Wolfpack D Slays The Golden Knights 28-21

It almost feels odd to say, but the NC State defense carried the entire team in Orlando last night, and brought the underdog Wolfpack home with a 28-21 victory over the University of Central Florida.  Despite the fact that UCF is a non-BCS team, the victory certainly belongs in the quality-win column, given that it was on the road and against a team that’s considered a favorite to win their division in Conference USA.

A three-point road dog, State dominated the first three quarters of play and appeared to be on cruise control for an easy win until Central Florida sat starting QB Rob Calabrese due to his ineffectiveness and brought in freshman Jeff Godfrey.  The former Florida prep 6-A player of the year ignited the Golden Knights moribund offense and quickly made it a game that came down to the last UCF series over the last two minutes of the game.  He had the Knights marching towards a tie until NC State’s Brandon Bishop separated UCF’s Quincy McDuffie from the football – and any hope – on the Pack 11 yard line in the waning moments.  Three kneel-down formations later, a relieved and happy Wolfpack squad brought home the win and their first 2-0 start since the 2002 season.

Linebacker Audi Cole led the team with 12 tackles, including 3.5 for loss (19 yards), one sack (10 yards) and an interception. The former Golden Gloves boxer was literally all over the field and had a highlight-reel interception that shut down a Central Florida trickeration pass play.

C.J. Wilson, a member of the oft-maligned secondary, had a 43-yard interception return for the touchdown that gave the Wolfpack its winning margin.

No one seemed happier after the win than Wolfpack head coach Tom O’Brien. “That was a heck of a win for our team,” he said. “A couple of big, big turnovers were the difference in the game, but it’s always that way. Turnovers and penalties decide games.”  For a change, it was the Wolfpack forcing the mistakes instead of making them, and ultimately that — as well as the revived defense — made the difference.

The offensive attack of the Wolfpack had a decidedly mixed night. N.C. State had only 239 yards total offense, including just 79 in the second half, but at times in first half, they were able to move the ball at will against a stout UCF defense.  Tailback Dean Haynes scored from four yards after an interception and later, freshman Mustafa Greene had a 21-yard scoring run to cap a quick three-play drive after NC State recovered a UCF fumble. Russell Wilson also hit Darrell Davis with a 26-yard scoring pass to finish off an 83-yard scoring drive, giving the Pack a 21-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, State’s was far more ineffective as UCF’s outstanding defensive line players found ways to penetrate the NC State backfield and repeatedly disrupted plays.  The Wolfpack’s play-calling never seemed to be able effectively counter the UCF rush, and all too often in the second thirty minutes the Pack would be forced to punt after one or two series of downs.

Special teams continues to be an Achilles Heels for State – they gave up a 93-yard touchdown run to UCF’s Latavius Murray, they had several penalties, and the thrilling end of the game scenario was initially set up by a shanked punt by Wolfpack kicker Jeff Ruiz — his flubbed kicked with a little more than two minutes left in the game with the Pack hanging on to a 28-21 lead gave the ball back to a rejuvenated and effective UCF offense on the Wolfpack 49 yard line.

All in all, the win was ugly, and like all ugly wins, it was a decidedly mixed bag for the Wolfpack.  Fortunately, however, there are no pictures in the win-loss column, where State looks good: 2-0.  They still have much to work on — Russell Wilson needs to return to form, the O-line needs to find consistency, the special teams needs to become effective and the defense needs to work on outside containment when they are facing spread formations.  Those improvements will need to come fast, because the Pack returns to the friendly confines of Carter-Finley after a very short break, where they will face the Bearcats of Cincinnati in a nationally televised contest this coming Thursday evening.

Box Score

'10 Football NCS Football Tom O'Brien

62 Responses to Wolfpack D Slays The Golden Knights 28-21

  1. tjfoose1 09/12/2010 at 10:42 PM #

    UCF has a good defense, but I didn’t think it would be one of the best defenses NC State faces this year. Then I thought about it…

    I’d have to say they make the top four. Don’t know if that meets the definition of “one of the best” though.

    VT and a fully manned UNC defense would be better, other than that, maybe Clemson or BC. Who else?

