Winless against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents, N.C. State's season doesn't get any easier with a visit from No. 21 Georgia Tech on Saturday.
The Wolfpack (2-2) will face the No. 1-ranked offense in the country without four of its top eight defensive linemen.
Defensive tackle Brian Slay (ankle) and defensive tackle A.J. Ferguson (knee) join end Jeff Rieskamp (shoulder) and tackle J.R. Sweezy (foot) on the injured list after Thursday's game.
Speaking of that matchup, see 131 photos from Thursday's game.
The depth chart for Georgia Tech, released by the school on Monday, features three freshmen and two sophomores and only one presumed preseason starter (tackle Markus Kuhn) in the spot he was expected to start.
Wolfpack coach Tom O'Brien said Darryl Cato-Bishop will move inside to replace Slay at tackle and McKay Frandsen will start for Cato-Bishop.
That's the same spot Sweezy, who has missed the first four games and is not expected to return Saturday, was supposed to anchor.
"We're down four defensive tackles," O'Brien said. "We moved Cato-Bishop inside, we're going to play with a walk-on inside. That's where we are."
And then in a zen-like, Yogi Berra fashion, O'Brien said: "You can't play if you don't have your guys there to play."
Jacob Kahut, a junior from Wake Forest, is the walk-on O'Brien referenced. He played in the second quarter of the 44-14 loss to Cincinnati last Thursday when Ferguson and Slay initially got injured. Ferguson returned to the game but he was not listed in the depth chart, neither were Rieskamp (out three games) or Slay.
The Wolfpack gave up 503 yards of total offense in Thursday's loss, including 240 yards on the ground. The Jackets, 4-0 for the first time since 1990, are averaging 630.5 yards per game, tops in the country, with 398.7 coming on the ground (which is second nationally).
O'Brien did not have updates on Sweezy or running back Mustafa Greene, who have both missed the first four games. He said they have not been cleared to return.
O'Brien said a decision to redshirt Greene, the team's leading rusher as a true freshman, would not be made until the team's open date in two weeks.
Comments
Injuries
Tue, 09/27/2011 - 16:06 — willncsuOne year, maybe two with this many injuries is a fluke. When you have three (four?) out of five years with this many injuries, the coaches are doing something wrong in practice.
Something's not right
Wed, 09/28/2011 - 11:24 — JPDOhioCould it be lack of (or the wrong kind of) conditioning, with players getting tired too soon making them more susceptible to injury? Or could it be that they have too many players who just don't get the program and become tentative, which also opens them up to potential problems?
Can't know for sure, but it seems to me that the confusion on defense and the lack of intensity on offense can be factors in this phenomenon. When you are sure of yourself and play with confidence and drive, you tend to react more quickly and are better able to withstand pounding. You deliver more than you take. The opposite also applies.
While I don't know for sure what the reason may be, so many injuries in 4 out of 5 years is more than just a fluke.
Reason
Wed, 09/28/2011 - 12:03 — SurferJust a thought, but could it come down to the general type of player that TOB recruits? Or maybe his conditioning approach? I don't know, just looking for a common thread.
Wrong fan saying this
Wed, 09/28/2011 - 21:52 — gvillegatrBut Toby doesn't get the recruits ND doesn't want any more. Just saying.
Down 4 DLs
Tue, 09/27/2011 - 13:48 — mad_maxI thought we were missing Thomas Teal as well, but perhaps he's back now?
Problem with Wison at NCSU?
Tue, 09/27/2011 - 00:40 — trun11It seems many people (and analyst) think Wilson caused trouble at State and was basically kicked off the team. Am I wrong in my understanding that it was simply a matter of TOB had a highly recruited player in Glennon, and wanted his QB to commit to the program? Also, this season proves how important a qb is in college....
Yes
Tue, 09/27/2011 - 13:39 — mad_maxYou are wrong...about everything.
Many people? Analysts? Who exactly is saying this...or is it just your opinion?
Your last line is truly a classic. This season is showing us how important a competent defense is in any level of football. QB play has not been the problem for State. Have you even watched the games, or are you just trolling?
Keep drinking the Glennon Kolkata
Tue, 09/27/2011 - 15:10 — gvillegatrHis two int's directly led to Cinncy points and he ultimately led his team to two scores against an avg team .
Ha
Tue, 09/27/2011 - 15:34 — mad_max-20 rushing yards gatr. Glennon can't carry the offense by himself. I think most would agree that QB play is not the problem on this team.
Of course, haters like you will continue to act like Glennon is the next Jay Davis, but in reality, he's playing just as well as your QB that you have nothing but praise for.
Does anyone really think that State would have won against Wake or Cincy if they had RW instead of MG? Guess what...RW never won in Winston Salem either, and I doubt he would have lined up at DL in Cincy.
Your continued bias and obsession with State football is amusing. When State loses with RW, it's because the team sucks. When State loses with MG, it's because MG sucks. If Russell played, perhaps we only would have lost 44-21.
And
Tue, 09/27/2011 - 16:41 — gvillegatrGo back and look at the UNC GT thread. I said Renner was regressing. I can and do call all out if needed.
