Thursday Compendium

'11 Football ACC & Other Big Four Rivals College Basketball College Football Football Recruiting Mark Gottfried UNC Scandal18

September 15, 2011

NC STATE FOOTBALL

Matt Carter (TheWolfpacker.com)
Audie Cole trying to stop bad habits

Fifth-year senior linebacker Audie Cole admits that he did not enjoy looking at the film from the Wake Forest game. The Pack lost 34-27 after the defense struggled to contain the Demon Deacons’ offense.

“We didn’t look good on the film,” Cole said. “We were making mistakes that we don’t normally make. I didn’t play my best game. I wasn’t getting downhill. It wasn’t that we were out of position, we just kind of reverted back to bad habits. Bad habits will kill you like that. We’re just trying to get it fixed right now.”

TheWolfpacker.com
Tom O’Brien notices change in urgency

What were the biggest breakdowns on Saturday?

“I think the problem came in as we were unable to get a pass-rush. Pressure with four guys, when we blitzed, we still couldn’t get there. He had a lot of time to throw the football. You don’t have to give him any time to throw the football because he’s good enough to complete it as is. We didn’t contain the pocket which then puts a lot of stress on the secondary as he’s running around.

“That’s not to say there wasn’t breakdowns at the linebacker or secondary level. I think the biggest thing was being unable to bring pressure to bear on the quarterback.

JP Giglio (N&O)
Giglio: Jury still out on Deacs win over Pack

Even if Wake Forest is better, though, Saturday’s loss still stings the Wolfpack. If there’s an Atlantic Division team N.C. State is supposed to beat, it’s Wake Forest. N.C. State’s 62 wins against Wake Forest are 29 more than it has against any other ACC team.

Wake Forest (62-36-6) and Virginia (33-21-1) are the only two ACC teams against whom N.C. State has a winning record.

To build on the success of last year’s 9-4 record and No. 25 ranking, at minimum N.C. State needs to get back to a bowl. Of N.C. State’s 25 bowl seasons, 22 included wins against Wake Forest.

JP Giglio (N&O)
Wolfpack picks up the pace in practice

Brett Friedlander (starnewsonline.com)
No major changes for State defense … other than a change of attitude

Despite a defense that has allowed more than 400 yards in each of its first two games and was burned for touchdowns on two trick plays during last week’s 35-27 loss at Wake Forest, N.C. State football coach said he isn’t planning any major changes for this week’s game against South Alabama.

Instead, he and his players are working on doing what they do a lot better.

“I think we’re in the right things,” O’Brien said. “It’s the same coaching staff. It’s the same philosophy what we did a year ago. We just have to get better execution on the defense.”

If the past two days at practice are any indication, it’s a task the Wolfpack is taking to heart.

ACC FOOTBALL

Mark Thompson (ACCSportsJournal)
ACC Football Commitment Lists: Atlantic Division, Sept. 15

Jim Young (ACCSportsJournal)
Teleconference Tidbits: Atlantic Division, Sept. 14

N.C. State

For a change, Tom O’Brien didn’t have to spend his time with the media talking about his quarterback. But that wasn’t a good thing.

Instead he spent part of his teleconference time explaining the Wolfpack’s inability to stop the opposing quarterback last Saturday – Wake’s Tanner Price.

While receivers were frequently running free, O’Brien placed more of the blame on N.C. State’s defensive front, as opposed to the secondary.

“The biggest thing was being unable to bring pressure to bear on the quarterback,” he said. “You don’t have to give (Price) any time to complete the football because he’s good enough as is.”

Certainly injuries on State’s defensive line were part of the issue, but in the aftermath of State’s loss, O’Brien also called out his team for a lack of intensity and execution.

Apparently his players got the message, as O’Brien said practices have had a “sense of urgency” this week.

Jim Young (ACCSportsJournal)
Teleconference Tidbits: Coastal Division, Sept. 14

UNC FALLOUT

Ken Tysiac (N&O)
NCAA returns to UNC

NCAA personnel visited the University of North Carolina on Wednesday to conduct follow-up work related to the investigation of the school’s football program, UNC spokesman Kevin Best confirmed in a short email message.

