Brief Synopsis of the Sucking

– It took less than a half for NC State to break Russell Wilson. No way, no how can we risk playing Mike Glennon this year. I don’t care if we have to play Bradley Pierson at QB. Tough question to ask yourselves – how could we justify putting Wilson’s baseball career at risk by letting him back under center with an OL like we have?

– In about 2.5 quarters of play, South Carolina’s starting QB threw 4 INTs and 0 TDs (with a YPA just over 4). He left the game ahead by 10 points.

– Daniel Evans still loves to throw off his back foot. John Elway could get away with that. Connect the dots.

– NC State was in field goal position exactly once (badly missed 49-yard attempt).

– NC State’s offensive line is perhaps the worst unit in Division I. Jake Vermiglio must have pissed in TOB’s coffee mug to be stuck behind this collection of stiffs.

– Harrison Beck has apparently signed up for the Brandon Costner off-season conditioning program.

– My proposed gameplan? Start Beck, and either run or throw a Hail Mary on every play. Maybe we’ll accidentally score a few times, and will at least control field position better.

– On our last 2 drives, NC State did not attempt a pass. And I was very glad that we didn’t.

– If you have hope for the season after tonight, you need psychiatric care.

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

'08 Football

95 Responses to Brief Synopsis of the Sucking

  1. GoldenChain 08/29/2008 at 8:27 AM #

    I disagree on one thing: Brown looked good on offense. Despite having no blocking he still went for 101 yards and almost 5ypc against one of the stoutest defenses we’ll see all year.

    And while agree with much of what’s been said about Beck, all 3 of his passes hit Hill in the hands and he couldn’t secure them.

    I think if we can get Wilson and Eugene back we can at least have a triple-threat on the ground. A good ground game opens up some passing.

    I’m also in the minority that thinks the defense actually played well.
    203yds of SC’s 369yds came in the 4th qter when our offense couldn’t get a 1st down to give the defense a blow.

    A terrible effort but I think we’ll do better…..providing that Wilson and Eugene return.

  2. Lunatic Fringe 08/29/2008 at 8:32 AM #

    I am not suggesting it was said anywhere here, but I am tired of the argument that DE can’t do it all by himself. I get it the OL is horrible, but DE does not protect the ball nor his receivers.

    A QB has to put the ball where the receiver can make a freaking play. DE was 4-12 and had…zero, zilch, nada…passes that were not one of the following: in coverage, behind the receiver, or severely underthrown. I am worried for our receivers health anytime DE takes the field and my sanity.

  3. b 08/29/2008 at 8:33 AM #

    Their defense was very good, and the line stunts obviously confused our limited O-line. They were also quite obviously headhunting our young QB and they got what they wanted, Evans in the game. The secondary wasn’t giving our WRs any openings, and they limited explosive running plays. As effective as the first option (Brown)of the read option was in the third, it would have been infinitely more dangerous with Wilson to pressure the corner on the second and third options. I was not disappointed with how he played before the injury, no glaring mistakes.

    To call this a one win team seems defeatist and premature to me. Bill and Mary is a win, and they will be able to do some things in games against BC, UNC, Miami, Duke and ECU. I assume some adjustments will be made, and I hope RW will be back sooner than later. Don’t let 13-0 (10 points of that due to TOs inside our 20)game for 50 minutes that stretched late due to fatigue, and against one of the best defenses in college football to boot, delude you.

    There was good effort, especially on defense, and we are young. This will be a very different team in October and November, let alone next year. Now we let our solid staff go to work and build on the good while repairing the bad. I said it on the other thread, I’ll repeat it here, we won’t see another defense that stout all year. They were more balanced and more aggresive last night than they were last year, and we will learn from the experience. Eugene was a huge loss, too. He could have played a Brian Westbrook type role in slowing their pass rush last night.

  4. howlie 08/29/2008 at 8:35 AM #

    “Connect the dots.”

    “-Jake Vermiglio must have pissed in TOB’s coffee mug…

    “- Harrison Beck has apparently signed up for the Brandon Costner off-season conditioning program. My proposed gameplan? Start Beck,…”

    “- On our last 2 drives, NC State did not attempt a pass. And I was very glad that we didn’t.”

    Wonderful sardonic humor JB. Which is all that’s left to do.

    HEY! In other news, have you heard that Jed is putting together a task force to build more FUHCILITAYS at CF?

  5. Mike 08/29/2008 at 8:36 AM #

    I have never been impressed with Ant Hill. Yes, he has size, but I remember far more drops than catches, and I personally think he is way overrated. Everyone talked of him coming back this year and being a stud. I saw the same Ant Hill last night that I saw the previous years.

