The 2012 recruiting cycle is in the books. If you want to check out the bios and videos of each NC State commit here is the GoPack Signing Day Central.
Another ho-hum recruiting class for the Pack that ranked 8th (Rivals), 9th (Scout), and 9th (ESPN) respectively in the ACC. Not too good if you plan on actually fulfilling the whole “Champions on the Football Field” part of the motto that we’ve been hearing from TOB since he arrived at State. I’ll go in-depth on my thoughts of the class later, but first here’s how TOB feels about it:
Excitement … Anticipation … Disappointment … Hope … Satisfaction … Relief. Those nouns describe the roller coaster of emotions that little kids go through leading up to and through what they call the best day of the year … Christmas. For college football coaches it’s called National Signing Day, which falls tomorrow.
It’s a little different in that most of the recruits have already verbally committed, but there’s always some last minute surprises that make the day interesting. Even though most of the classes are already set, I’m sure that most coaching staffs in the country still sit anxiously around the fax machines waiting for the National Letter of Intents to come in making it official.
Recruiting has become it’s own sport within college football. John Brandon of Grantland.com put it best, “Only a good winemaker can make good wine, but nobody can make good wine out of bad grapes.” DFCF’s translation, you can’t win if you don’t have good players. TOB recently sat down and chatted with college football recruiting guru Tom Lemming about his recruiting philosophies. Here’s the video:
TOB has never been a great recruiter, which listening to him talk is pretty understandable. He continues the “champions on the football field” mantra, but it’s hard to win championships when you’re finishing in the bottom half of your conference in the recruiting rankings year after year. I’ll discuss that in more detail and talk about the commits that I’m the most excited about tomorrow after TOB’s presser. In the meantime, here’s a good NC State Signing Day Snapshot by the guys over at ACC Sports Journal.
I hope everybody enjoyed the holidays. The holidays are always better for me when the Pack is in a bowl game and a bowl game win is the best so it was happy times in DFCF land. Best wishes to everybody in 2012. Before I move on here are my Belk Bowl thoughts and the final Pack the Caption of the 2011 season (photos by Ethan Hyman/N&O).
State improved to 14-11-1 all-time in bowl games (has won 5 of past 6) and won bowl games in consecutive seasons for only the 4th time in school history.
TOB now has a career 8-2 bowl record (2-1 at State).
David Amerson added 2 more INTs to his already impressive season to set the ACC single-season INT record (13) surpassing UNC’s Dre Bly’s record set back in 1996. Amerson’s INT return for TD was the play of the game and the deciding score.
Mike Glennon finished a pretty good season with 264 yards passing and 3 TDs earning himself Belk Bowl MVP honors.
It was a Special Teams nightmare for the Pack … a botched punt (led to Louisville TD), allowed Louisville to convert a fake punt (led to Louisville TD), and allowed Louisville to recover an onside kick (State defense nullified). And we continue to have one assistant coach that’s dedicated solely to handling Special Teams … unbelievable! Hard to win a game after getting dominated like this on Special Teams, but we found a way to get it done.
The key to the Pack’s season this year was the defense’s ability to force turnovers … 3 more in this game raised the season total to 39, good for 2nd best in the nation.
Hey Teddy ... it's the Boogeyman!!!
You complete me!
Interceptions: Easy as 1, 2, 3
Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake your booty
Guys, who pissed in the Gatorade cooler?
Also, ncsu01 does a great job of putting together highlight videos of NC State football games. Here’s his Belk Bowl highlight video:
So it’s almost a week later and I haven’t commented on the Maryland game yet. Sounds about right. I’m still in shock and disbelief that we actually pulled off the win. I was so pissed that I left the game at halftime to go back out and tailgate. We were watching it on the TV and once we started playing good I couldn’t go back in to watch it in fear that I would jinx us. Yep, that’s how my twisted mind works. A co-worker of mine couldn’t believe that so I told him, “I’d stay out in the parking lot every game if it meant we would win.” And that statement is 100% true.
There’s not much else I can say so I’ll let the photos (by Ethan Hyman/N&O) for this week’s Pack the Caption do the talking:
It's about to get ugly so you better hide in your turtle shell now...
Fear this German ... punks!
AHHHHHH!!! This roller coaster ride is amazing!!!
This next one … Wow! … could go so many ways. This is the definition of the sports cliche “giving you a softball.” Swing away.
Russell's got nothing on my white guy dancing skills!