Details of the reasons for the visit were not disclosed, and Best referred all other questions to the NCAA. In an email, NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said that in order to protect the integrity of an investigation, the NCAA cannot comment on an inquiry.

UNC officials are preparing a response to NCAA allegations of nine major violations in the Tar Heels football program involving impermissible benefits and academic fraud.

The school’s written response to those allegations – which UNC officials have said they will make public – is due Monday.

Ken Tysiac (N&O)
Heels want veteran AD

Brett Friedlander (starnewsonline.com)
Withers: empty seats won’t hurt recruiting

The explanation for all those empty seats in the new Blue Zone of Kenan Stadium is that a lot of fans with tickets in the premium end zone section of have been watching North Carolina’s first two football games from the comfort of the indoor club and suites.

All those other empty seats during Saturday’s home game against Rutgers can’t be explained away quite as easily.

The official announced attendance for the Tar Heels’ 24-22 win against the Scarlet Knights was 53,000. That’s 10,000 less than Kenan’s newly expanded capacity of 63,000.

Whether the fans stayed away because of the 12:30 p.m.start in the late-summer heat, the economy or as a form of protest over the firing of former coach Butch Davis is a matter for discussion.

ACC BASKETBALL

Dan Wiederer (Fayetteville Observer)
Wiederer’s Buzzer Beater: Five most memorable moments

Dan Wiederer (Fayetteville Observer)
Dan Wiederer’s numbers don’t lie: the rest of the ACC is far behind UNC and Duke

Gracefully, Mark Gottfried just smiles, chuckles and nods. By this point, it has become something of a Pavlovian reflex.

That grin, that little laugh? It’s Gottfried’s way of acknowledging what he knows so well but is reminded of in every single conversation he has these days.

Uh, Mark. Not sure if you took a look at the N.C. State brochure before you moved up here. But it’s worth pointing out that North Carolina and Duke are just a few miles down the road.

State fans mention this as a means of conveying their hunger and desire, wanting their new coach to quickly rise up and fight back against those neighborhood bullies from Chapel Hill and Durham.

Reporters often remind Gottfried of his geographic reality as a means of adding perspective into the conversation. Reality is reality, after all. And facing it is arguably the biggest step for Gottfried in establishing a levelheaded vision for the future.

Sure, N.C. State has enough resources to be a highly competitive basketball program on the national stage. But in Carolina and Duke, the Wolfpack also has two seemingly immovable obstacles blocking its path to the top of the ACC.

Here comes that smile and chuckle from Gottfried.

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 Big Four Rivals College Basketball College Football Football Recruiting Mark Gottfried UNC Scandal

18 Responses to Thursday Compendium

  1. VaWolf82 09/15/2011 at 8:41 AM #

    “We didn’t look good on the film,” Cole said.

    the rest of the ACC is far behind UNC and Duke

    Should we file these under “No Shit, Sherlock” or maybe “Master of the Obvious”.

    Don’t open Wiederer’s Buzzer Beater: Five most memorable moments thinking that it will add any meaningful discussion to actual key moments over the ACC’s history. It’s just his favorite moments working for the FO.

  2. primacyone 09/15/2011 at 8:51 AM #

    I think TOB reads SFN!!!

  3. patientwuf 09/15/2011 at 9:13 AM #

    “No major changes for State defense … other than a change of attitude”

    A different mind set is great but the problems our defense had last Saturday is far worse than attitude.

    Pride had a great post about this and Cowdog said it best- “Football 101”. Our DB’s and LB’s tackled poorly, were out of position, had poor technique, which is not attitude.

  4. ppack3 09/15/2011 at 9:50 AM #

    In reference to the attendance in the hole…

    There’s no way there were 53,000 people in attendance on Saturday. But, for the sake of argument, let’s say that there were 53K tickets sold (only none of them showed up). Even then, at a generous average ticket price of $40 a pop, 10K empty seats cost the athletic department $400,000. And that’s a generous estimate. How many home games this year? Seven? That’s $2.8 Million left on the table. Let’s give the benefit of the doubt to holesnation and say they show up at the “good games” that happen to be scheduled at optimal times of the day, and as long as the weather is not too hot, and not too cold. I still think they lose $2 Million in ticket sales this year.

