So the Pack heads to Wake Forest this Saturday for the ACC opener. This is one of the few opponents that the Pack has historically owned with an all time record of 61-35-6. The recent history, however, has not been near as kind to the Pack. Especially in Winston-Salem with the Deamon Deacons winning the last 3 in a row and 5 of the last 6. The last streak like this for the Deacs was back in the ’50s when Wake Forest was still located in Wake Forest. It’s time to put an end to this crap and take back control of this series.
Last year, the Wake game was the one game on our schedule that I wanted to win more than anything. Yep, even more than the UNC game. Namely because I was tired of hearing my preacher, of all people, talk junk. I proudly wore an NC State red polo to church that Sunday. I’m sure I broke some kind of biblical teaching, but what a great feeling it was. We really should not be losing to Wake and their sub 7,000 enrollment in anything.
The Wake defense lost 7 starters from last year, including 4 NFL draft picks, so Russell Wilson and the Pack offense should/has to be able to make plays. It’ll be nice to play an Alphonso Smith-less Wake team for the first time in like 8 years, right?
On the other side of the ball the Wake offense returns 9 starters so it will be another big test for the Pack defense. If we can contain the misdirection running game and put the onus on highly overrated Riley Skinner to make plays in the passing game it should be a happy day in Wolfpack Nation.
It is the Pack’s first road game of the season so expect a tight one. Hopefully this is the first step in defending our “state championship.” Look for me. I’ll be the one in red.
Let’s take a quick look at the end of the first half in last weeks game against Pitt. The Pack was at the 2 yard line trailing 17-7 when Russell threw and incomplete pass out of the back of the endzone. It was 2nd down and the incomplete pass stopped the clock with 25 seconds left in the half.
On the next play Julian Williams was called for a false start. Still 3rd down and now back at the 7 yard line. After the refs assessed the penalty they incorrectly signaled to start the game clock and our coaches didn’t notice it until they called a timeout with 5 seconds left on the clock.
In my half inebriated state, okay maybe a little more than half but we won’t go there, I was screaming my head off about the 20 seconds we lost. Everybody sitting around me was looking at me like I was some kind of idiot. There may be some truth to that, but not in this case. The clock should not have started and we should have had plenty of time to take another shot at the endzone before having to kick a field goal. As it stood, we had no choice but to kick the field goal and settle for a 17-10 halftime score.
The ACC came out this week and acknowledged that the officials, from the Big East conference no less, had totally missed this call. TOB’s response to the ACC was, “what good does it do me now?” Thankfully we won the game so this is a moot point, but still something that warrants discussion.
I’m not going to harp on officials because I’m thinking about becoming an umpire one day. No screw that, all officials suck! Once I even berated my own uncle because his strike zone was smaller than the actual baseball. I played a lot of sports in my day and I can count on one hand the really good ones that I’ve encountered.
Here in ACC land we’ve been privileged (sarcasm) with some of the worst. Ron Cherry, Jack Childress, and Jim Knight (finally retired) in football and Ted Valentine and Karl Hess in basketball just to name a few. Love you guys, mean it!
View of Toney Baker's game winning TD from my seats
I’m still pumped from last night. Spent all morning re-watching the game, reading newspaper articles, and watching post-game interviews. This winning stuff sure feels good.
Of course, TOB didn’t want to let the fans or the team celebrate this win too much with his post-game comments. I don’t think he really believes that “we’re just not a very good football team right now.” He’s just trying to make sure our guys stay focused and keep getting better. Yeah we made a lot of mistakes yesterday, but that doesn’t change the fact that we dominated most aspects of the game.
The few areas where we did struggle were with penalties and on special teams. The penalties stuff will be corrected. I’m not really worried about that one. The one that does have me worried is the special teams. Let’s face it, right now our special teams just ain’t very special.
Looking back at our 4 games so far, I can only remember one kickoff that was caught inside the 10 yard line. I mean c’mon, even Chad Ochocinco can do that. Our soccer team is currently ranked #16 in the country. Just a thought. Anyway, combine that with a kickoff coverage team that has more holes than my bonus room walls at the end of Wolfpack basketball season and it’s not good news for the Pack. We cannot continue to give our opponents an average starting field position of the 40 yard line.
I don’t even want to go into detail about our punt team. My only request is to scrap the spread punting formation. I know it’s a long ways off, but Virginia Tech will be licking their chops when they watch game film and see that.
With all the mistakes and missed chances the Pack still fought hard and made the plays at the end to pull out the win. As Willie Young so poignantly put it when asked about playing Pitt, “you have to get your grown man on.” Well we got our grown man on Saturday night and it was a lot of fun to watch.
Wow! That was an awesome game. Absolutely HUGE win for the Pack. Probably one of the top 5 games I’ve ever seen at Carter-Finley. This is one of those games that we will look back at later and say it was a season changer.
