Dave from Carter-Finley

Today I took my semiannual trip to the dentist.  Woohoo!  With all the Diet Dr. Pepper I drink (I’m addicted to that stuff like Tiger Woods is to … women) it’s a miracle that I didn’t have any cavities, but everything checked out good so no worries.  How does this relate to NC State football?  Well everything I do somehow relates to NC State football.  For example, the dump I just took ran through me like Travis Leggett (21 car, 129 yds) ran through the second team Defense at the Kay Yow Spring Game.  Where else can you get Spring Game analysis like that?

Anyway back to the dentist visit, when my dental hygienist was done poking sharp pointy metal things around in my mouth for half an hour she tried to schedule my next visit for October 28 … the day of the Thursday Night ESPN game vs. Florida State.  It took me about five milliseconds to start telling her why that wouldn’t work.  Come to find out she’s a Carolina fan, most likely of the Walmart variety.  What a shame, I was just starting to like this dentist office.

So if I haven’t bored you to death or grossed you out, let’s move on to some more Spring Game analysis.  I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again … you can’t take too much away from a Spring Game.  It’s good for the coaching staff because they can evaluate progress (or lack thereof), see younger guys/walk-ons in game like situations, try out different things, and work on specific situations.  It’s also good for the fans because it gives us a chance to tailgate (I might not have been at Carter-Finley, but I was still tailgating on Bald Head Island) and get a taste of football to hold us off until the Fall.  I’m not going to go through all the stats (go here for that) because most don’t tell you much, but there are a few that do.  Here’s the things that really stood out to me:

• More than 20 regulars were held out with injuries so only 46 scholarship players participated.  Most of these injuries were nothing more than minor tweaks.  With so much time to heal before actual games begin I’m a little curious why they were all held out.  Smells a little fishy to me.
• The secondary is still very bad.  Mike Glennon is a great talent, but he’s our second team QB with the following career stats: 24 of 39 for 248 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.  Against our first team Defense his Spring Game performance was 21 of 38 for 423 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.  Most of the time it looked way to easy too.
• The Offensive Line is still not the strength that it should be.  They can pass block, but it still seems like they aren’t physical/nasty enough to dominate the line of scrimmage in order to run the ball effectively.  James Washington had 12 carries for a paltry 27 yards against a Defensive Line that is a huge question mark heading into next season.  These stats can be a little misleading because Dana Bible does get very pass happy and absolutely abandons the running game at times.  Even so the Offensive Line has got to get more push and open up more holes for the running backs.
• The defense worked on adding the 3-4 all throughout Spring Practice, but I didn’t see any in the Spring Game.  [Note:  I was watching on Pack Pass so I could have missed it.  Correct me if I'm wrong.]  It will be interesting to see how and when we implement this into game plans this season.
• Nate Irving was only suppose to play in the first half of the Spring Game for precautionary reasons.  Nate had other plans, though, and didn’t want to come out so he played the first series (maybe two) of the second half against the will of the coaches.  You have to love his passion for the game and it sure is great to have him back on the field.
• Jeff Ruiz can punt a pretty good ball … when there’s no rush in his face.  Knowing that can we scrap the stupid spread punt formation.  Here’s where the worn out cliché ‘trying to put a square peg in a round hole’ comes to my mind.

Our team still has a long way to go before Western Carolina comes to Carter-Finley on September 4th.  I’ve examined the schedule backwards, forwards, sideways, inside out, and upside down and I still can’t find more than five wins (best case scenario).  The one thing I can say for certain is … it’s going to be a long, agonizing four months waiting for the season to get here.

I have to say I’m a little giddy tonight with it being the eve of Spring Practice.  Not because I’m particularly excited about this team, but more so for the fact that we’ll be getting football news for the next month and a half.  TOB begins his 4th season at the helm of the Wolfpack Football program with a lot of questions and concerns following the 2009 season that began with such hope and expectations.  Here are a few questions that I’ll be monitoring closely throughout Spring Practice.