    One other point, when Beck came in, before the announcers started ragging him, the first pass he threw was classic off your back foot fade away pass. I was only half paying attention at that point, but I swore it looked no different than DE. I am wondering if that fade away is something we teach. It was awful. And of course, as Golden mentions above, all three passes Beck threw hit Hill in the hands and he has no completions to show for it.

    Lastly, SC had one of the top D’s in the country last year and defeated Georgia, and were in top 5. Injuries hit and they dropped their last 5 or 6 in a row. 10 of those 11 are back. Visorman has some talent, just not the depth to be a #1 team that was shown last year. Those guys we went against last night do have NFL talent.

  6. Scooter 08/29/2008 at 8:41 AM #

    You could see from the outset that USC’s defense was VERY fast and very aggressive. I feel like they took a fair amount of cheap shots, but there is no denying their experience and talent on defense. Couple that with our make-shift o-line (who I feel like, along with the defense, put on a very brave face as best they could) and the opportunity for failure is sky high.

    What we all knew going into this season is that our margin for error is razor’s edge thin. When our Future Legend went down with a scarey injury and Captain Interception came in the game, TOB’s hands were tied. Rightly so, he kept it on the ground and out of Evans’ hands as much as possible. He’s the opposite of King Midas, everything he touches turns to crap.

    The first step to pulling one’s self out of a hole is to put down the shovel. We can’t start Evans again. Anyone busy the next several Saturdays?

  7. BJD95 08/29/2008 at 8:47 AM #

    Yes, USC does have 2 or 3 NFL-caliber defenders on their team. They are still a middle of the pack SEC team, and beat us like a rented mule.

    Howlie – that was me, not JB. JB is in Columbia, poor bastard.

  8. packbackr04 08/29/2008 at 8:49 AM #

    well, penalties are down thats a positive. i also like the uni’s, at least we dont look like the freeagin Atlanta Falcons or some CFL team any more.

    RW is out for 3-4 weeks and our season is out till next yr.

  9. haze 08/29/2008 at 8:50 AM #

    No need to get carried away on USC’s strengths. Their D is good, maybe very good, especially in the secondary. Their pash rush was also strong but, given our OL history, that’s not exactly saying anything about THEM. Still, USC gave up over 200yds/game rushing last year. They gave up a 100yd game last night against a hopelessly one-dimensional team. I don’t think they are a great D, yet anyway (new DC).

    When I say USC was horrible, I mean their O. They gave us 4 INT’s. Gave, literally. Only Irving’s catch req’d exceptional skill (one hander). Their running game did little to nothing for about 3 quarters and, yes, our line/LB’s deserve a lot of credit for that. However, if you’re a serious USC fan you had better be worried about winning games in the SEC East.

  10. EverettBeez 08/29/2008 at 8:52 AM #

    Defense really was the bright spot.

    SC’s defense was good, real good. To hear the boys in the both talk about it, monster good. Time will tell – but 10 returning starters vs. our offense . . . well, that we moved the ball at all was good. Good chance this is the best defense we see all year. That does give us a window of hope.

    Our offense – DE, bless his heart, throws worse then I do and I grew up playing soccer. He was best when he just handed it off.
    Wilson didn’t really move us either – and that is troubling. Before he went out did we pick up more then a couple first downs? That first possession, we lost 3 yards! Lets don’t build him up as the savior, or even worse sit around and talk about “if only” because we honestly don’t know what he can do on the field. That being said, hurry back RW!

    Most disappointing part about the late 3rd/4th is we couldn’t even just run clock and let the defense rest.
    This was a real test, and I was pleased we stayed in this game as long as we did. I can be patient. After all, what other choice is there?

    Final two thoughts – Palmer’s tie was such an embarrassment. Why on earth didn’t someone tell him to retie it? I thought it was a clip on too – but you could see the top of his collar. That he played for Spurrier probably explains inability to dress correctly.

    Spurrier and the trailer-trash SC fans are a perfect fit for each other.

  11. happypackdad 08/29/2008 at 8:54 AM #

    the D wasn’t bad until they gave out of gas. The running game was ok. The passing game, terrible. Wilson has to come back & the WRs need to step up. Why so few passes to Ant Hill?

  12. ChiefJoJo 08/29/2008 at 8:58 AM #

    GoldenChain… I dunno, but most people I think would agree that (1) Brown looked good (minus the fumble) and (2) the defense played well.

    It should have been 0-0 at half if it were not for our offensive collapse (snap, Evans INT). Who wouldn’t have taken that?

