Tuesday Tidbits

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September 13, 2011

NC STATE FOOTBALL

J.P. GIGLIO (N&O)
Pack back to basics, work on defense

Instead of ordering a dose of Bear Bryant’s “Junction Boys” gridiron justice, N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien decided to give his football players a day off the field after its deflating 34-27 loss at Wake Forest on Saturday.

No extra wind sprints or sweat-until-you-bleed drills for the Wolfpack, just film review on Sunday and the regularly scheduled day off on Monday.

“I didn’t understand what was going on at first,” senior receiver T.J. Graham said. “I was ready to get back to practice. It threw me off.”

Since the next two games will come in a six-day span, O’Brien said he used Sunday as a chance for extra rest. He also promised, after what safety Brandon Bishop called an “embarrassing” effort on defense, the team will get back to basics.

“We have a couple of guys, in our analysis, who haven’t been practicing all that well, and they better start practicing well or they’re going to continue to play poorly,” O’Brien said. “That’s my fault and the coaches’ fault. We’ve got to make that happen.”

O’Brien didn’t name any names but said the offending players are on notice.

“They’ve been told,” O’Brien said. “And they’ll be told again.”

Matt Carter (TheWolfpacker.com)
Monday Morning quarterbacking

GoPack.com
O’Brien Wants Pack to Learn from Mistakes

Despite nearly piloting NC State back from a 21-point third quarter deficit on Saturday, head coach Tom O’Brien could not hide his disappointment in the result at Monday’s press conference at the Murphy Center.

“The only good thing about the Wake tape is that [the team] was as disappointed, or more disappointed than I was about it,” said O’Brien. “We have to practice better, and go back to the fundamental aspects. A lot of the breakdowns were individual things that allowed big plays to happen.”

Depth Chart: NC State vs. South Alabama

Akula Wolf (Backingthepack.com)
Week Two By The Numbers

NC STATE BASKETBALL

Andy Katz (ESPN)
Mark Gottfried will make the leap for Pack

The plan is for Gottfried to latch onto a trusted tandem jumper and land at the 50-yard line before kickoff of Wolfpack’s home football game against South Alabama. The person who will be guiding Gottfried to land is the same man who helped former President George H.W. Bush jump on his 80th birthday.

“I figured if he could survive it, I could survive it,” Gottfried said. “The No. 1 reason is to bring attention to our military, since it’s military appreciation week. I want to say thank you to them. But we’re also trying to get attention for NC State basketball.”

ACC FOOTBALL

TIM STEVENS (N&O)
N.C. can’t keep top football recruits at home

North Carolina’s top college football prospects are hitting the road again this year.

Five players on the ESPN.com top 10 list in the state have committed to out-of-state schools and ESPN recruiting analyst Dave Hooker wouldn’t be surprised to see the other five choose to leave.

Traditionally, many of the top players have left the state to play college football, but a combination of factors might make this year’s senior exodus even more pronounced.

“The state of North Carolina is in play this year,” Hooker said. “The coaching change at the University of North Carolina opens things even more than usual and other schools are coming into the state looking for their players.”

TIM REYNOLDS – AP SPORTS WRITER
Hurricanes changing sideline access rules

Boosters will no longer be permitted on the Miami sideline during home football games, a change that comes after a former donor who had field access at times sparked an NCAA investigation by claiming he provided 72 players and Hurricane recruits extra benefits over an eight-year span.

The moves go into effect starting with Saturday’s home opener against No. 17 Ohio State. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the updated policy Monday.

Some of the changes are sweeping, including a policy that anyone without a game-day operations purpose – even administrators, trustees and deans – will no longer be able to receive field-access passes. Some university employees will be permitted to escort guests such as donors and potential donors onto the field during pregame warmups, but they must stay in a designated area on the visiting sideline and leave shortly before kickoff.

SPORTS NETWORK
BC’s Rogers takes leave of absence for health reasons

Boston College offensive coordinator Kevin Rogers is taking a leave of absence because of health reasons.

