Some quick thoughts and “good news” items:
– NC State WRs really stepped it up today. Jarvis Williams made 2 excellent “jumpball” catches on deep throws. Anthony Hill made a SportsCenter caliber catch on 3rd and long, setting up his TD catch on the next play. Darrell Davis made a nice catch on the sideline setting up the FG that iced the game.
– Russell Wilson made plays with his legs and arm. He’s getting better at using his mobility to buy time for receivers to break open, rather than always choosing to tuck and run. You may consider this heresy, but I believe he’s playing better and smarter than Philip Rivers in his freshman year (of course, he didn’t have the luxury of a redshirt).
– Mike Archer gets the last laugh (for once) regarding “bend but don’t break.” Today, it worked to perfection. The defense made big plays when it had to, ending drives at the State 10, 1, and 11.
– NC State provided about 30% of stadium capacity today. One hell of a showing for a team that was 2-6 (0-4) entering the game. Great volume on the WOLF-PACK cheer several times. Unlike the Devil boosters, our folks mostly stayed to the end, and gave the team a noce standing ovation at the end. The kids really seemed to appreciate it. “Bad fans,” my hairy ass!
– NC State will not go winless in ACC play.
– NC State will not lose 10 games in a season for the first time.
– NC State is 2-0 vs. NC’s other Division 1-A teams. Wake and the Holes are up next. 4-0 is a goal to play for.
Duke Notes:
– David Cutcliffe may be a good program builder, but he doesn’t know what he’s doing, strategically. Even after a false start penalty made it 4th and 8 from the State 18 (down 17 with 5 minutes to go), Cutcliffe passes up a very makeable field goal and turns the ball over on downs, effectively ending the game. Had Duke made it a 2 possession game, they only needed one onside kick to have a shot at OT (they had 3 timeouts left).
– The Duke campus is wholly unsuited (logistically) to host any kind of event. Traffic police sent us around in a long circle without passing one single parking lot or deck open to the public. Good thing we were an hour early.
– Calling Wallace Wade a podunk town high school stadium is an insult to podunk high schools everywhere.