Bonus Photo: This photo was actually from the Clemson game, but I just wanted to use this caption. (And, yes I’m being a little sarcastic.)
'Cause all I do is win, win, win, and if you goin’ in, put your hands in the air, make 'em stay there...
What a comeback for TOB & Co. Congrats fellas and I’ll see you at the bowl game!
Wow! What a game. Everybody has been talking about how that was just “Clemson being Clemson”, but I argue that wasn’t the case at all. That was NC State giving Clemson what we call down here in the South … an old fashion ass whoopin’.
We came out a little slow in the opening quarter, but then we took over and absolutely dominated every phase of the game after that. A very impressive job all the way around by the players, coaches, and fans. It was a loud, joyous atmosphere in and around Carter-Finley yesterday. It’s games like this that make this sport the best. I love it! I’m compiled the best pictures (all by Ethan Hyman/N&O) from the Textile Bowl victory celebration. Enjoy!
This was a great win for TOB, ranking right up there with the 41-10 win at Carolina in 2008 as the best wins of his tenure here at State, but it doesn’t change how I feel about the guy. We’ll see what he can do next week against Maryland, the worst team in the ACC (fear the turtle … ha!).
In typical TOB fashion, the Pack lost on the road against an inferior opponent just a week after a huge upset win in a rivalry game. TOB continues to struggle mightily against the ACC Atlantic Division with a 5-18 overall record that includes an atrocious 0-13 record on the road. The only thing more mind-boggling is that there are still State fans that think TOB is a good coach and the right one for our program. Barf!
The Pack defense was on it’s heels a little on the opening drive of the game letting BC march right down the field for a touchdown, but after that they put the clamps down. The Eagles only had the ball for 11:52 in the 2nd half and was bottled up to the tune of -2 total yards of offense. There’s not much more you can ask your defense to do. The defense was bad early in the season, but has improved dramatically as it’s allowed 14 points or less in 3 of the 4 games since the bye.
The Pack offense, on the other hand, struggled for the 4th game in a row. Over the 4 games we’ve averaged a very anemic 267 yards and 11 points (taking away the defensive touchdown at Virginia). The offense hasn’t been that good all year either as it’s currently 100th in the nation in yards per game (331.7) and 83rd in points per game (24.3). The offensive line is still mediocre at best, Glennon has hit a wall in the past few games, and the play calling has been overly predictable and conservative.
That’s my somber thoughts from the game. I just want to forget about it so this week’s Pack the Caption is an abbreviated version (photos by Stephan Savoia/AP):
TOB’s record in Atlantic Division road games is 0-12. No, that is not a typo. In 5 years as NC State head coach TOB has yet to win on the road in our division in 12 games. I think any random person could take a team and accidentally win one game in 12 tries. A mind boggling stat for sure, but one that TOB needs to put an end to this Saturday against BC if 1) he wants to make a bowl game and 2) he wants to return as NC State football coach next year. Boston College is not a tough place to play so we have to find a way to get the job done.
Stadium: Alumni Stadium (capacity 44,500)
Head-to-Head Results: BC leads the all-time series with a 3-5 record.
Head Coach: Frank Spaziani (3rd season, 18-18) … This is his 15th season on the BC coaching staff, including all 10 years of TOB’s tenure.
Players to Watch:
RB Rolandan Finch(#28, So.) missed last year with a torn ACL, but has been the workhorse of the BC offense this year as he’s filled in for injured running backs Montel Harris and Andre Williams. He leads the Eagles with 568 rushing yards on 126 carries (4.5 ypc) and 3 TDs. He’s also caught 10 passes for 81 yards. Against Maryland he had 39 carries for 243 yards and 2 TDs.
LB Luke Kuechly (#40, Jr.) is an absolute beast for the BC defense. He leads the Eagles and the nation with 150 tackles in only 9 games (16.7 tackles per game). He has 10 or more tackles in 31 straight games. He also leads the team with 8.5 tackles for loss and 2 interceptions. He’s a surefire All-American and likely Butkus Award winner this year so he is the engine that makes their defense run.
Offensive Summary: The Eagles have struggled on offense all season as they’ve only been able to score 18.4 points per game (113th in the country). QB Chase Rettig has not been good at all and they have been without the services of Preseason ACC Player of the Year RB Montel Harris. The last time we traveled up to Chestnut Hill Montel Harris rushed for a BC-record 264 yards so expect the Eagles to run the ball early and often.