Head coach Frank Spaziani made the announcement Monday, saying tight ends coach Dave Brock will take over as acting offensive coordinator and will coach the quarterbacks.

Brett Friedlander (starnewsonline.com)
ACC REPORT CARD: Too many teams at C-level

N.C. State, C-: If you’d have told Wolfpack fans Saturday morning that their new QB Mike Glennon would throw for 315 yards and three touchdowns against Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon, including two of 60 yards or longer, they’d probably figure on celebrating Saturday night. But that’s not what happened. Despite an encouraging second-half performance by Glennon, a breakout performance by WR Tobias Palmer and strong efforts from its freshman punter and place kicker, State left Winston-Salem a loser for the fifth straight time. The reason for this loss was a suddenly porous defense that was supposed to be the team’s strength. Yes, some of the defensive struggles can be traced to injuries that sidelined three of the Wolfpack’s top defensive linemen. But that doesn’t account for all the wide open receivers down the middle of the field, the missed assignments on two trick plays that went for touchdowns and Deacons’ 8 for 16 performance on third down. Afterward, coach Tom O’Brien called out his leaders for not doing enough, and he has a point. Just ask senior captain George Bryan, whose drop helped end the Wolfpack’s final drive and seal its fate.

Andrew Skwara (ACC Sports Journal)
ACC Football Power Rankings, Sept. 12

9. N.C. State (1-1, 0-1 ACC)
Remember the theory that the Wolfpack defense would be much improved this year and help make up for the loss of QB Russell Wilson? It’s looking awful shaky after State gave up 337 passing yards in its loss at Wake Forest. Head coach Tom O’Brien is now 26-26 and 14-19 in ACC games since leaving Boston College (where his tenure ended with eight straight winning seasons) to come to Raleigh.
Upcoming Game: Saturday vs South Alabama (2-0)
Previous Ranking: No. 6

JIM YOUNG (ACC SPORTS JOURNAL)
Second Thoughts On The ACC Weekend, Sept. 12

Russell Wilson Does Not Play DT

Look, I’m as guilty as anyone of helping to build the legend of Russell Wilson. Some of it’s been tongue-in-cheek and a poke at Big Ten folks who are treating him as a previously undiscovered gem as opposed to a known commodity. But most of the praise I’ve heaped on him has been legit – I think he’s a fantastic player.

That said, going the Wilson vs. Glennon route after N.C. State’s loss at Wake Forest is missing the point. Yes, Mike Glennon got off to a slow start in that game. But he also came on strong, throwing for 263 yards and three touchdowns in the second half. His fourth-down 63-yard TD pass to T.J. Graham was a thing of beauty; he showed poise and precision in the face of intense pressure from the Demon Deacons.

Speaking of pressure, that was something Tanner Price didn’t face much of against the Wolfpack. He did get sacked three times, but more often he had plenty of time to throw, particularly in the second half when N.C. State desperately needed stops to keep its comeback on track. Price’s protection was in part a testament to the improvement of Wake’s o-line. But it was also an indication of how much injuries to defensive linemen J.R. Sweezy, Jeff Reiskamp and Thomas Teal have hurt State.

Maybe State wouldn’t have fallen so far behind if Wilson has been at quarterback. Who knows? What is certain is that the Wolfpack needs reinforcements on its defensive line soon, preferably before it dives back into conference play.

NCAA

FREDERIC J. FROMMER – ASSOCIATED PRESS
College players worth 6 figures

The average fair market value of top-tier college football and men’s basketball players is more than $100,000 each, and the athletes are entitled to at least a portion of that, a new report from an advocacy group argues.

Instead of getting what they’re worth, the players receive athletic scholarships that don’t cover the full cost of attending school, leaving many of them living below the poverty line, says the report, “The Price of Poverty in Big Time College Sport.”

A national college athletes’ advocacy group and a sports management professor calculate in the report that if college sports shared their revenues the way pro sports do, the average Football Bowl Subdivision player would be worth $121,000 per year, while the average basketball player at that level would be worth $265,000.