    The next question is, if Russell can’t play, do we pull the redshirt off Glennon? I mean, we start Evans, and I only see maybe 2-3 wins. Beck, probably not much better. Nobody expected much this year, but we need to show progress as a program.

  13. rab5705 08/29/2008 at 8:59 AM #

    “Captain Interception” was pretty funny. I have to admit I am crying at the same time cause he actually got to play. Can we just give him a degree (and possibly a razor for him to shave the pubes off his chin) to get him out of here? It feels like he has been here for 6 years.

    I don’t think it is appropriate to call the SC fans trailer-trash. They are dilusional though. If you were them you would be happy over a victory as well. Spurrier was not running up the score and simply trying to find a QB. Atleast he has options, something we cannot say.

  14. Scooter 08/29/2008 at 9:06 AM #

    No question we KEEP the redshirt on Glennon. The starting QB job for NC State should come with a Surgeon General’s Health Warning.

  15. old13 08/29/2008 at 9:07 AM #

    So how’s the bass fishing team look this year? Can Foulup ever get his line untangled!

  16. wolfpackdawg 08/29/2008 at 9:27 AM #

    for you guys who think uSUC is a decent team…watch them play UGA on 9/13. 🙂

  17. inhoc... 08/29/2008 at 9:32 AM #

    bottom line.
    -everyone is throwing evans under the bus, but seriously. come on. he had nothing to work with. the reason RW got the start in the first place is because he can run for his life better than DE. was that not blatantly obvious to all of you? that misdirection shotgun handoff which consisted of about 80% of the plays we called was designed so we could have either wilson or the RB take it.

    -hell that damn play was still getting 4 to 5 yards a pop when evans was handing it off and the knew 24 was going to take it every time.

    -there wasn’t even a chance for evans to sit back and be comfortable. he threw one bad int. hhe threw one ball down field that looked good and to me but it looked like it got dropped right in front of out sideline.

    – the reality here is that DE never had a fleeing chance. harrison beck or burke or glennon in his SR year would have been able to do much better. we should have kept pounding the ball over and over until we made them respect the run.

    -some play action bootlegs MAY have started to work then, but when your a white kid running for your life, the odds are against you

    i`m not a huge evans fan, but i`m sure all of you havent forgotten some of the plays he has made in his career this isnt his fault…better play calls on 3rd and short and OL could have been the difference in this game

  18. haze 08/29/2008 at 9:32 AM #

    I don’t think that it matters what USC shows from here. Teams change as the season goes on and you can’t infer too much from the 1st game.

    The fact is that they were VERY beatable last night and we didn’t have tools to take advantage.

  19. inhoc... 08/29/2008 at 9:35 AM #

    correction: – the reality here is that DE never had a fleeing chance. harrison beck or burke or glennon in his SR year would NOT have been able to do much better.

  20. DuPack 08/29/2008 at 9:39 AM #

    Brown looked good. DL looked good. Irving will be a defensive stud by the time he leaves us. USC’s offense was not good enough last night to get a good feeling for the corners and safeties, however I think they showed promise. TOB and the OL coaches are going to have to reassess what they are doing with the OL. Wilson looked to me like he had made up his mind to pass first early on. For him to be at his best, he must be more instinctual. If his gut says run–run. Receivers showed their inexperience. DE just doesn’t have it. Never saw him make a fundamentally sound pass at any time. Beck should be ashamed. ANY freshman that shows real promise should be redshirted and left that way. Even if they have to put up handbills around campus asking for walk-ons midway through the season. We ain’t got it right now. And if you come into a game looking like they did last night with 4 weeks of practice, lord only knows what they will look like with only 6 days.

  21. tvp1 08/29/2008 at 9:48 AM #

    Eh…I’m not as discouraged as most of you seem to be. I’m taking the long view – looks like our D is leaps and bounds ahead of last year. We actually stopped the run and had guys who could catch interceptoins! And it’s a very young D. We only lose Willis, Holmes, Leonard, Gray, and JC Neal out of all the guys who are seeing any time at all. This is setting up a potentially very good 09 team with either Wilson or Glennon at QB.

    And USC might be an “average” SEC team, but that would make them a well above average ACC team. We have 1, maybe 2 tougher games all season (Clemson, USF). If we survive the first 4 weeks of the season with any healthy players, then we’ll have a chance to steal a few games after that.

  22. VaWolf82 08/29/2008 at 10:10 AM #

    Anyone who was surprised in last night’s outcome hasn’t paid any attention to the stuff being written here at SFN.