1. Is Mike Glennon ready to take the reigns at QB if needed? Whether it’s because Russell Wilson goes into the MLB draft, gets injured, or for some other unknown reason, Glennon has to be ready to play at a high level this fall.  We know he has the physical skills and the pedigree of being a QB in the ACC.  He’s been patiently waiting in the wings and learning everything he can for two years.  Now it’s time for Glennon to put it all together and live up to the hype that surrounded him coming out of high school.
2. Can our defense improve its fundamentals? Last season our defense played worse fundamental defense than some Pop Warner football teams I’ve seen in the past.  With some of the piss poor tackling, horrendous angles, and lack of play recognition by our defense it looked like some of the guys had never played football in their life.  Yeah there were some holes in our scheme (i.e. having Audie Cole cover Jacoby Ford 30 yards downfield), but most of our problems on defense were fundamental that should be able to be corrected this Spring.  Our Spring theme is “Back to Basics” and nowhere is that needed more than on defense.
3. Will Nate Irving return to his 2008 form? While the defense lacked fundamentals last year, it also missed Irving … the unquestioned emotional leader and biggest playmaker.  It’s kinda crazy to expect Nasty Nate to be that same guy, but that’s exactly what Wolfpack Nation is counting on, me included.  With the injuries he sustained from the car crash it’s not going to be easy, but if anybody can do it that person is Nate Irving.
4. How will the young O-line come together? TOB and O-line coach Don Horton, have the reputation of having great O-line play and churning out NFL O-linemen.  There has been a few glimpses of that so far, but no consistency.  With the group of young guys (Zach Allen, Denzelle Good, Sam Jones, Andrew Wallace, Duran Christophe, and Camden Wentz to name a few) they have assembled, there’s reason to believe they can gel and become one of the strengths of the team.
5. Will anybody else step up? Russell Wilson and Nate Irving classify as gamechangers, but that’s about it.  We have lots of talent, but we really need more guys that put fear in the hearts and minds of opposing coaches.  Guys like James Washington, Morgan Alexander, Terrell Manning, and Rashard Smith could fit into that mold.  Hopefully sooner rather than later.

I’m sure some of you are probably wondering about injuries.  Yeah I’m not going to deny that injuries have been bad so far in TOB’s tenure, but it is now Year Four and TOB and Co. should have the program positioned where it has the depth to withstand these injuries.  Injuries happen to every other college football team in the country and most teams battle through it.  Sometimes it seems like we love to use it as an excuse any chance we get.  I for one am tired of hearing about it.  Let’s just strap it up with who we have, play our butts off, and win some damn football games.

I will be checking in a little more frequently during Spring Football practice so stay tuned and follow me on Twitter for practice updates and maybe even some breaking news.

Wilson had his day with the Racers soft D

Murray State must have thought they were coming to Carter-Finley to play a flag football game.  The Pack absolutely dominated the Racers in our most lopsided victory since the mid ’90s.  There’s nothing really to analyze here since Murray St. was such an inferior opponent, but it was nice to see our guys come out sharp and ready to play from the opening snap.

Past games like this have seen the Pack sleep walk through the first quarter, look very sloppy all day, and only win by a couple touchdowns.  We have often fell into the “play to the level of your competition” mode in the past and that was definitely not the case in this one.  Hopefully we can keep that going for this weekend’s tilt against Gardner Webb.

This game doesn’t prove much of anything about our team except for the fact that we are not as bad as we looked in the South Carolina game.  Still can’t say we are ready to win the ACC championship, but now we are at least moving in the right direction.  The conference is still down so nothing is impossible if we can continue to get better.

OK, I said I wasn’t going to analyze the game, but I’m going to anyway.  So I lie every now and then, just don’t tell my mom or wife that I admitted to that.  Anyway, I’ll try to be quick and to the point.  The defense tackled better.  The O-line blocked better.  The receivers caught the passes thrown to them.  We didn’t fumble on our first play of the game (Murray St. did).  Russell looked sharp and quick.  Pretty much looked the exact opposite from the South Carolina game.

A lot of freshmen played in this game.  RJ Mattes,  Rashard Smith, and Earl Wolff continued to impress with the latter two getting their first start.  Wentz and Bishop burned their redshirts.  Glennon, Washington, and Barnes got extended playing time with both RBs scoring their first collegiate touchdowns.  With a lot of sophmores also on the two deep, the future looks bright for the Pack.