MULTIMEDIA/PODCASTS

The Tom O’Brien TV Show (9/11/2011)

In this week’s episode, Head football coach Tom O’Brien breaks down the Wake Forest game with host Tony Haynes. Mark Thomas visits with offensive lineman Wayne Crawford and previews the Pack’s next game against the South Alabama Jaguars.

PC: Bishop, Graham Meet The Media

“The blueprint it out there with what teams can do to us and what teams are going to want to do to us the rest of the way. Until we stop it. Tackling in space and limiting the yards after catch is a big thing for us.”

O’Brien: Pack Lacks Leadership

“I made the comment after the game that we have to find some leadership, we’re still searching for it. What happened when Sweezy got hurt, the whole dynamics of that unit changed. We have to be able to survive without that. We haven’t been able to find that one person to make it work. You find guys that are really important to units.”

The ACCSports.com Podcast. Sept. 13

Joe Ovies, afternoon cohost on 99.9 The Fan in Raleigh, and Jim Young have returned with another edition of the ACCSports.com Podcast.
A few of the topics they discussed: the close calls that Clemson, Virginia Tech and UNC endured; the ongoing problems for BC and Duke; N.C. State’s woes at Wake Forest; and the ACC action coming up this weekend.

Also, Bud Elliott – publisher of the FSU blog, Tomahawk Nation – drops by midway through the podcast to preview the Seminoles’ huge matchup with Oklahoma.

Bishop calls defense versus Wake “embarrassing”

NCSU safety Brandan Bishop expected better out of the Pack defense after two weeks.

Graham seeks faster starts

NCSU wide receiver T.J. Graham says the Pack offense has been sluggish in at the beginning of practices as well as games.

O’Brien wants defense to get to the quarterback

NCSU head coach Tom O’Brien admits losing three of his top pass rushers on the defensive line to injury has hurt the Pack.

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 ACC Teams College Basketball College Football Football Recruiting Mark Gottfried Multimedia

22 Responses to Tuesday Tidbits

  1. Gowolves 09/13/2011 at 8:47 AM #

    The ship can be righted but there is little room for any more screw ups. This team better understand the urgency. I know its early but the season can get away from them quick if they do not find the solutiuons on defense. That includes the coaches too. Archer I am talking to you!

  2. 61Packer 09/13/2011 at 9:01 AM #

    Being dominated most of the game by a mediocre Wake Forest team with a QB operating on a bum leg tells me this ship won’t go far. I just don’t see a crew capable of stopping the sinking, regardless of how many points we run up on another cupcake Saturday.

  3. wolffpride 09/13/2011 at 11:25 AM #

    2 games into the season and now everyone is calling for TOBs head. It is just one game. How many to times does a National Championship team play a game that they wish they could have back, win or lose? I will admit that I am severely let down that our D has been so soft. But I know they have the talent and ability to be good. Our secondary has been worse than last years and it is the same guys, so I know they can play better. The injuries up front have hurt, but truth is we still got good pressure on a 4 man rush. Especially considering the line we were playing against. Our blitz was ineffective because they mass protected on most third downs. Plus we shut down the run for the most part. If the coverage picks up (granted a lot) then we will be where we need to be. We can still go 9-3 or 8-4 which is a good season. If that happens then I do not want to see a single post from any of you haters that are calling for a regime change.

  4. Deucepeters 09/13/2011 at 11:43 AM #

    I am extremely disappointed in TOBs inability to accept most of the responsibility for poor performances at the coaches level. Unimaginative and predictable play-calling was the issue against Wake and his pointing fingers at the players is cowardice. Where does the buck stop?

  5. WolftownVA81 09/13/2011 at 12:19 PM #

    Agree with Deucepeters. Where is the accountability? Archer should have been gone after last year and I’m affraid TOB will pay the price for the decision to keep him on.