Defensive Summary: The BC defense is young at a lot of positions, but they have All World LB Luke Kuechly that can cover up a lot of holes. They have struggled all season with creating turnovers (only 7 INTs and 3 fumble recoveries) and getting to the opposing quarterback (only 8 sacks) so that’s two things to watch for in this game. I think we will use a very similar offensive gameplan as last week and force BC to stop the run.
Keys to the Game:
1. No UNC hangover … last week’s game was a huge emotional win for not only the team, but the entire fanbase as well. As good as TOB has been at getting the team ready to play against the Heels he’s been equally bad at getting the team to overcome the UNC hangover effect. We have to come out and match the intensity we played with last week.
2. Turnovers … we lead the nation in interceptions and our 10th in turnover margin. The big equalizer in college football is turnovers. That’s when upsets happen. If we protect the football and/or create more turnovers on defense we should be in good shape.
3. Hidden yardage … the special teams were great last week (Baumann pinned UNC inside the ten 4 times), but have been shaky at times this season. The coverage units have struggled most of the year as we’ve given up good starting field position time after time. Our defense should be able to contain the Eagles offense so we have to limit the big kickoff/punt returns and make them beat us the hard way.
Prediction: BC is not a very good team at all, but TOB has yet to win an Atlantic Division road game (0-12) in his 5 years at State. There is no reason at all to lose this game. If we do then TOB should be shown the door. I don’t care if it’s a blowout or we win by one point, you have to win this game.
As one of my Twitter followers very aptly put it the other day, “a win over the Tarholes makes everything 1,000 times better.” Five wins in a row and that feeling is even greater. Is this what heaven feels like?
All the engineers in my office are NC State alums so I don’t have to deal with the constant pompousness from Carolina fans that I know exists. Most of you out there are surrounded by Carolina fans and subjected to this stuff on a daily basis. I hope you are thoroughly enjoying this week!
Outside of work, it’s not a coincidence that I don’t have many friends that are Carolina fans. Of the few that I do reluctantly call friends, only 2 actually went to school there. I guess that’s how it works with the “flagship” school of the state (click here to hear Gary Hahn’s radio call). I don’t like hanging out with Carolina fans more than I have to, which always brings me back to this? No way in hell for this guy!
Well enough of me ranting on and on about how much I hate Carolina. I’m gonna go back to celebrating. I know everybody can come up with good captions for this week, so let me hear ‘em (photos by Ethan Hyman, Chuck Liddy, & Robert Willett – N&O).
Hey Everett, losers that way.
1, 2, 3, 4 ..... 5!
You invited Tom? I thought Tom gave you the creeps?
Jazz hands!!!
Bonus Photo: Come up with your best/funniest MasterCard Priceless parody.
During the post-game singing of the alma mater a few fans up in Section 9 lowered the UNC flag to half mast (link to video). Here’s a picture of it in all its glory.
With all the smack talk coming from the Tar Heels (coaches, players, and even former players) leading up to the game, this was a perfect way to signify the way we dominated not only the game, but the whole rivalry week. I’m sure all Everett Withers was trying to do was get his players fired up for the rivalry, but his choice of words proved to be a huge miscalculation and his plan backfired big time.
TOB even used the Withers audio in his pregame speech to the team and boy did it work. A week after looking very lackluster, our team came out for this game with more intensity, focus, and motivation than we’ve seen all season. For all of TOB’s shortcomings, and he has plenty, it sure is nice that he understands the hatred in this rivalry and gets the absolute best effort out of his team for this game. This year a huge assist goes to Withers. Should TOB send him the game ball? [burn]
“We talked about it (Withers’ comments). We’re like the farmers and they’re the educated people, I guess. Whatever. We won and the farmers will be happy on Monday going to work.” — Audie Cole
“I give all the credit to them for firing us up for this game.” — Terrell Manning
“It showed us he (TOB) has our back and has the university’s back. He took it personal and added some fire for us. It was out character for him, so we really understood how much it meant to him.” — Mike Glennon
“This was a great win. It’s a great win for this football team. Kids in that locker room and even coaches on this coaching staff have never lost to North Carolina. But all we did today was tie the record (five straight wins over North Carolina). Next year, we get to go try and set it.” — TOB
Also, I heard from somebody that was around Randy Woodson at the game Saturday that the chancellors did not exchange apologies as was reported. Woodson accepted an apology from Holden Thorp, but did not issue any aplogies back since he didn’t have a reason to. Kudos Randy!
