NC STATE FOOTBALL
Brett Friedlander (starnewsonline.com)
Southport’s Ferguson makes the most of his opportunity for Wolfpack
A.J. Ferguson was in such a zone Saturday night after his most extensive action as a college football player that he couldn’t even remember how many sacks he had in N.C. State’s 31-7 win against South Alabama.
“Before the game I said I had to get a sack, because I had to catch up with everybody else,†the defensive tackle from South Brunswick High said. “And I got that.â€
When told that he’d actually been credited with two sacks, he had to be shown the postgame stat sheet before he believed it. “I thought I only had one,†he said. “That’s pretty cool.”
Ferguson’s focus – and his excitement – are entirely understandable.
After enduring a knee injury last season and an academic issue that forced him to miss the first week of this year’s preseason camp, simply getting back onto the field in a game was an accomplishment in itself.
The 6-foot-3, 281-pound junior continued to work hard even after he was dropped from the Wolfpack’s depth chart, and impressed coach Tom O’Brien and his staff enough to be put back into the team’s defensive line rotation.
Brett Friedlander (starnewsonline.com)
FIFTH QUARTER: FSU flexes its muscle while rest of the league shrinks
5 POSITIVE
5. Stingy Pack: N.C. State’s defense took a beating in a season-opening loss to Tennessee, but it has been solid in the two games since – combining to allow an average of just 43 rushing yards and seven points in wins against UConn and South Alabama. The Wolfpack also intercepted five passes in those games while allowing the opposition to convert just 6 of 33 third- and fourth-down opportunities.
5 NEGATIVES
3. Moose corralled, again: About an hour before kickoff Saturday, N.C. State announced that its leading rusher Mustafa Greene had been suspended for its game against South Alabama. It was the third suspension since last summer for the sophomore RB, who has played in just two games since 2010. No explanation was given, but coach Tom O’Brien did say afterwards that Greene is still a member of the team.
Brett Friedlander (starnewsonline.com)
Wolfpack uses rare breather to make necessary improvements
Unless you had N.C. State and the 30½ points, the final score really didn’t matter much Saturday.
Once the Wolfpack got off the a flying start and opened up a workable lead on overmatched South Alabama, the objective of its home opener was more about execution and improvement than the numbers on the scoreboard.
In many ways, it was like an NFL exhibition game – which given the meat grinder coach Tom O’Brien and his team went through during the first two weeks of the season, must have seemed like a welcome relief.
For the record, State got four first half touchdowns from four different players before cruising through the final 30 minutes to a 31-7 victory at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Considering the outcome and the fact that everyone wearing red and white walked off the field under their own power with no major injuries, the Wolfpack (2-1) accomplished everything it needed to on this picture-perfect late-summer evening.
Derek Medlin (PackPride.com)
Locker Room Report: Tom O’Brien
“All in all, satisfied with the victory. I like the way we started the game, I like the way we played for three quarters. I wasn’t really excited about the fourth quarter, but we tried to get some guys in the game that hand’t been in get them some playing time. We gave up a score and a big play and stuff we can’t do. It’s a victory, so we’ll move on and get ready to play Citadel.”
“Mike was able to throw the ball. We did a better job of protecting him, we did a better job of running routes and people were where they were supposed to be. We had better timing, which is something we worked on all week. He got off to a good start. We thought we had a chance to get the ball over their head like we did the one time to Underwood, so that was a big play in the game to get up 14.”
“Bryan Underwood is almost back to full speed now, so that’s good for us. Getting healthy.”
Sammy Batten (FayObserver.com)
Wolfpack finds offensive rhythm in 31-7 win over South Alabama
Under the microscope
In case you missed it, Glennon was intercepted four times in a 35-21 opening setback against the Volunteers. He and his offensive mates were almost as bad last week in pulling out a 10-7 win against the Huskies.
Those performances weren’t exactly what folks were expecting from Glennon after he rose to the occasion last year in the wake of Russell Wilson’s controversial departure to lead N.C. State to an 8-5 finish and bowl victory. Nor was it considered an acceptable start for an offensive unit returning eight starters and abundance of talent.
But let’s face it – Glennon, despite his comments to the contrary, is under pressure this season; maybe even more pressure than he faced in replacing Wilson last year. Nobody knew what Glennon was capable of a year ago, so every success he achieved was celebrated as significant. Now, every mistake he makes and each failure by the offense is magnified and dissected.
So, getting himself and the offense back on track needed to happen sooner rather than later to ease that scrutiny.
“We talked about the mistakes we made in the Tennessee and UConn games, we don’t want to make them twice,” Glennon said. “We wanted to learn from our mistakes and I think today there was a lot of evidence out there that we’re starting to do that.”
The Wolfpack certainly took an important step forward Saturday against South Alabama. Glennon completed 24 of 34 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns before giving way to true freshman Manny Stocker late in the game. The Wolfpack piled up 384 yards of offense, averaged five yards per play and didn’t commit a single turnover.
But despite the obvious improvement, there is still much to do before N.C. State is ready to jump into Atlantic Coast Conference play Sept. 29 against Miami.
PackPride.com
BOX SCORE: NC State 31, South Alabama 7
Associated Press
NC State Rolls Past South Alabama 31-7
Matt Carter (TheWolfpacker.com)
Postgame Headlines
Akula Wolf (BackingthePack.com)
South Alabama Vs. NC State Media Roundup
MULTIMEDIA/PODCASTS
WRALSportsfan.com
O’Brien: We still have some things to work on
NC State coach Tom O’Brien talks about his team’s defensive effort against South Alabama, and Mustafa Greene’s suspension
WRALSportsfan.com
Glennon: We cut down our mistakes
Mike Glennon says avoiding mistakes was a key for his team against South Alabama
WRALSportsfan.com
McGill: That’s what we’re supposed to do
NC State defensive lineman T.Y. McGill talks about shutting down South Alabama