  6. Gowolves 09/13/2011 at 12:32 PM #

    Duecepeters,

    If you have read any and all of his comments since Sat. he has called out his coaches as well.

  7. eas 09/13/2011 at 12:41 PM #

    Wolffpride, I don’t thing most people are calling for TOB’s head yet but they want him to step up with the coaching changes.

    Archer…..well that is a different story. Most people have been calling for his head for almost 5 years (including myself). He was a bad hire then as much as now. The problem is that TOB refuses to address the Archer issue for whatever reason. This in turn may very well lead to TOB’s head.

    The team currently looks like an Amato team with much less passion BUT much less 5 star egos. So I guess that is a good thing but we really need to motivate the players and COACHES somehow.

  8. packhammer 09/13/2011 at 12:45 PM #

    Accountability comes at the end of the season. I expect Mr. Archer has already had some very uncomfortable conversations with the Head Coach. TOB was embarrassed and angry about what happened Saturday. If we were going to have a shot at the ACC Championship this year, this was a must win. Not that all hope is lost, it is just a much higher climb now. Our guys should have known that at every level and have been sky high for this game. I have to question what in the world they were practicing and talking about in preparation for Saturday. To come out as flat as we did and let Wake run all over us for three quarters is just very dissappointing. Come on you guys get it going! I want to see NC State win a bloody Conference Championship before I die or am too old to go to the games anymore. Seriously.

  9. wolfbuff 09/13/2011 at 12:58 PM #

    “The team currently looks like an Amato team with much less passion”

    I wouldn’t go that far. It’s not fair to question the team’s passion and caring just because they are more disciplined and don’t throw off ESPN soundbites in their interviews.

    On the topic of the Tom O’Brien show, I watched it week 1, but just can’t stand the drawn out, self-answering questions by Tony Haynes. Get to the frickin point, Tony! And let the coach answer the question. It’s as if Tony is interviewing himself. Those 2 remind me of SNL’s “The Delicious Dish” parody of NPR, only without the humor.

  10. TruthBKnown Returns 09/13/2011 at 1:19 PM #

    O’Brien Wants Pack to Learn from Mistakes

    I want O’Brien to learn from HIS mistake and replace Mike Archer.

    The defense played pretty well ONE year since TOB arrived, and that was last year. That was also due to the D-line being so strong that it MASKED the problems in our secondary. Maryland exposed them in the final regular season game.

    With a weak D-line (which is what we have right now, since three D-line starters are out with injury), our weak secondary is exposed. Teams with even an average QB will find ways to pick us apart.

    A quick fix is to get the D-line strong again, but that’s a band-aid. As long as we have Archer, the defensive schemes just aren’t going to work.

    I also believe TOB is a seasoned head coach. He will ride this out and replace Archer ONLY when the pressure gets to be too much for him. He will then replace Archer and buy himself a few more years.

    The sooner we provide that pressure, the sooner he’ll replace Archer. Let’s not allow TOB to hold that trump card any longer than we have to.

  11. TruthBKnown Returns 09/13/2011 at 1:23 PM #

    TOB doesn’t need to call out his coaches. He needs to replace at least ONE of them. You can’t get blood from a rock. Archer is only capable of so much, even if TOB calls him out.

    REPLACE ARCHER NOW!!!

  12. Gowolves 09/13/2011 at 1:27 PM #

    I don’t think our secondary is all of sudden weak. They are better but if you can’t get any semblence of a pass rush you can’t guard your man for 5 to 7 seconds. Eventually the WR, TE, etc will get open. I don’t care if you have DR and AN at the corners.

  13. Ed89 09/13/2011 at 1:28 PM #

    ^^^The defense played pretty well ONE year since TOB arrived, and that was last year. That was also due to the D-line being so strong that it MASKED the problems in our secondary.

    While I agree with the first sentence, I would say that it more due to one All-ACC linebacker, Nate Irving.

  14. TruthBKnown Returns 09/13/2011 at 1:32 PM #

    I don’t think our secondary is all of sudden weak.