    First of all, NC put in new, stricter academic requirements several years ago. We documented the change in rules and how it would have its biggest effect over a two-year period here in 2006:

    http://www.statefansnation.com/index.php/archives/2006/06/18/unc-system-admission-requirements/

    you would have to be pretty foolish to think that this difference had no effect on football and basketball recruiting at State and UNC.

    Those new requirements took effect just as the bloom was falling off the Amato regime. Combine the two things together and you get several bad recruiting classes in a row.

    Guess what? When recruiting classes tank, the overall talent level drops…and quality depth disapears. That was an unstated purpose of an article I did last year when I combined the football roster with the high school “stars” from scout.com

    http://www.statefansnation.com/index.php/archives/2007/10/09/2007-football-roster/

    High school rankings are of questionable value when looking at any one individual. However, they serve the purpose that I was driving at….
    1) Overall talent is down
    2) Alot of the best players on a bad team would be gone this year.

    The offense has went through various stages of sucking ever since PR left. Unfortunately that hasn’t changed and wasn’t expected to. The other unfortunate thing is that the defense level is dropping and we will be depending on untested players at a number of positions. I just documented this condition at the first of the week.

    http://www.statefansnation.com/index.php/archives/2008/08/25/dont-forget-the-defense/

    Lastly, what is the most likely explanation for moving two DL to the OL? On the off chance that you would have disagreed with me before last night, there shouldn’t be any doubt now.

    Bottom Line: TOB’s job will be to move one of the two or three worst teams in the ACC to respectability….and that doesn’t happen over night.

  23. packbackr04 08/29/2008 at 10:10 AM #

    Our OL is terrbile, absolutley terrible. someone is gonna get hurt behind that offensive line…. oh wait. Glennon should be placed in a hyperbarric chamber for the next 11 months. noone in their right mind would throw his 170 lb frame to the lions den. he would last even less time than RW if we burn his redshirt. RW is lucky there appears to be no spinal damage. that was a nasty hit he took (not dirty, although several of the preceding hits were dirty). RW looked ok, but it was tough to tell becasue in 2 quarters he never got a chance to get his feet set. He was constantly running for his life, which as we all know, is the reason he got the nod to start. How in the world did Chuck Amato manage to turn a gator bowl winning program into this collection of fecal matter that we have today. HOly Dog shit Chuck, what in the hell were you doing your last 3 years in Raleigh. If for nothing other than allowing Chuck to stay so long, Fowler should be drawn and quartered. Our admin, especially our AD, is RESPONSIBLE for knowing what is goin on with its programs. and the fact that Fowler allowed Chuck to singlehandedly derail our program for the foreseeable future should not be tolerated.

    i also dont see how people can say the D looked good last night. USC’s inept offense hung 34 points on them!!! yes, i know they spent all night on the field and were tired, guess what. i dont care. get used to it, because the offense cant get out of its own way the defense is going to be on the field ALOT this year and they are going to have to do better than they did last night. that being said, there play was improved and i can see some potential there. we just cant afford to give up 3rd and longs the way we did. but if you are looking for something positive i guess it would have to be the Defense or our punting game, b/c we are going to rely on that alot this yr as well.

  24. Classof89 08/29/2008 at 10:14 AM #

    don’t understand the comments on the OL…I was actually pleasantly surprised by the run-blocking. And wasn’t Russell Wilson’s injury due to Curtis Underwood missing a block and allowing the guy a clean shot at RW? That has nothing to do with the OL play…

    Where we are absolutely horrible, IMO, is at wide receiver. How could the university that produced Koren Robinson, Torry Holt, Naz Worthen and Mike Quick be so devoid at that position right now? Did we have some really good WR recruits that didn’t pan out, or is this another one of Amato’s recruiting screwups?

  25. packalum44 08/29/2008 at 10:15 AM #

    Pre-mature to write off the season. Wait, no its not. Our offense might be worse than Duke’s. Amato is the worst QB recruiter in the country. What a shame because our D is actually impressive.

    Unfortunately, a grade III concussion is serious. From what I understand, side effects last for up to a month. Trent Green missed half the season at Miami (yeah, I know he was 37 and had several in his career) Moreover, someone who has suffered a concussion is much more likely to suffer another. Russell is athletic, but he is small. He was a boy among men last night (not as much as D Evans). Wilson took some serious shots (half of them were illegal per se). I personally will not hold any grudges if he decides to concentrate on baseball, where he has a chance to make a career. He is such a super guy. I am more concerned with his health than with our football team. I’d rather not win a game then see a good guy put his career in jeopardy.

    With that said, if he does come back, we will win some games.

    Note to Glennon. Beef up. We will need you next year!

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