Thursday Open Thread – State’s Defense

'08 Football11

Sorry, but I am buried at work with the markets and everything else going on in the world. Wanted to open this thread for the community to share news that they are seeing and for discussion. A couple of quick points:

S6 analyzes the statistical improvement of ECU in this entry while they highlight how bad NC State’s offense is in this entry.

As NC State’s Defensive Co-ordinated intimated in these comments, Patrick Pickney has never been much of a quarterback in the past.

We saw him in our game last year two series. We saw him in the first half of our game and they fumbled the first snap. He came in the second half and I think they threw three incompletions. And we didn’t see him again.

But, this year Pinkney – and the Pirates’ defense – has been the toast of Greenville. He is playing some great football right now which, as Archer indicates, feeds confidence and his ability to make more plays.

But in looking at him in the offseason and what I see in the three games this year is he is really playing at a high level of confidence. Their whole offense is.

The guy is really sharp. . . .Guys are covered. (Defenders) are in drops. And he throws it in there with confidence. The throw he makes against Tulane to put them ahead, it’s a double move, but he throws it right between two defenders.

All of this is why I am so frustrated with the timing of Alan Michael-Cash and Curtis Crouch’s injuries. I actually thought that NC State was going to pull the upset on ECU before those injuries happened last week. Cash’s importance on the defensive line is a HUGE factor to containing ECU’s (thusfar) anemic rushing game while also giving State a chance to pressure Pinkney with our front four.

One of the huge keys of Saturday’s game is the need to get pressure on Pickney – Pressure Pinkney and State can make things happen. With the depleted defensive line, I hope/expect that Coach Archer and O’Brien throw some surprise wrinkles at Pickney and rely on significantly more blitz packages than we have seen to this point in the season. (Which has been relatively sparse)

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'08 Football

11 Responses to Thursday Open Thread – State’s Defense

  1. Evroccck 09/18/2008 at 9:32 AM #

    not to be a grammar ninja but I believe its Pinkney rather thank Pickney

    SFN: Ev, this isn’t an NC State institution. I would much rather be corrected about a mistake and get it RIGHT and accurate than worry about anything else. Correction made. Thanks for the heads up!

  2. primacyone 09/18/2008 at 9:49 AM #

    This will be a game of Algebra versus Algebra’s.

    One Algebra or Two Algebra’s completed during high school.

  3. PacknSack 09/18/2008 at 9:54 AM #

    In order to get pressure on Pinkney, State will have to blitz. That isn’t going to happen. So we get to watch ECU pick the defense apart for long drive after long drive. Then there will be the second half.

  4. choppack1 09/18/2008 at 9:56 AM #

    I’d like to see us get ahead and have lead that would let our guys get some pash rush. Last year, when we were ahead and our opponent had to throw, we usually had a pretty effective pass rush. We haven’t been in that position against a D1 opponent this year. However, against USC the pass rush was effective until the 4th quarter.

    Of course, we Michael-Cash too…so we’ll see.

  5. b 09/18/2008 at 10:13 AM #

    Archer has blitzed this year, but with their bubble screen package, it will be risky to blitz off the corner and incumbent on the secondary to tackle in open field.

    I bet we see a little of Kuhn inside this week on pass situations. He was getting adequate pressure in that role last week and has a good motor to chase a slippery QB.

    Archer is correct in that Clemson’s skill players made plays despite fair coverage. ECU WRs have shown they will go up and get the ball as well. They should be forced to keep a back or TE in to help the new tackle deal with Willie Young, hopefully one less option in long distance situations.

  6. SEAT.5.F.2 09/18/2008 at 10:25 AM #

    Not enough pressure applied by the front four against Clemson. Archer wants badly to drop seven into coverage and feast on over throws and receivers getting blasted by DB’s that don’t know are waiting.

    I’m confident that Willis, Jr. could be effective as pass rush rush specialist, leaving a huge burden on a JC guy playing in his 4th game and a RS frosh playing for the first time. I woudn’t be shocked if we saw “Cannon Ball” Clemmons hit the field again.

    The intesting thing is that for three quarters this season our D was been playing at a high level of confidence, kinda what Archer talks about when referring to ECU Offense. Not finishing in the 4th is a cause of concern.

    Remember that ECU is trying playing a different combo on the right side of the line;We need to get back to our exciting days of DE dominance. Willie Young, are you ready?

  7. Par Shooter 09/18/2008 at 10:49 AM #

    Archer’s last response is exactly what I’ve been seeing with our D and is cause for hope. The scheme and its execution are putting guys in position to make plays. The coaches have these guys understanding where they are supposed to be for the most part. It’s just that when a R-Fr defensive end is face to face with CJ Spiller 5 yards behind the line he can’t get a hand on him. Or when Robbie Leonard has an angle on Davis/Spiller for a 2 yard gain he simply can’t get there and the corner gets turned for 15-20.

    The system appears sound and I definitely think we’ve made a ton of progress in how our guys are playing it from this time last year. Now it’s a matter of the younger guys getting better physically and with their technique which will breed confidence. That will take time. And hopefully some of the freshman who are playing or redshirting will add to our physical ability. You need look no further than Nate Irving to see what a guy with great ability and condidence can do within this defensive system. To me, Archer is doing a great job with what he has.

  8. Greywolf 09/18/2008 at 12:12 PM #

    Choppack1, b, Par Shooter,
    Well thought out and well stated. Even with my 6th grade mind I can follow you and held agaisnt with I have seen, looks to be spot on to me. And thanks for not whining about the injury situation. It is what it is.
    Mention has been made of Marcus Kuhn moving back inside to make up for M-C being out. We can put someone in M-C’a place can’t we. Maybe not quite as good and maybe not as experienced but we don’t have to play with just 10 do we?

    I remember the hand-wringing about our Running Back situation early on one season when Holtz was here. Some true freshman JV player named Ted Brown was moved up to varsity. Some of you may remember Ted. He turned out to be OK.

  9. john of sparta 09/18/2008 at 6:13 PM #

    “Algebra, this is no place for you.”
    super-old Little Rascals quote.

  10. Primewolf 09/18/2008 at 9:15 PM #

    It is still hard to imagine our D being better than WVU or VT Defense. We will actually have to score some TDs, guys. My guess is it will take 28 points to win. Hope I am wrong, but I suspect they will move the ball. They will score and score again in the 4th. I just hope our conservative, play not to lose, offensive genises open it up some since ECU will put 8+ in the box and blitz just like everyone else.

    I hope we play Beck more early in the game. But, maybe we will be happy being down by just a TD going in the fourth quarter, which is what I think our coaches think is our only way to win a game.

  11. SEAT.5.F.2 09/19/2008 at 1:52 PM #

    Reiskamp has shown the ability to play well; certainly a huge heart and effort type player with flashes of athletic prowess

    Ofcourse on cue he is out due to a shoulder injury. Augustine is in his third year of college and there were rumblings from CTC when he was a frosh that he was the next big cheese. Not so much to date, he has been a mainstay on special teams where you only spot him for penalties.

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