Russell Wilson was incredible. Man I hope he forgets about the MLB draft and sticks around for 2 more years. He is so much fun to watch. Tonight he throws for over 300 yards passing and almost had 100 yards rushing. Sick stats.
Toney Baker looked great too. He’s starting to look like the dynamite running back that was recruited by every major college program in the country. Great game for him tonight.
Big props have to go out to the O-line (well except Teddy Larsen and his atempt to give away the game there at the end). They opened running lanes most of the night and they gave Russell a lot of time in the pocket. The offense is definitely clicking on all cylinders right now.
I was worried about the defense tonight and they struggled a lot early. We were getting shredded by the run and when they did pass we were blowing coverages and leaving receivers wide open. Late in the game, with the outcome on the line, the defense stepped up big and absolutely shut down Pitt. The biggest stop being after the bad snap that gave Pitt the ball inside the 10. Freshmen Terrell Manning and Brandan Bishop both made big plays on that final stop.
Wolpack Nation was pumped and ready for this one and kept Carter-Finley loud and rocking all night even with the steady mist/drizzle that would not go away. Great crowd. Suck on that Paul Zeise.
The big test for our team now will be dealing with success. It’s great being 3-1, but the ACC schedule starts next week at Wake and we need to go over there and take care of business.
So Pitt comes to town for a big time showdown tomorrow afternoon. This is a HUGE game, the most important in the TOB era so far, for the Pack for many reasons. We need to prove that the SC game was not us, we need to build good momentum heading into the ACC schedule, and we need to win our home games and start making Carter-Finley a true home field advantage.
Speaking of that last point. Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had this to say about Pack fans and Carter-Finley Stadium, “When has anyone ever talked about N.C. State being one of the tough or most hostile road venues around? I don’t think the crowd will be that much of a factor.” Wait a sec there Mr. Zeise, nobody bad mouths Carter-Finley (that is, after all, what I want to name my first born son). Those are fighting words for me. I might just have to pull some strings and make my way up to the press box and introduce myself to this chump. The fans have been great so far this season, but tomorrow is a big test for us as well. Everybody needs to bring their “A” game.
I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the last time we played Pitt. It was the 2001 Tangerine Bowl and Pitt led by Antonio Bryant dominated the game. It wasn’t even as close as the 34-19 score indicated. Me and some buddies made the trip down to Orlando for that game. It was one of the few times in the Philip Rivers era that the Pack never had a chance. The game was so bad that the highlight of our trip was the homeless guy.
Me and my buddies were all under 21 and looking for a way to get some beer. There was a convenience store across the street from our hotel and we saw the homeless guy hanging around it. We walked over and asked him to get us some beer. He agreed, we put in our orders, and gave the guy our money. We tried to watch as he went in to make sure he didn’t just take our money and run, but we had to be a little inconspicuous since we were doing something illegal. The homeless guy was in the store for what seemed like 30 minutes (probably more like 5). He came back with the cheapest 12 packs in the store and definitely not what we had ordered. He had no change for us either. Unbeknownst to us there was also an ABC store inside this particular convenience store and our homeless guy friend had saved enough money that he picked himself up a fifth of liquor for his troubles. That was some expensive cheap beer, but it was oh so good.
So I have a little revenge on my mind tomorrow. I might even have to do some digging to see if I can find the “Puck Fitt” button from that trip. Most of the media is picking Pitt, but Vegas still has it in our favor. The teams looked fairly evenly matched and we get Vermiglio, Jamelle, and Clem back from injury. We need to find a way, no matter how ugly or pretty, to pull out this win. GO PACK!!!
So the national feel good story of the year is Miami’s 2-0 start. All the gurus and pundits are talking about their “return to glory.” Good for them. I’m glad they’re giving the ACC some much needed good publicity, but I have a problem with their supersonic rise in the polls.
Before the season they were picked by the media to finish 4th in the ACC … Coastal Division. Looking at the AP poll they were the 10th team in the “others receiving votes” putting them at #35 in the country. So what does a 2-0 record get them? Well a jump all the way up to #9 in the country. Of course. Happens to everybody, right?
Well let’s take a look back at the 2002 season for a little bit. NC State, led by the great Philip Rivers, started the season just outside of the AP top 25. With a 9-0 start to the season that NC State team’s rise through the rankings by week went like this: NR, 25, 21, 19, 17, 17, 16, 14, 13, 12, 10. A 9-0 start and we barely crack the top 10.
So is the culture of college football. It’s all about the big names and the no names.