    Let’s add Butch’s buy out to that figure, along with the hefty mortgage on that fancy new academic center/Blue Zone/Free Indoor Club and Suites (that apparently anyone with a ticket can get into, and fit into), and you have yourself a serious budget crisis.

    edit: I forgot about the lawyer fees, the PR Firm’s bills, Withers’ contract (as well as his replacement’s contract), Blake’s buyout, the search firm that was hired to find Baddour’s replacement and don’t forget about the hit they took on those navy blue uni’s!

    As I’ve said before, the athletic department is going to be praying for scholarship reductions by the end of October, just to save a little money! LOL!

    I actually watched a few minutes of their game on Saturday, at random times, just to see if I could spot the bleachers. I was able to see the bleachers, alright. There was a very sparse crowd there, throughout the game.

  5. WolftownVA81 09/15/2011 at 12:06 PM #

    “Nyang’oro was also the instructor of a Swahili course who failed to catch an earlier case of plagiarism by then-UNC football player Michael McAdoo. The issue caused embarrassment for the university this summer when it was discovered that large sections of McAdoo’s term paper were copied from other texts”

    Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/09/15/1490009/ncaa-returns-to-unc.html#ixzz1Y2UVxfan

    You would think Ken Tysiac could have included a shoutout to PP as the discovers of this embarrassment to UNC (for the uninformed masses). And as I recall, wasn’t large sections actually 60% of the paper?

  6. jljones 09/15/2011 at 12:25 PM #

    Definition of futility–61 years of supporting State football with nothing but frustration with an athletic department that produces no results an exhibits no real commitment to excellence. Examples are displayed by hiring no namae coaches at a cheap salary and expapecting to compete with progams who have proven winners at the helm. When we do stumble onto a good coach we always lose him to a school willing to pay him a competitive salaryl. In a word we are cheap and yet we as alums and fans are feed the “Koolaide” of what a great situation we have. Currently we have a less than adequate coach an football staff as evidenced by his results in win/loss % and two years of recuiting NR an at best 3 star athletes. O’Brian has a defensive coach who is a joke yet he refuses to even address the situation. The only ray of hope is that we have an AD who has the reputation for expecting results NOW—not 4 more years of “Koolaide. I live in an area surrounded by SEC and Clemson people who see that we are a non relevent program and if history means anything–always will be unless a commitment from the top is made NOW.

  7. PackerInRussia 09/15/2011 at 1:33 PM #

    “Details of the reasons for the visit were not disclosed, and Best referred all other questions to the NCAA. In an email, NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said that in order to protect the integrity of an investigation, the NCAA cannot comment on an inquiry.”

    So the only thing standing in UNC’s way from disclosing information is integrity. What’s the hold up again?

  8. cWOhLFrPAiCKs 09/15/2011 at 2:01 PM #

    “As I’ve said before, the athletic department is going to be praying for scholarship reductions by the end of October, just to save a little money! LOL!”

    At this point, I’m surprised they haven’t self-imposed those scholarship reductions for that very reason! Hell, the kids are the ones who really get punished in all this, why not make them “pay” for all THIS, too!

  9. TruthBKnown Returns 09/15/2011 at 2:10 PM #

    Saw a post elsewhere on SFN that PP was discussing possible recruiting violations at UNX.

    Any word on that?

  10. primacyone 09/15/2011 at 2:31 PM #

    ^Last I heard, those possible dicussions were still being held and are expected to continue for a while.

  11. Ashman87 09/15/2011 at 5:13 PM #

    Well, remember what Debbie said about UNC and Duke being among the top ten programs financially? If there’s one thing that I know about her, is that she always tells the truth and is very direct.

