.

  13. the reality 09/24/2011 at 9:16 PM #

    OK, how about that Clemson-FSU game!!! Fun game to watch, and occuring at a place that is hard to beat for the all-out college football experience/atmosphere!!! Dabo Sweeney is a perfect fit for the Clemson crowd, and the Watkins kid (I believe it was???) reminds me of Percy Harvin. Clemson has some freshmen who can play and they are certainly stronger from top to bottom at this point, than I ever expected. Two good teams and an entertaining game!

    And the UNC game was held on Saturday again this week? Why, I do not know?

  14. the reality 09/24/2011 at 9:27 PM #

    Not going to argue with any of that first comment NH97. Agreed!

  15. Tau837 09/24/2011 at 10:20 PM #

    The first post nailed it: “If this is where we are after 5 years under TOB, what else do you need to know?”

  16. MattN 09/24/2011 at 10:29 PM #

    With the exception of a handful of years, NCSU football has been more-or-less (mostly more) extremely crappy for the last 40 years. Our last ACC title was in the 70s. The last time we finished the year ranked in the top 10 was, what, 1974? That was 2 years after I was freakin BORN! We don’t have a tradition of winning. We have a tradition of suckass, interrupted by the occasional year of not totally suckingass.

    We have to 100% rethink our approach to building a program. Because what we’ve been doing for the last 40 years is NOT working…

  17. kab2011 09/24/2011 at 10:32 PM #

    Hoop, what is DY’s email address? I would like to send her my thoughts as well.

  18. BureauOfMines 09/24/2011 at 10:33 PM #

    Enough of the RW banner. The point has been made and laughs were had.

    TOB is toast. He won’t change what he’s doing. So the malaise will continue.

  19. Wolfman 9806 09/24/2011 at 10:40 PM #

    VaWolf82 Says:
    September 24th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
    A number of posts just found their way to the trashcan. Just agree to disagree; move on to something else; or take the bickering to PP…your choice.

    Never have understood who you are or your role here. Just a suggestion, but perhaps if you are upset, then you should stick to filtering you own posts.

  20. btownwolfpack 09/24/2011 at 11:31 PM #

    Banner is stupid and insulting to our teams. Please lose it forever.

  21. ldr of the pk 75 09/24/2011 at 11:31 PM #

    RW would have made no difference this week or any other so far this year. The stats provided on the front end, W-L records, include the mighty RW.

    It was such an enjoyable day today watching some real college football. I doubt we’ll be confused with real college football any time soon.

    I do question why seemingly every year, injuries so thouroughly deplete our squad. Are we so pitifully out of shape? Is the team being abused in practice? I’m not sure, but the coaching staff certainly has to answer for some of it. Every team practices, and some injuries occur, but we seem overprone to season wrecking injuries.

  22. ancsu87 09/25/2011 at 1:20 AM #

    The post by NCSU84 should be read and acted upon by this site. The banner is an insult to the current players. Regardless of how I feel about TOB or the staff I will not trash them in public to non-NC State people and I will not ever trash the guys trying to win on the field.

    You can make all your observations that you want but the banner needs to go.

  23. Wulfpack 09/25/2011 at 7:47 AM #

    It was great watching that Clemson/FSU game yesterday. Two good, athletic teams and a GREAT atmosphere for college football. We are so far behind those two programs it isn’t even funny. I give us NO chance against them or GT this week ( we are like a 34 point dog). Another huge game for the Tigers at Va Tech Saturday. If Dabo wins that one, they are going to name the town after him.

  24. Dogbreath 09/25/2011 at 8:36 AM #

    “… I will not trash them in public to non-NC State people and I will not ever trash the guys trying to win on the field.”

    Last seven words are debatable.

  25. the reality 09/25/2011 at 8:53 AM #

    That was fun stuff Wulfpack. Never thought I’d hear myself saying this, and I was pulling for Clemson all the way yesterday, but I’m feeling a little sad for the Seminoles. No doubt that they are going to continue to improve, and they are a good football team right now, but to lose two games, back to back, this early in the season, has to have set them back, emotionally anyway.

    Question is now, will Dabo be able to keep the Tigers playing with this level of intensity?

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