Bias
Tue, 09/27/2011 - 16:33 — gvillegatrNo bias here. I just feel like I can be more objective than you. You'll disagree, but that's fine.
Your entire team is bad, Max. That includes MG. But it is all you have to hold on to bc of the RW fiasco. You'll go to your grave saying, "MG wasn't the problem; it was everybody else."
MG hasn't been able to move his team anywhere under a normal circumstance. It is only after you guys are getting sh*t canned and the defense backs off a bit that he starts to do well and then were only talking about throwing the ball in the air a max of ten yards as the receiver or whoever does the rest.
But getting back to this bias and hate you claim I have for ncsu ? Well, congrats, it is bc of you it is there. Prior to finding ACCNow, I didn't have any hate for ncsu. I still don't outside of ACCNow. It's just a handful of you here bring it out of me. :)
You never know
Mon, 09/26/2011 - 23:13 — JPDOhioThis is a classic case of a game the Pack has absolutely no chance to win. So how many times have you seen an upset in a game like this?
ncdawg09 got it right. The offense needs to carry the day until the defense gets healthy. An upset this weekend and a win against a weak Central Michigan team and we're 4-2 and hopefully getting some guys back on the field.
Problem is that the best thing would be to keep Tech's offense off the field and the Pack isn't exactly a grind-it-out offense. Now would be a good time for the O-Line to start playing to its potential. Hasn't done much of that so far, at least as far as the running game is concerned.
Cliche, yet simple solution
Mon, 09/26/2011 - 21:03 — ncdawg09Look, the best defense we can plan for on Saturday is to field a good offense. No matter how bad the defense, if our offense can get into shoot out mode - from the word go (not starting in 4th quarter) - then we have a game. Even if we give up 700 yards, maybe the Jackets will get butter fingers and hand it back to us a time or two. If Glennon, Bryan, Graham, the running back committee, and most important, the O-line, get their collective acts together, then Saturday could be entertaining.
entertaining
Wed, 09/28/2011 - 12:01 — SurferNo doubt.
Ugly
Mon, 09/26/2011 - 20:11 — gevaliait's going to be ugly this weekend, that's for sure. They are strongest in the nation in rushing and we have to be one of the weakest defenses. Even before all the injuries we were lacking depth, now it could be even more painful than Cincy. 600 yards rushing? easily possible! What is the conference record? you better check the books before this game. And with us being unable to run the ball and occupy the clock it's possible GT will not even have to use their punter!
The bottom line.....yes, we have lots of injuries....why?.....and we started with no depth......add them all togather and new scoring records see likely.
After 5 years of TOB we should be in better shape than this! 4-8? likely.....2-10 quite possible. If we don't start recruiting better this may be the norm, not an exception.
TOB as YODA
Mon, 09/26/2011 - 17:56 — ViperRetWhy did I have a vision of TOB as YODA? I guess because YODA was very pessimistic with his young proteges and would encourage them to do MORE when the protested that they could not do certain things (like levitate a fighter out of the swamp).
Maybe we, the mighty pack, would be better off if we had YODA offering encouragement. He would tell the players to "use the force". Perhaps someone needs to do a voice over of Obi One...."Luke (fill in the blank), Luke (FIB), USE THE FORCE...".
What we need are some Jedi warriors on the D line and they do NEED to use the force. That would also be a GREAT thing for the Defensive Secondary. If they could close their eyes and visualize WHERE the receivers were headed and then anticipate THOSE routes, maybe they would not be standing there with their Jocks faked right off their bottoms.
I KNOW that Mike Glennon would be pleased with ANY FORCE (even from the DARK SIDE....you know the kind that John Blake recurited). Our O Line lacks FORCE. Even RW would have had a ROUGH time scrambling and getting yardage. He would have to do Jedi styled flips and leaps to avoid those pesky tackers. It is also probably time to send Glennon to work with Yoda or Obi One. If HE could close his eyes and be ready to throw the ball BEFORE the big defenders (who were NOT properly detained at the line of scrimage), then we would have MORE points. He needs to improve his "missle" lock and fire timing NOW, not later.
Maybe Coach needs to take them to a Star Wars 6 pack feature run and let them get all the FORCE they can absorb. Remember how great Darth Vader's reflexes were when he won the race, like a pint sized Jeff Gordon, and his freedom. WE need that type of reflexes and then we can deal with tendency to take the easy way out later on.
TOB, may the FORCE be with you......This IS year 5 and even though your record is a bit better than Coach Lowe's, THERE will be a meeting of the Jedi Council chaired by Master Yow that will NOT be pleasant.
Lol
Tue, 09/27/2011 - 13:44 — mad_maxWow. I didn't know Eric Foreman posted on the blog!
Injuries?
Mon, 09/26/2011 - 17:30 — RetiredNoBossIt is what it is, Coach...deal with it.
Yeah
Tue, 09/27/2011 - 13:47 — mad_maxIt's not like this team is dealing with real "adversity" like that team in blue last year...
With a capital U
Mon, 09/26/2011 - 16:24 — SurferTOB made need some zen-like influence, or whatever JPG was referring to, cause this is not shaping up to be a very pretty picture. Then on the other hand, shaking things up with some other people playing D, may yeild some improvement?