Cutting through the post-Pack gloom
It’s easy for Wolfpack fans to wallow in the aftermath of Thursday night’s loss. And yes, it was hardly an inspiring performance by the Pack.
Thirteen games into the Tom O’Brien regime, the state of State’s offensive line is not markedly improved — worrisome, given O’Brien’s resume in that department.
(He didn’t win all those bowl games at Boston College with Rich Rodriguez’s running game. Was that an attempt to utilize Wilson’s talent — or disguise State’s weakness in the trenches? Either way, it’s hard to believe he’ll stick with the shotgun when his center threw as many interceptions as his QBs.)
At this point, looking at the schedule, three wins may seem like a best-case scenario. But all is not lost for the Pack. They have nine days to recover and regroup for William & Mary, a game that will be a world away from the nightmarish environment of Williams-Brice Stadium.
They were down 3-0 at the half, the defense looked solid and Andre Brown showed some spark before it all fell apart. Any team that has its starting QB carted off the field in Columbia is probably going to struggle in the second half, and that’s what happened.
Piggybacked onto the Maryland game, it’s an ugly way to start the season, but here are a few counterpoints to some of the negatives.
1. It’s unfair to judge any of State’s three quarterbacks on their performance Thursday. Wilson wasn’t ready for a road game at an SEC team with a great defense, but you have to figure O’Brien was hoping that while his mobility would be an asset, the learning experience would serve State well down the road. If Wilson returns reasonably quickly, that may in fact be the case.
By the time Daniel Evans and Harrison Beck were in the game, the Gamecocks’ defense smelled blood and State’s offense was totally flustered. Few QBs are going to succeed in that situation. They may not have picked up any positives, but you can’t hold the negatives against them here.
2. State’s defense has potential. The Pack wore down in the second half thanks to a seemingly endless series of three-and-outs and turnovers by State’s “inept” offense, as Caulton Tudor aptly put it.
They couldn’t stop the run in the second half and benefitted from some atrocious QB play on South Carolina’s part, but on the whole the Pack looked quick and aggressive.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t get any easier for State. After the William & Mary game, they have to go back south to the hellish confines of Death Valley to play what should be the best team in the ACC. Still, you have to expect a better two-half performance out of them on Sept. 13 if the offense can hold up its end of the bargain.
About the blogger
Luke has worked for The N&O since 2000. He covered the Carolina Hurricanes and the NHL before becoming a sports columnist in August 2008. A native of Evanston, Ill., he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He can be reached at 829-8947 or luke.decock@newsobserver.com.
Comments
ACC blues
Wed, 09/03/2008 - 23:28 — Anonymous (not verified)Have thought for years that State should really consider moving to 1AA - they are usually good enough to be competitive at that level and would probably be in the playoffs every year, even with the decrease in the # of scholarships. The idea that bringing in the superschools like Miami, Florida State, BC would make everyone in the ACC stronger just has not proved true - instead those programs are declining to the mediocrity of State and the other "original" ACC schools. What a tradeoff for more $ ! The old ACC was better off - a cycle of an occasionally nationally competitive season for State, UNC, Clemson and a fair chance of playing in second tier bowls vs. the new regime with mostly 3-9 or 4-8 seasons to look forward to, 5-7 will probably be considered a really good season for State in years to come.
Everbody take a deep breath....
Mon, 09/01/2008 - 10:22 — Papa Chuck (not verified)Hold on folks, this is ONE GAME. Yeah we looked bad, but let's hold off on the "Run O'Brien out of town" nonsense for now. South Carolina is a very good team, with a good defense that returned 10 starters from last year. Our QB situation is suspect and almost half our offensive line had never played there before in college! This is not a good combination. Our defense looked very good before they ran out of gas. If we were in the SEC, I'd say we'd be lucky to win a game all season. But as we saw with Virginia, Maryland, Virginia Tech, and UNC, the ACC is terrible this year. I don't think winning 5 or 6 games is totally out of the question. O'Brien had a great first recruiting class, with 3 offensive lineman that have a lot of potential. If he shores up the offensive line, gets solid QB play (Glennon and Wilson will be around for a long time), and the defense continues to play well, he will return the program to bowl-eligibility every single year. As long as he's not forced out of town like every other coach who doesn't win the conference in 2 years.....