    They aren’t all of a sudden weak. They’ve been weak. They’re all of a sudden EXPOSED as weak. A strong D-line puts a lot of pressure on opposing offenses so they can’t pick our secondary apart as well. Maryland did it in the last game of last season. We were exposed then.

    We have a weak D-line right now because of injuries, and that has exposed our secondary. But we’ve had a weak secondary since TOB arrived.

  15. TruthBKnown Returns 09/13/2011 at 1:34 PM #

    While I agree with the first sentence, I would say that it more due to one All-ACC linebacker, Nate Irving.

    No need to nitpick over the reasons. You’re right, we WERE strong on the D-line because of Nate. But that’s beside the point. That strong D-line MASKED the weak secondary. Remove the strong D-line (like we have this year due to injuries) and the weak secondary is exposed.

    This is all on Archer. Tenuta (and Irving) were the reasons for our strong D-line last year. But it was just a bandaid.

    We won’t fix our defense as long as Archer is around. His defensive schemes aren’t working.

  16. TOBtime 09/13/2011 at 1:52 PM #

    If they don’t start practicing well they will continue to play poorly? Huh? Really?
    How about if you don’t practice well your rear end goes on the bench? And this REALLY includes you Mr. All-American TE Bryan.

    The talent is there on D albeit thin on the D-line. It isn’t being utilized. Who comes up with the utilization plan?

  17. JeremyH 09/13/2011 at 2:15 PM #

    Has Tenuta taken on a reduced role or left? I thought that he was brought in to help address Archer’s weaknesses, and serve that role quite well last year.

  18. MrPlywood 09/13/2011 at 2:43 PM #

    “If they don’t start practicing well they will continue to play poorly? Huh? Really?
    How about if you don’t practice well your rear end goes on the bench?”

    that

  19. TruthBKnown Returns 09/13/2011 at 6:04 PM #

    Has Tenuta taken on a reduced role or left? I thought that he was brought in to help address Archer’s weaknesses, and serve that role quite well last year.

    The strong D-line masks the weak secondary. Last year we had a strong D-line, so our defense was better (overall). The weak secondary wasn’t as much of a problem for us. We took care of business at the line (most of the time).

    Now we’ve lost Nate Irving, and we have three starting D-linemen out with injury. We’re no longer taking care of business at the line, so our weak secondary is exposed. Without personnel on the line, Tenuta can’t really do what it takes to help our defense.

    The problem is Mike Archer, and will not go away as long as he’s still around.

    SFN: We get it. Stop being a broken record. You keep posting the same thing over and over.

    TBKR: The person to which I responded obviously did not get it, but point taken. When I feel strongly about something, and want to see something done about it, I tend to harp on it at every opportunity. I’ll tone it down a little.

  20. camel77 09/14/2011 at 10:45 AM #

    TruthBKnown Returns Irving was a linebacker not a defensive linesman. With all the injuries and having to play inexperience players on the front line, is not allowing the linebacker do what Irving did last year. Therefore, it is harder on the secondary to keep the coverage on the receiver with no pressure up front.

    I’ll agree that Archer needs to shape up but where would find a good qualified coach to replace him in mid-season?

  21. TruthBKnown Returns 09/14/2011 at 10:57 AM #

    I didn’t say Nate was a lineman. I know he was a linebacker. I said we lost Nate Irving. I also said we lost three starting D-linemen to injury. I combined them in the same thought/sentence because all four of those players are starters that put heat on opposing offenses and took pressure off our secondary.

    The point is that we are NOT putting much pressure on opposing offenses (up front) now, due to those personnel losses. Something needs to change in the secondary if we’re not going to bring the heat up front. Playing soft in the secondary is not working. It’s not slowing teams down, nor is it preventing the big play. We need to pick one or the other and do it (at least until we can get more pressure up front).

  22. JeremyH 09/15/2011 at 3:33 AM #

    thanks for the explanation TruthBKnown.

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