I’m sure you’ve all wished at some point or another that you could listen in to what Tom O’Brien and his staff talk about on their headsets during a game. OK, maybe I’m the only Wolfpack fanatic that has, but some of you have to admit that you’re slightly intrigued about what is said. Well I got the opportunity to fulfill a dream late in the fourth quarter of yesterday’s game against Gardner Webb and here are a few snippets of what I heard. Enjoy!
While Mike Glennon was in the middle of being sacked and fumbling the ball, Coach Bible yells, “F*************CK!!! Get Mike on the phone right NOW!”
Later, Gardner Webb had the ball and broke the huddle with only 10 men on the field. The coaches send a player running in from the sideline and Coach McCollum goes irate yelling at the officials, “C’mon where’s the flag! They can’t do that!” Coach Archer chimes in from the pressbox, “Chill out. Yes they can. Yes they can.”
Near the end of the game as we’re trying to run out the clock, Gardner Webb stuffed us for no gain on an off tackle run. Next play Coach Bible calls the same run just flipped to the other side and solemnly proclaims, “They’ll probably stuff this shit too.”
With yesterday’s win over Gardner Webb we finally have our first winning record of Tom O’Brien’s tenure. Yeah so our 2 wins are against FCS schools, but this is a different feeling today in Wolfpack Nation. The last time the Pack was over .500 was back on Oct. 5, 2006 when the Pack, led by Daniel Evans and Geron James, beat the Seminoles 24-20 on the ESPN Thursday night game. Wow, that’s been a long time. Thank God that streak is over.
Speaking of streaks, big Congrats go out to Russell Wilson for breaking the NCAA record of most pass attempts without an interception. After having to watch quarterbacks like Davis, Stone, Evans, and Beck over the last several seasons this has been a much needed sight for all Wolfpack fans. In addition to the record, Wilson looked very sharp setting new career highs in completions, attempts, yards, and TDs.
Yesterday was another dominating performance against an inferior opponent, but this one came with a price. Freshman playmaker Rashard Smith sustained a dreaded high ankle sprain on a punt return and deep threat receiver Owen Spencer suffered a grade 3 concussion on a pass at the goal line. It’s still too early to tell, but I doubt either plays next week.
On the other side of the injury report, it was good to see DeAndre Morgan and Donald Bowens back in action. DeAndre looked good and should be in line to start next week while DBo looked okay, but seemed to me that he was still a little tentative on that repaired knee. If DBo can get back to 100% he would be a big boost to the offense and give us that elite #1 receiver that we’ve been lacking for quite some time.
Next week’s 3:30 pm tilt with Pittsburgh is absolutely HUGE. We have a chance to make up for our lackluster performance against South Carolina and build some momentum going into the ACC schedule. This game also gives O’Brien another shot at the big non conference win that has eluded him so far here at State. This is a litmus test game that the Pack needs to win.
Last night I took my little bro out for his 21st birthday. Been planning this for a couple years and it lived up to the hype. My two goals heading into the night were: show my bro a good time and make him puke his guts out. Mission Accomplished! My bro just needs to learn that it’s better to puke in the bathroom than while a girl is giving you a dance, but other than that it was a huge success.
So now it’s Gardner Webb gameday. My bro has recovered nicely so it shouldn’t affect his gameday duties. The team had a good week of practice so hopefully they come out and take care of business early. Gardner Webb likes to run more of a wide open spread offense so it’ll be a new test for our young defensive secondary. After 2 games the Pack D is ranked as the #2 defense in college football. It should remain that way for at least another week.
I should be tailgating right now instead of sitting in my bro’s apartment writing this blog entry. The whole 5 hour tailgating restriction still chaps my rear end. We need to start a movement to right this wrong. Anyway, I’m off to grab some lunch and wait in line until the parking lots open at 1:00. Go Pack!
Most of you know this, but that’s NC native and former NC State student Zach Galifianakis. Per his IMDB bio, he was one point in his final college class away from being an NC State alum. I’d love to know which professor failed him by one point. Hopefully he’ll come back one day and finish up his degree. Anyway, with all the stupid stuff that gets on the jumbotron during games how has this clip from The Hangover not made the cut … minus the whole strippers and cocaine part? Somebody needs to make this happen.
So yesterday I think I added a few guys (and gals) to my Wolfpack. I sent out the email so I expected it to be the busiest day for the site, but 49 unique page views …. Wow! Thanks everybody. I’ll try my best to keep you informed and entertained.
Now for a few quick practice updates. Several players have missed practice(s) this week with the swine flu bug that’s been affecting many sports teams around the country. Luckily it looks like it’s only gonna keep 2 players, Jay Smith and Julian Williams, from playing on Saturday. Clem’s hamstring will keep him out this week. Bishop took most of the first team reps in practice so he’s likely to get his first collegiate start in his place. Finally, both Bowens and DeAndre returned from injury to practice, but Bowens still hasn’t gone in full pads so doubtful that he plays.