Russell Wilson's Hit
Sat, 08/30/2008 - 16:03 — Anonymous (not verified)It looked like the NCSU team was beginning to play when Russell got hit (it looked like a spear by the SC player after he started down) on the play before he collapsed. My guess is that he received the concussion on that hit not the play when he went down. Its too bad he went down, because things might have turned around with a little luck. Meanwhile when he did go down, the State moral went down with him. Hopefully O'Brien will be able to rebuild some of that moral before the game with Clemson.
We should hold out RW until
Fri, 08/29/2008 - 17:59 — Skid (not verified)We should hold out RW until after the Clemson game. We should win next week and Clemson will be to tough to try to get a win. Play Beck for the next two games. You can't play Evans. He gets off the bus throwing INT's. Great kid but it aint gonna happen. Listening to Johhny after the game I know he was dieing. Dainel ain't his daddy.Stay with us. The defense played well and we just need to run, run, run the ball!! At least it will shorten the game for the opponents.
Go PACK!
Just 1 game
Fri, 08/29/2008 - 16:52 — Proudwolf (not verified)The sky is not falling folks, we just don't have a quarterback again this year. Defense looks improved over last year - you can't judge anything with that 4th quarter. We stuck with them until it was obvious we weren't going to score and then there was a natural letdown.
UNC Lost to South Carolina
Fri, 08/29/2008 - 16:31 — Scott Preston (not verified)I am keenly disappointed with the progression of the O'Brien
regime and his progress of returning UNCS to respectability in the ACC. I watched him be the mind behind Virgina's success with Welch and his progression thru Boston College . What is the issue returning UNCS to respectability?
Now with the opportunity at UNCS O'Brien has not progressed to create a competitive football team. It is embarrassing to lose 34-0 to South Carolina. The school program now sinks to the level of Duke and the lower tier of the ACC. I expected more at this stage of the transition.
UNCS
Sat, 08/30/2008 - 05:17 — Anonymous (not verified)What is UNCS? Do you mean NCSU?
Lack of enthusiasm
Fri, 08/29/2008 - 16:28 — gray wolf (not verified)The most disappointing aspect of last night's game was the seeming absolute lack of enthusiasm on the sidelines. Heck, the few State fans attending the game seemed to be more excited that the players. Looks like another year of a very poor offense. Also looks like the Pack will sleepwalk through 11 games.
Still working with Amato's recruits
Fri, 08/29/2008 - 16:15 — Anonymous (not verified)As a Gamecock alum, it was a great game but I realized it's the first game of the season when everyone is a bit rusty. And watching the first half was a struggle for fans of either team. What you have to realize is that these are still Chuck Amato's recruits for the most part and it's usually not until Year 3 or 4 of a new coach's tenure that you get to see the real results of the coaching change. Even Spurrier had to work with Holtz's recruits for a few years before you start to see changes like last night's result. Don't despair, Pack fans, it's a long process and last night was just one game. I see a lot of potential but it's going to be a long road this year.
Amato's Recruits--No Excuse
Sat, 08/30/2008 - 14:31 — Anonymous (not verified)I knew the first words out of some fool's mouth would be "Don't look at this loss--these are Amato's recruits". The same thing was said when Amato came, where they were then "Mike O'Cain's recruits". Even with a quarterback like Rivers, NC State could not win consistently. There are fundamental reasons. NC State is a third rate institution. The administration is third rate, across the board. The faculty is about the same. Worst of all are the fans. These are the most ignorant fans in the world. Since the dawn of the modern era, they have clamored for "good coaches", and the only good football coach they ever had (Holtz) was run out of town by the N&O. The cycle has already begun again, both in football and basketball. In three to five years there will be clamoring for firing both Sidney Lowe and Tom O'Brien. The fans and the administration will insure that this cycle will continue, and if for any reason it should change ever so slightly, the N&O will squelch any indication that NC State is rising out of the ashes.