  12. gotohe11carolina 09/15/2011 at 6:42 PM #

    So BSU loses 9 scholarships for football for letting early enrolment players sleep on existing players floors and couches while BSU’s student housing is closed and UNX fans expect to go free. Man I wish I had those kind of cojones…

    Instead of making the athletic department just scrap the scholarships altogether the NCAA ought to “reallocate” them to the standard scholarship pool. Maybe give out 9 more Moreheads or something to that effect. Maybe if they did it this way the NCAA might not feel so bad about bringing the hammer down when schools get out of line…

  13. runwiththepack 09/15/2011 at 8:04 PM #

    Colors were brighter. Food tasted better. Remember those crisp autumn days of yesterday, when there was, it seemed, a new prong every week in Chapel Hill? I long for those days. sniff sniff

  14. Wolfy__79 09/15/2011 at 9:30 PM #

    i have to admit, i’m not blind to TOB not recruiting the top notch recruits or highly touted ones.. but is that who he wants? i don’t think he’s interested in those kids.. i remember him saying something to the effect that “they don’t know what they’re talking about” when referring to the media’s blue chippers. i can see the difference, but i just don’t see him going after all the 5 star guys. why break his balls on this dead topic. i know he’s not giving us much to talk about with wins this year.. i just see it as black & white and DY will make the tough decisions. i don’t think he’s reach the hot seat and i love to see the emotion from him. i think he’s a good fit in Raleigh and our love for the WOLFPACK.. he just got to win!

    i think the defense is better than what we’ve seen thus far. what we’re missing is our emotional leader (NATE).. so who’s gonna be the next leader. i think that’s all we’re missing at this point. personally, i think its TManning (hometown hero). i don’t really care, just as long as we get someone to step up.

    i also hope to see more out of audie cole.. he’s been, still, a non factor to me thus far.

  15. ppack3 09/15/2011 at 10:13 PM #

    From Brett Friedlander’s article posted above ( comments section):

    September 15th, 2011 11:30 am
    I was at the game. Unfortunately, 53,000 was overstating it by another 10-20,000 fans. Not sure how/why we continue to estimate our attendance, but there were no more than 30,000 fans this past weekend for Rutgers. It’s time we start to face some facts and stop rubbing light blue stain on everything we do. It’s already got us in enough trouble.
    UNC 91′
    by Kevin

    Way to take the blue specs off, Kev.

    On the topic of leaders on our defense…
    Cole is definitely not a ‘rah-rah’ type of guy. But, I recall the sideline reporter at the Wake game saying that T Manning was patrolling the sidelines during the second half, telling his defensive team mates that they had better start playing or get off the field. Manning has that leadership ability, and I think he’s the one guy that is going to bring the ‘in your face’ intensity for the defense.

  16. choppack1 09/15/2011 at 10:29 PM #

    ppack3 – he was definitely in Green’s face after one possession (manning was.)

  17. ppack3 09/15/2011 at 10:58 PM #

    People started running downhill after that point, too. Amerson laid a huge Adrian Wilson type of hit on one guy at the LOS. Manning got a TFL. The interception, etc. Hopefully he turns into the catalyst.

  18. packhammer 09/15/2011 at 11:08 PM #

    Mr. jljones makes an interesting post. I hope you will pose the same question at the end of the season. Are we really serious about winning an ACC Championship, and doing what it takes to get into a position to win one? Our last one was my senior year 1979. I do feel like Sheridan would have won one had he not left (for health reasons). Of course the ACC expansion screwed everyone for a decade with FSU coming in and blowing everyone away. For a while it felt like Chuck had us moving forward and we had the stadium and facilities improvements, thanks to Wendel Murphy and others. Turned out Philip Rivers, an O’Cain recruit, was at the heart of that success. And Amato failed to get enough flashy talent to carryout his plan to bring us into an era of success based on talent alone like they did at FSU. So now we have bought into the “build it slow, build it right, have great success later” model. The reason the Wake loss has some upset is that it does raise this question of whether we have really been drinking the Koolade: We are now in year 5 with TOB, and we were led to believe that after winning 9 games last year, that we now have the solid team/program which will beat the teams we should beat and be competitive with others. Yes, we have turned the proverbial corner. Now contending for an ACC Championship is in sight. Giglio’s N&O article today actually asks the right question: What does the Wake loss mean? I’m not sure he knows just how profound a question that is. But as he says, we won’t really know the answer until much later.

    The question at the end of this season should be: Are we really on track to win or at least compete for an ACC Championship? If the answer is “no” then we have to look for what needs to change to do that. I expect Ms. Yow is focused on the right questions. At least I hope so. I really don’t want to be writing a post in another 30 years angry about having won no conference championship between now and then.

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