  2. bradleyb123 09/12/2010 at 11:37 PM #

    I don’t know if they were one of the better defenses we’ll face, or if it was just a case of our offense making them LOOK better on defense. I think it was a little of both. They’re a Florida team, and they have some athletes and some speed. It seemed like they were double-covering our receivers to take away the pass, while also stacking it up at the line. It felt like they had about 16 players out there on defense. Maybe it seemed like they stacked the line because our O-line wasn’t playing that great.

    Whatever the case, it was a great win on the road against a team that is pretty good I believe. So I’ll take it. Survive and advance, and keep improving. I like that defense of ours, too. MUCH improved over last year. I just hope it’s not premature to say that. Last year we started out good on defense, too, and look how it turned out.

  3. wufpup76 09/13/2010 at 4:16 AM #

    Not sure if this was mentioned anywhere (forgive me if so) –

    But don’t underestimate the fact that Godfrey – a speedster running QB – came in late in the 3rd quarter in the Orlando heat. That, and the fact that our offense couldn’t keep the D off the field. (I’m assuming as well that they gameplanned for Calabrese – not a qb like Godfrey).

    I think the Godfrey posessions are more than forgiveable from a defensive standpoint. It’s the offense that couldn’t get untracked. Regardless of whether UCF has one of the better D’s we’ll see or not, they deserve credit for at least partly making our offense look pretty bad at times.

  4. tuckerdorm1983 09/13/2010 at 7:55 AM #

    lets see that is 2 wins and only 12 more to go. 10 more regular season games and then the ACC Championship game and then only one more after that.

  5. Prowling Woofie 09/13/2010 at 8:11 AM #

    I’ll take 2-0, warts and all, over 0-2 !

    GO PACK – BEAT CINCY !!!

  6. packalum44 09/13/2010 at 8:49 AM #

    I can’t believe it hasn’t been mentioned yet….but JON TENUTA!!! Wow he won us that game last night. AWESOME play calling on defense. I can’t say the same for Mr. Bible.

  7. Scooter 09/13/2010 at 9:02 AM #

    Whether UCF’s defense is one of the better the Pack will face, this 2-0 start is a breath of fresh air compared to what we’ve had to put up with over the last few seasons. I’ll take a win against a relatively evenly matched opponent on the road any day. Now, let’s go out and win against Cincy and start the conference schedule 3-0!!!!

  8. Plz2BStateFan 09/13/2010 at 9:07 AM #

    Everyone one of you going to the Cincy games needs to be borderline insane in the stands. We need a repeat of the intensity of the Pitt and all the thursday night games. We have a reputation to uphold!

  9. bradleyb123 09/13/2010 at 9:45 AM #

    ^^ I don’t think that will be a problem, Plz2BStateFan. This fan base is STARVING for success, and we have a 2-0 record going into a Thursday night game against a beatable Cincy team. I think our fans will be as fired up as the Pack players!

    I know I’ll be doing my part!

    Survive and advance, Pack!!!

  10. bradleyb123 09/13/2010 at 9:46 AM #

    I think I read that this is our first 2-0 start since the 2002 season, when Philip Rivers was still here. That seems hard to believe.

  11. hball57 09/13/2010 at 10:31 AM #

    tjfoose1, I know that I have heard TOB and Coach Horton say they prefer to have a player learn one side or the other. I believe they try to only move experienced guys around and keep the younger guys at one position. You may be right in your opinion, but TOB and his staff believe otherwise. I never played OL at any level and my HS team ran a split-back veer, so I really have no personal experience to prove either way.

    I think, just as the defense will get better, the OL will get better. To me the DL of UCF was like playing against ACC linebackers along the DL. That might be why we were more successful running the ball than pass protection. UCF didn’t get penetration up the middle, but their tackles would try to keep their arms up in the passing lanes against Russell. Their DEs were quick and the younger players had problems cutting down the angles. Perhaps we should have had Russel under center more.

    I think we can have a really good year this year. Maybe the football gods are smiling on us.

  12. mak4dpak 09/13/2010 at 7:10 PM #

    I truly believe the offense will improve, along with Russell Wilson’s play at QB. The defense was awesome, and might again remind everyone that they spent most of the second half on he field, so being tired made the new QB look better. So when the offense can spend more time on the field, we can expect great things from a rested defense. As for the win, UCF beat South Dakota 38-7 the previous week. And the same day we beat UCF, South Dakota, beat Big 10 member Minnesota. This year could be very promising, and continues with the Cincy game. I will be there to watch us go 3-0. Wow!!!!!!

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