With rivalry week now over, my lingering question is … if you have to come out and declare yourself the “flagship” school of the state, is that really the case? I’ll tell you this, there was one team/university that acted like a flagship school this past week … and it wasn’t the one that wears that pansy ass blue.
In case you’ve been hiding under a rock here’s what you’ve missed this week:
All I can say is it sure has been nice to have a little spice put back into this rivalry. I could have done without the two Chancellors lamely apologizing to each other, though. If I was Randy Woodson I would have laughed in Holden Thorp’s face and told him how big a douche he is. Too harsh? C’mon, that’s why they call it a rivalry. Go to hell Carolina!!!
Head-to-Head Results: UNC leads the all-time series with a 63-31-6 record (first game was 1894), but the rivalry has been pretty even recently. The series is split 7-7 over the past 14 meetings with eight of those being decided by 8 points or less. State has won the last 4 in a row, but three of those wins were by a combined 9 points so it hasn’t been in dominating fashion. With a win this weekend, State would match its longest winning streak in the series (5 in a row from ’88 – ’92). The Vegas underdog has won 10 of the past 14 games outright and, good news, Carolina is a 3.5 point favorite in this one.
Interim Head Coach: Everett Withers (1st season, 6-3) … took over a month before the 2011 season started after Butch Davis was fired amid an NCAA investigation.
Players to Watch:
QB Bryn Renner (#2, So.) was a highly rated prep QB that has played very well for the Heels in his first year as starter. He’s completed 72.7% of his passes for 2,195 yards, 19 TDs, and 9 INTs. Had a 4 turnover game against Clemson two weeks ago, but played his best game of the season last week against Wake (21 of 28 for a career-high 338 yards and 3 TDs).
RB Giovani Bernard(#26, RS-Fr.) has been an absolute beast for the Tar Heels in the running game this year. Has 965 yards on 168 carries (5.7 ypc) including six 100-yard rushing performances to go with 11 rushing TDs. Also has 243 yards receiving and 1 TD. Will be the first Tar Heel to run for 1,000 yards in a season since Jonathan Linton did it back in 1997.
WR Dwight Jones(#26, Sr.) is a big, explosive receiver and the go-to guy for Renner and the Heels. Leads the team with 54 catches, 841 yards, and 8 TDs. Should see a lot of coverage by State’s Amerson so that will be one of the more intriguing matchups to watch.
DE Quinton Coples(#90, Sr.) is the biggest NFL prospect on the Heels defense. Right now ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. has him listed #7 on his Big Board. Has great size, strength, and athleticism so will pose a big problem for the struggling NC State offensive line. Has 35 tackles, 7.5 TFLs, 4.5 sacks, and 1 forced fumble.
LB Zach Brown (#47, Sr.) is the team leader in a lot of statistical categories (62 tackles, 9.5 TFLs, 5.5 sacks, 2 INTs, and 2 forced fumbles) on defense. He’s also another highly rated NFL prospect per Mel Kiper Jr. (#21 on the Big Board). Here’s what Kiper has to say about Brown, “An absolute flyer, isn’t big, but he can get after the quarterback, and also back up and cover like a safety.”
Offensive Summary: The Heels have a very balanced offense with some very athletic skill players so they can be very tough to defend. The winner in this series is usually the team that runs the ball best so I expect the Heels to run the ball early and often. If I was the Pack, though, I’d stack the box and make Renner beat me.
Defensive Summary: This isn’t last year’s Heels defense, but they are still very formidable.They are very active along the front seven with several NFL caliber players that can take over and dominate a game. They really struggle in the secondary, however, so expect the Pack to put pressure on them by taking some shots down the field.
Keys to the Game:
1. Good start … We have only scored 24 first quarter points all season and 0 against BCS conference opponents. We have to come out with some intensity and get on the scoreboard early.
2. Big plays … Our team (offense, defense, and special teams) has lived off the big plays. It would be nice to just grind out a win, but we don’t have the horses for that so we have to get some big plays Saturday and keep the Heels from having any big plays of their own.
3. The trenches … We have struggled the most this year on the offensive and defensive lines. On offense we haven’t protected Glennon very well and haven’t been able to run the ball consistently. On defense we have struggled stopping the run and getting pressure on the quarterback. We have to find a way to reverse these trends.
Prediction: As much as I want the Pack to win, I just don’t see it, but it’s a heated rivalry and you never know what’s going to happen. I do know this … DFCF is gonna be loud, so apologies in advance to those that sit around me. Go Pack!
