Gameday Notes

'11 Football ACC Teams College Football99

October 8, 2011

NC STATE FOOTBALL

Caulton Tudor (N&O)
O’Brien’s audacity of hope

Beat Central Michigan today, then wait for the cavalry – that’s been a big part of Tom O’Brien’s message all week.

The fifth-year N.C. State football coach staked out that path on Monday and talked it up again Tuesday and Wednesday.

But at 2-3 overall and with his defensive unit plagued by what resembles an injury curse, O’Brien has to try to sell hope at this point. There’s no other option.

PackPride.com
CFN’s Take: NC State vs. CMU

What Will Happen: After getting whipped in consecutive weeks by Cincinnati and Georgia Tech, NC State will not squander an opportunity to be the bully for a chance. The Pack will take advantage of the deficiencies on the Central Michigan by establishing the running attack before turning Glennon loose on play-action. Radcliff will pile up the yards through the air, but a return to his turnover-prone ways will stifle the Chippewas’ ability to rally in the second half.

PackPride.com
Week 6: Central Michigan

PackPride.com
NOTEBOOK: Bounce Back For Pack?

Akula Wolf (BackingthePack.com)
CMU In Brief

Kirk Bohls (statesman.com)
Horns’ latest defensive guru Diaz coaches beyond his years
HT: BackingthePack.com

Diaz may well be Texas’ X-factor because he does not mind taking chances, has instilled in his unit a ton of confidence and swagger, and will have his players believing they can contain the nation’s fourth-best offense and 11th most-prolific scoring machine.

With a very small sample, Diaz has shown he might be as dynamic a coordinator as Muschamp, whom he replaced last January. He’s much more likely to gamble than Muschamp, who was as good at adjusting after an opening drive as any coach I’ve seen, and Diaz has never seen a blitz he didn’t love.

The biggest difference between Muschamp and Diaz?

“We’re attacking more than in years past,” linebacker Emmanuel Acho said. “It’s evident in the turnovers (tied for seventh nationally). We’re able to pressure the ball more.”

Mack first heard about Diaz from his brother Watson Brown, whose offensive line coach had worked with Diaz at North Carolina State. Brown said he called Mickey Andrews and picked the brain of the Florida State defensive icon and former Diaz mentor.

“I talked to three unnamed head coaches in the SEC that said they would hire him in a minute,” Mack said.

Andrew Skwara (accsports.com)
ACC Weekend Preview, Oct. 7

Central Michigan (2-3) at N.C. State (2-3)

Time: 3:30 p.m.
Broadcast: ESPN3 (Sirius 117/XM 191)

Key For The Chippewas

Their defense has been abysmal, giving up 41 or more points in each of their last three games. Creating turnovers is their only chance at slowing down the Wolfpack offense.

Key For The Wolfpack

Moving the chains. Central Michigan scored 48 points last week, albiet against Northern Illinois. The Wolfpack must move the ball consistently and put up points of their own to avoid being an upset victim.

Numbers Game

ACC teams are 5-0 against Central Michigan … N.C. State has the lowest penalty yards in the ACC (34.8 per game) but has given up an ACC-high 16 sacks … Central Michigan is 0-3 on the road.

Line

N.C. State favored by 10.5

Prediction

Wolfpack 42, Chippewas 16 – The Wolfpack won’t have any problem getting win No. 3 thanks to facing another weak non-conference foe.

Associated Press
Struggling N.C. State Plays Host To Central Michigan

Jim Young (accsports.com)
Bag O’ Tweets, Oct. 7

Tony Haynes (GoPack.com)
Wolfpack Looks to Limit Big Plays against Central Michigan

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 Teams College Football

99 Responses to Gameday Notes

  1. Tuffy2 10/08/2011 at 1:38 PM #

    I figured I step away for a couple of hours and things would calm down but Dogbreath you have a partner in crime with 61packer. The conditioning program should get the Oscar. LOL! When I mean LOL I mean LOL!!!

  2. sundropdrinker13 10/08/2011 at 1:43 PM #

    Is it just me or does Wilson look a bit “not there” in that picture?

  3. Pack Mentality 10/08/2011 at 2:31 PM #

    Dogbreath is on fire…good work.

    Logarithm, I was a fan of the TOB hire and tried to give him the benefit of the doubt for 3 years. Then year 4 was successful. But year 5 is proving that was the outlier.