Save it
Tue, 09/02/2008 - 07:25 — Anonymous (not verified)Your insults reveal your own ignorance in more areas than one.
Offensive Offense
Fri, 08/29/2008 - 14:32 — Phillip McDowell (not verified)Assuming that Coach O'Brien has bona-fide Div-1 athletes to work with on offense, I don't understand the lack of production. Losing is one thing, but to be totally and completely inept should not be tolerated. In today's game you shouldn't be held scoreless.The defense looked like they knew what they were doing, and frankly did a great job all things considered. However, the offense appeared confused at times, no question the Gamecock rush had a lot to do with it. It's too bad the ACC/SEC scheduling gurus put this game at the front-end of the season, at least for the Pack. Perhaps playing W & M first would have given State a more winnable game to work out the kinks.At any rate, its looking like another long season.Phillip in Jax. Fl.
it's Williams-Brice, not
Fri, 08/29/2008 - 12:20 — Anonymous (not verified)it's Williams-Brice, not Brice-Williams.
fixed
Fri, 08/29/2008 - 13:22 — ldecock (author)nm
Dreadful
Fri, 08/29/2008 - 12:06 — Anonymous (not verified)This has to be the least prepared football team in Div 1...If State wins 3 games I will be surprised. NC State athletics continues the slide into total mediocrity. 34 - 0!!! I can accept an away loss, but this is an embarrassment.
Get a grip
Fri, 08/29/2008 - 16:55 — Uncle Pack (not verified)Let's cut back on the hyperbole a bit, OK? The defense played well in the first half, with the defensive line just killing South Carolina's offensive line. I was disappointed that the defense ran out of steam in the second half and turned into a sieve in the fourth quarter, but I do see potential there, especially if they can start recognizing middle screens better.
The offense went to the spread to take advantage of Wilson's mobility, or at least use the threat of Wilson't mobility to slow pursuit and help open up cracks for Andre Brown to run through. It actually worked pretty well until Wilson got hurt.
No, the offensive line is not good, but the problem is the players. O'Brien and his staff proved at Boston College that they can develop offensive linemen. There are O'Brien-coached offensive linemen all over the NFL. But the poor recruiting of Chuck Amato for the offensive line has made this part of the team a major rebuilding project. If the talent was there, State wouldn't have moved two defensive linemen to the offensive line and made one of them the starting center, the guy who makes the line calls. While the pass blocking was absurdly bad, there were some decent things done with the run blocking, and there seems to be some potential for improvement, provided that Larsen can learn how to snap the ball straight and make the right calls in pass protection.
This is not a good N.C. State team and a bowl bid looks unlikely against this year's schedule, but keep in mind that O'Brien posted two losing seasons at Boston College before turning things around there. He's playing a ton of rookies and underclassmen in the two-deep. If he can continue to recruit well and develop players like he did at Boston College, he should be able to turn NCSU into a solid program that's bowl eligible most years and a conference title contender on at least a semi-regular basis. It won't be easy competing against Butch Davis in state for recruits, but if O'Brien can at least hold his own, he's got a chance to be successful.
I did think it was a good sign that State tried the spread. O'Brien and Dana Bible have been criticized for being inflexible and overly conservative in their offensive approach, but this move shows a willingness to try new things. And while I don't see many, if any, true gamebreakers on NCSU's offense, State did break some receivers wide open deep against South Carolina and could have scored on those plays with better throws. The Graham kid from Wakefield has tremendous speed, 10.4 in the 100, which is an element State has been sorely lacking.
In the end, though, State won't be able to take any major steps forward until it gets good play from the quarterback position, can at least hold its own on the offensive line and can play solid defense. It won't be easy, but it can be done – and I think O'Brien is capable of doing it. He has to prove he can not only take NCSU to where he took Boston College, but that he can take the next step and compete for (and win) championships. He knows this, and that's his goal.
There hasn't been enough evidence presented in his case to know what the final verdict will be on O'brien's tenure at NCSU.
As for the worst prepared team in Division I, you might want to check out Syracuse.