Tuesday’s Football Bytes

===> NC State is half way through Tom O’Brien’s second season but the depth and breadth of the of Wolfpack’s inexplicable rash of injuries makes analysis of the program’s progress under Coach O’Brien challenging. Add to the mix that NC State competes against one of the ten toughest schedules in the country (as judged by Phil Steele) and apples to apples comparisons to other programs becomes more difficult. But, anecdotally I thought that the Boston College came represented a micro-example of some of the macro developments — NC State did not commit a single turnover in the entire game and was flagged for only one penalty. If that isn’t progress over the last season and a half then I don’t know what is.

===> Ironically, the BC game – the 6th game of the year – also represented a sadly ironic twist on NC State’s season: The BC game was the first game of the 2008 season where NC State did not lose at least one starter to injury.

===> As I take a very cursory look at the direction of the football program related to the immediate future (2009 season) I come to a quick conclusion that should help everyone rest easy — NC State will be deeper, more experienced and (hopefully) more talented at every single position on the football field next year than we are right now. Of course, this makes a customary assumption that injuries are ‘normal’ and not what we have encountered the last season and a half. The only position on the field where this premise could potentially be argued is the loss of Andre Brown at running back, which we hope is offset by the return of Toney Baker and the presence of Brandon Barnes (currently redshirting).

===> The Wolfpacker has a nice summary of the first half of the season that can be seen by clicking here.

===> The week off has hopefully provided NC State a chance to lick some wounds and get some players healthy for Thursday night’s game against Florida State, particularly on defense that was discussed at length in this entry. Unfortunately the depth chart for Thursday night does not include the names of Alan Michael-Cash or Nate Irving. Those would be the big improvements that we need on the injury front. Additionally, Curtis Crouch’s name is also absent from the depth chart.

===> As the N&O wrote yesterday:

N.C. State’s pass rush — or lack thereof — probably was its most outward sign of exhaustion. After totaling nine quarterback sacks over the first four games, the Wolfpack didn’t get a sack against South Florida and managed only one against Boston College.

That’s why the midseason open date is such a blessing. Coach Tom O’Brien gave his weary team, which is 2-4 overall and has lost its first two ACC games, a much-needed break.

“We haven’t gotten to the quarterback for two weeks in a row to put any substantial pressure on anybody, which we had shown the ability to do the first four games,” O’Brien said. “Now we have to get our legs back.”

===> The ACC announced yesterday that State’s game at Maryland will kickoff at 3:30pm and will be available only on ESPN360.

===> UNC-CH lost their best player – wide receiver Brandon Tate – for the year after a knee injury on Saturday. (Video and N&O comments linked here.) That at least evens the Tarheels with the Wolfpack at the WR position related to injuries — NC State lost our best WR (Donald Bowens) before the season began. At least Carolina got the benefit of Tate for half a season. Caulton Tudor is asking if the injury will derail Carolina’s season? in this link.

Injuries are football’s cruel equalizer. Already this season, they’ve cut deeply into N.C. State’s plans for a winning record and East Carolina’s hopes for a big bowl run. With Monday’s news that Brandon Tate will be shelved for the season by a bum right knee, North Carolina (5-1) will be fortunate to avoid becoming the third regional casualty.

===> If you are interested in the national picture then you can get a sneak peek at the BCS by clicking here and see more analysis and conversation by clicking here.

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30 Responses to Tuesday’s Football Bytes

  1. Greywolf 10/14/2008 at 10:45 PM #

    Never mind. He’s a 6’6 325lb recruit. Do you not think he will be red shirted?

  2. choppack1 10/15/2008 at 7:48 AM #

    One thing I forgot to mention that shows that the team is starting to grasp TOB’s system…our TO’s generated.

    In TOB’s last year at BC, the team in the country in TO takeaways. (Though a quick study indicates that the previous teams were not ranked in the Top 10% in this category.)

    This year, we’re 19th in the country so far. Keep in mind, in Amato’s last year 117 (2006), 36 in 2005, and 106 during 2004.

  3. charlieg87 10/15/2008 at 9:13 AM #

    We’re 2-4, heels are 5-1. Yes I think we do have a chance to beat them, but playing at kenan with there team having a winning record and confidence in there ability to win a lot higher then ours the chances are slim. It would be great to come out with a W but realistically speaking it doesn’t seem very likely for this season.

  4. haze 10/15/2008 at 9:26 AM #

    Going into to 2009, the O should be improved with more experience and depth everywhere BUT the OL. On D, we get better experience and depth at LB and, to a lesser extent, DL but we lose out at DB (Neal, Gray) where sophs and freshmen will have to play a lot.

    Specifically on the OL, we lose 3 significant players in Green, Bedics and Crouch. However, it’s also fair to say that we’ve lived without Crouch this year, so it’s not a big change. To replace the Sr’s we’ll have Mattes/Allen/Wallace coming of RS and we should get something from the guys that aren’t playing much this year (Barbee, Lawson, Gregory and Roberts). It’s probably an upgrade in talent & depth but it’s not a big move up due to inexperience. After 2009, we have to replace Larsen, Williams and McCuller and the only known OL commit known to be coming off RS is Denzelle Good. Therefore, I’d argue that 2010 may be a case of talent (Mattes/Vermiglio/Allen/Wallace/Roberts) without much depth.

    On the DL, 2009 looks pretty good with Young, McKeen, Cash & Burgess as the likely starters. However, we lose that ENTIRE starting group after ’09. We’d replace with Kuhn, Rieskamp, Crawford, Augustin, Sweezy and Fr*’s (e.g. Slay, Dowdy). Seems like 2010 will be a challenge on the DL.

    LB should be young but improving with Irving, Michel, Maddox, Lucas, Manning, Beasley and Cole available for ’09 and everybody but Michel (or pro-bound Irving?) in 2010.

  5. EverettBeez 10/15/2008 at 7:38 PM #

    the cable in raleigh during the 70s drove my folks to get a dish. I’ve had D-Tv for 10 yrs now. I still won’t get 360 cause of Cableone around here.

    Carolina is beatable. That’d make my football year, along with Ole Miss beating Fla & maybe Bama.

    B’ham sports radio a buzz with fans wanting to fire Tommy “pine box” Tubberville. Top of many folks wish list? BUTCH DAVIS! why? He turned down ‘Bama & he can recruit against The 7 million dollar man. Its fun to watch the folks down on The Plains implode.

    With the guys back from injury, Wilson settling in at QB, & a week off, I think we’ve got a great chance tomorrow night! Thank goodness for DVR so I can put the kid to bed, open an adult beverage, and cheer on the Pack!

    Y’all don’t forget to root for my Rebels on Saturday!

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