    At this point in year 5 I am disgusted with TOB’s performance here. I personally like boring offense if you basically line up, tell the other team what you’re doing, and then go do it anyway. But talent, strength, and blue chip athletes are required for that. Look at Alabama, they could come to State, tell TOB they are gonna run it up the middle on every play, and win by 50.

    Bottom line, less than 7 wins, TOB has got to go. I have no faith that will happen but will still hold out an irrational hope until it is mathematically eliminated.

  4. Pack Mentality 10/08/2011 at 2:37 PM #

    And one more point…

    I disagree with what some people say that TOB does not want the highly talented people but would rather get the diamond in the rough and coach them up.

    I believe that is an excuse that has been manufactured by someone and a lot of people actually buy into it due to some success at BC. But the root cause of that is that he doesn’t want to put in the work that is necessary to get these blue chip players (and he sucks at it even if he did work as hard as other coaches) and this is how he somehow talks his way around that obvious fact.

  5. Vegaswolf 10/08/2011 at 2:44 PM #

    TOB has never once used injuries as excuses. He mentions them when someone asked what contributed to the loss. Reasons are not excuses. But, as I have said before, injuries do not mean he is given a pass for a loss.

    He is still responsible for a loss.

    Moreover, TOB has never not taken blame for a loss. He has said on countless occasions, “We need to do a better job coaching.” Well, obviously.

    But again, he has never used injuries as excuses or not taken blame. That does not mean, however, that he is the answer for State football.

  6. bTHEredterror 10/08/2011 at 3:11 PM #

    PRAISE JESUS!!The red hats are sick, and the black jerseys look pretty sharp, now play some football!

  7. Dogbreath 10/08/2011 at 3:25 PM #

    Uniforms look spectacular. Amazing what stripes on the pant leg add.

  8. Dogbreath 10/08/2011 at 3:26 PM #

    1:1 odds of any team at any level converting on 3rd and long against us.

  9. bsj17 10/08/2011 at 3:28 PM #

    Defense already leaving wideouts open.. I’ve never been more disappointed with our defense than I have this year. I don’t wanna hear the injury excuse either, that’s fundamental skills that aren’t being made.

  10. redcanine 10/08/2011 at 3:31 PM #

    Hello! nice toss, there

  11. Lunatic Fringe 10/08/2011 at 3:37 PM #

    Our kicker continues to be one of our better tacklers on special teams. *sigh*

  12. BJD95 10/08/2011 at 3:38 PM #

    Looks like we’ll get to enjoy some shootout fun. Unis do look fantastic.

  13. BJD95 10/08/2011 at 3:40 PM #

    Also looks like Wake vs. Clemson will decide the Atlantic. Perhaps we should stop predicting and waiting for the Noles to be anything other than mediocre.

  14. Lunatic Fringe 10/08/2011 at 3:40 PM #

    I guess it was too much to ask both the defense to hold them to 3 and out AND special teams not to flub it up during punt.

  15. Lunatic Fringe 10/08/2011 at 3:41 PM #

    BJD – We should also stop considering Manuel a good QB as well.

  16. BJD95 10/08/2011 at 3:44 PM #

    How did we turn it over? Was watching Wake/FSU.

  17. Lunatic Fringe 10/08/2011 at 3:46 PM #

    TJ Graham drops it on the 20 after we forced them to 3 & out.

  18. BJD95 10/08/2011 at 3:49 PM #

    That sounds like something we would do.

  19. BJD95 10/08/2011 at 3:51 PM #

    For those of you who like onside kicks like I do, here comes one by Florida State (down 5 with 54 seconds left).

  20. BJD95 10/08/2011 at 3:54 PM #

    Terrible onside kick, Wake will beat FSU.

    We were 11 point favorites, I definitely would have put $$ on the Chippewas.

  21. Lunatic Fringe 10/08/2011 at 3:56 PM #

    LSU breaking out the whoopin’ stick.

  22. Lunatic Fringe 10/08/2011 at 4:08 PM #

    Wow…two missed calls on same play.

  23. BJD95 10/08/2011 at 4:09 PM #

    LSU and Bama are ridiculously loaded, even by SEC standards.

    Glennon is gonna get his wideouts killed.

  24. BJD95 10/08/2011 at 4:12 PM #

    Our OL would be pretty damned good if we played in the MAC. Great catch by Howard to put the Pack back in the lead. We’ll need every point we can get, cause our defense would suck ass even if we played in the MAC.

  25. Lunatic Fringe 10/08/2011 at 4:16 PM #

    Shots to the head are apparently ok today.

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