N.C. State has made major changes to its starting lineup in the secondary after giving up 361 passing yards to Wake Forest and quarterback Riley Skinner in a 30-24 loss Saturday.
The Wolfpack is turning to experience in an attempt to eliminate mistakes at the safety positions. Senior Clem Johnson is replacing freshman Brandan Bishop at free safety. Senior Bobby Floyd is taking over for redshirt freshman Earl Wolff at boundary safety as N.C. State prepares to play host to Duke at 4 p.m. Saturday.
"The freshmen, they were overwhelmed a little bit by the scope of the game come Saturday," coach Tom O'Brien said. "Even though they are very athletic and probably good prospects down the road, I figure we'd better settle down and go with a little more experience this week."
O'Brien also made a change at boundary cornerback, where sophomore Justin Byers is scheduled to start ahead of senior Koyal George. Byers was recruited as a cornerback and is more suited to that position, but started eight games at safety last season because N.C. State was thin at that position.
Field cornerback is the only position in the secondary where a starter from last week is listed atop N.C. State's depth chart. But junior DeAndre Morgan has company at that position, where he's listed as a possible starter along with redshirt freshman C.J. Wilson.
N.C. State also moved redshirt freshman Terrell Manning ahead of Dwayne Maddox at boundary linebacker.
"He has natural recognition skills in there," O'Brien said. "I think he's starting to play a lot faster because he's starting to feel a little more comfortable. In our terminology, he plays downhill. He attacks the line of scrimmage well."
Comments
We have three problems...
Tue, 10/06/2009 - 13:02 — willncsu1. Our WR's cant catch anything.
2. Tackling is pretty bad.
3. Our special teams play has been absolutely atrocious.
All of these things should improve as the season goes on. We do not face a better QB for the rest of the year. Our secondary should not be as much of a problem.
i dunno
Tue, 10/06/2009 - 13:15 — gvillegatrBut these same wr's couldn't catch the ball last year. tackling doesn't change if hasnt through 5 games and ST's has been horrible b/c they can't tackle (revert back to #2). you'll still be fine and more than lkely win 8 games and go to Charlotte. it is an upgrade from last year and the following year should be even better.
it really depends on how RW plays. it is really that simple.
It really is that simple.
Tue, 10/06/2009 - 22:46 — JPDOhioFootball could be the most over-analyzed sport of all. But this year, the Pack will go as far as RW takes them. Period.
Problem
Tue, 10/06/2009 - 11:46 — Steven252525It is game 6 and we have not found the right combination. That tells me it is going to be a long season.
The Pack....
Mon, 10/05/2009 - 22:54 — ncdawg09Will be just fine.
Bomani Jones
Mon, 10/05/2009 - 21:10 — gvillegatrdid anyone hear him go crazy at the end of his program b/c some guy was insuating he was racist. I dunno, bout racist, but he clearly has a bias ...
I'm wondering if he still has a show after nearly dropping MF on the air as well as a few other choice words.
?
Tue, 10/06/2009 - 02:06 — izzykareemwhat was it in reference to, anything in particular?
who else ...
Tue, 10/06/2009 - 10:24 — gvillegatrbut Brett Favre.
Bomani was kinda hatin on him and a caller called in and talked about Favre winning all the time. Bomani went bizerk when the caller started referencing black QB's. then insinuations started ... on both sides. pretty heated. you can find it on-line.
I heard it...
Tue, 10/06/2009 - 13:00 — willncsuHe really lost it. It was hillarious!
Stay focused
Mon, 10/05/2009 - 16:42 — bullish88Nate is gone, too bad for our defense, cause we need him desp'ly this year. So we move on to younger, more inexperienced players. TOB is an awesome coach, remember he called it last week when we won vs Pitt, we are a bad team, it just took a game like Wake for us to realize what he was saying. Three things are problem areas, two of which come from inexperience...penalties and missed tackles. You can't have a scholarship in this league and not know how to tackle. Just these two problem areas prbly cost us the Wake game but another problem is harder to fix. The playbook and offensive play-calling unit sucks. It's ALWAYS up the middle for no gain on 1st, and opponents know it. Time to mix it up, esp on 1st down and confuse the defense, and try some short passes in the flats, or try some pitchout runs, anything to confuse the defense. Wake met us at the ball on nearly every play, except for the Wilson scrambles, and this is offensive coaching prblm...not as easily fixed as penalties and missed tackles. Cause you have to fix the offensive coach first! Coaches, please try something else, you can't blame the OL this week, Wilson had all day in the pocket, so much so, I think HE even was looking for a holding flag on a couple of occasions.
Suggestion
Tue, 10/06/2009 - 10:44 — JPDOhioWhenever you start to feel down about the offense, do what I do. Close your eyes and visualize Harrison Beck under center. That simple exercise does wonders for your perspective.
Nate!
Mon, 10/05/2009 - 16:21 — FurbishLousewartI miss Nate Irving :(
Sad loss
Mon, 10/05/2009 - 15:12 — Steven252525I'm a little down on Tom O'Brien. The Wake games and other like it are the ones we brought him here to win. I think he will improve long term, but it is year 3 thinks should be getting better at this point. 6-6 is my prediction from here on out, sad really, considering I thought 9-3 was possible.
Patience, Steven
Mon, 10/05/2009 - 22:13 — JPDOhioState's 3-2 and could be 5-0 in spite of the obvious problems that are well documented. Fact is that the Pack has improved each year and is likely to continue to improve this year. How quickly they improve will determine whether they finish 9-3, 6-6 or somewhere in between.
Most of State's issues can be attributed to inexperience and youth. As is clear from this thread, TOB is continuing to make adjustments to find the right combination. There is a lot a good to go along with bad, but with time, the shift will be to the good.
Just hang in there. The best is yet to come.