Monday Musings

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November 28, 2011

NC STATE FOOTBALL

ncsu helmet

Brett Friedlander (starnewsonline.com)
Bryan comes up big in final home game for Wolfpack

Bryan’s most satisfying moment came with 2:18 remaining on a third-and-seven play with 2:18 remaining.

Finding himself wide open after a beautiful play fake by Glennon, Bryan grabbed a pass and walked into the end zone to put an exclamation point on the Wolfpack’s 42-point in 21-minute second half blitz.

The score helped Bryan erase a bad memory that has been haunting since last year, when he dropped a sure touchdown on an identical play during State’s 38-31 loss atMaryland12 months ago.

“It was the exact same play that I dropped last year against Maryland,” he said. “It’s a great thing for me to run that play again, finally catch the ball and score.”

The fact that it happened on Senior Day made it all the more special.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I can tell you it’s a dream come true. I just can’t believe it’s happened. I should have been doing it all year, I guess. But it finally happened and I’m really happy for it.”

Matt Carter (TheWolfpacker.com)
Monday morning quarterbacking

Three things that worked:
3. Red zone efficiency
NC State reached the red zone seven times Saturday. They scored a touchdown all seven times. It does not get better than that. What was impressive is that State twice had first and goal at the 10, once had first and goal at the 7 and also faced a second and goal at the 8 after a penalty. Those are tricky down and distances in the red zone.

Three things that did not work:
3. Starting strong
The rally will live for generations of Wolfpack fans, but there was a reason why State needed a comeback. Given all that was on the line, State could not have started any worse. It has been a problem that plagued NC State all season.

NC State Athletics (PackPride.com)
NOTES: Glennon’s Big Day

Glennon Ties School Marks
Quarterback Mike Glennon had a career day, as he tied two NC State school records.
• Glennon tied the school record for touchdown responsibility as he threw for 5 TDs and ran for another to finish with 6. Philip Rivers in 2002 against Navy is the only other Pack player to total 6 Touchdowns in a game.
• Glennon tied the school record with 5 touchdown passes on the day. Glennon is the 5th NC State player to throw 5 in a game, the last was Russell Wilson against Florida State in 2009.

Glennon Climbs Touchdown List
With five touchdown throws today, junior quarterback Mike Glennon now has 28 for the season, moving him into a tie for third place on the NC State single-season list in that category. Only Philip Rivers (34 TDs in 2003) and Russell Wilson (31 TDs in 2009) have ever thrown for more in a single season than Glennon has in 2011.

ACC FOOTBALL

acc football logo

JP GIGLIO (N&O)
Bowl picture coming into focus for ACC teams

Like the other bowls behind the Orange in the ACC selection order, the Belk Bowl will have to wait for the outcome of the ACC championship game on Saturday – between Clemson and Virginia Tech – before it can finalize its matchup. But the Wolfpack (7-5) is among its top options from the ACC.

Wake Forest (6-6) and North Carolina (7-5) will have to travel farther for the bowl season. The Deacons are likely headed to the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La,. on Dec. 26, with the Tar Heels likely ticketed for the Military Bowl in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 28.

Virginia and Wake Forest are also options for the Belk Bowl, Webb said, with West Virginia (8-3), Louisville (7-5) and Rutgers (8-4) on the Big East side of the equation. One of the top factors in the bowl’s selection is how the team finished the season, Webb said.

N.C. State (7-5) rallied from 27 points down in the second half to beat Maryland 56-41 in the biggest comeback in school history. Virginia (8-4) lost at home Saturday to Virginia Tech 38-0, and Wake Forest (6-6) lost at home to Vanderbilt 41-7.

“Are their fans disappointed, or are their fans excited? That’s what we look at,” Webb said. “State’s comeback was incredible, which will have everyone fired up, which is good.”

JP GIGLIO (N&O)
Hokies the toast of the ACC, yet again

N.C. State: A productive weekend for the Wolfpack, solving Maryland’s hex, however temporary or laborious, with the biggest comeback in school history. Despite a shaky start against both the Terps and to the season, N.C. State’s season will end with a bowl trip.

What we learned
N.C. State fans, like Virginia Tech fans, are capable of booing a Glennon brother: Sure enough, Mike Glennon started slow against Maryland and threw a pick-six he shouldn’t have, but the decision by some N.C. State fans to boo Glennon was just wrong. Boo the coach, boo the scoreboard or boo the refs, but there’s no reason to boo the quarterback for trying.

Brett Friedlander (starnewsonline.com)
FIFTH QUARTER: One-sided rivalries, a familiar champ and a comeback for the ages

STAT OF THE WEEK
Florida State accounted for only 95 total yards and seven first downs against rival Florida on Saturday, but because of a defense that forced four turnovers, the Seminoles still managed to beat the Gators 21-7. In doing so, FSU became the first FBS team since 2000 to win a game while gaining fewer than100 yards.

MULTIMEDIA/PODCASTS

microphone

WRALSportsfan.com
O’Brien: “Not a lot of people believed in us”

WRALSportsfan.com
Manning: “It was win or go home”

WRALSportsfan.com
Glennon believed in a Pack comeback

WRALSportsfan.com
Wolff was stunned by 41-14 defecit

WRALSportsfan.com
Creecy making most of more opportunities

About 1.21 Jigawatts

Class of '98, Mechanical Engineer, State fan since arriving on campus and it's been a painful ride ever since. I live by the Law of NC State Fandom, "For every Elation there is an equal and opposite Frustration."

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20 Responses to Monday Musings

  1. the_phisherman 11/28/2011 at 7:44 AM #

    How does Mr. Giglio know it was Glennon who was being booed? I think it was the whole freaking team and coaching staff.

  2. TopTenPack 11/28/2011 at 8:10 AM #

    I agree with phisher. I was watching from home and I thought the boos were for TOB for giving up on the last 16 seconds of the first half.

  3. UpstateSCWolfpack 11/28/2011 at 8:12 AM #

    I agree with phisherman. I did hear some calls for Glennon to be pulled, from some idiot fans in our section. But I think the booing was more towards the team as a whole.

  4. coach13 11/28/2011 at 8:55 AM #

    In my mind I was booing every one, coaches players. The plays they were (or weren’t making) deserved it at the time. That’s what fans do. I didn’t think it was all heaped on Glennon, and they all redeemed themselves.

  5. VaWolf82 11/28/2011 at 9:40 AM #

    Gilgio’s article on the bowl picture matches our forum thread pretty well.

    http://www.statefansnationforums.com/topic.php?id=6225

  6. eas 11/28/2011 at 10:04 AM #

    I just wish someone could tell TOB to run the no huddle offense!

    This conservative BS they run never ever works. High risk high reward. If they are watching film ever week this should be obvious, especially the no huddle offense.

  7. WuffDad 11/28/2011 at 10:12 AM #

    From Section 27 perspective I agree with Phisherman and Upstate’s perception of the fan’s reactions. Although I have sometimes gotten a feeling that something good was about to happen while sitting in that stadium (last time was just before Ponder’s fumble last year) I was not feeling it Saturday. I tried to remain optimistic because apart from just plain putting the ball on the ground the offense began the game moving the ball with relative ease. The defense started strong and then faded, but had been excellent the last month. (BTW I blame Amerson for 14 points – was apparent to those around me that he was more interested in gambling for a record setting interception than playing defense. He would have been burned a third time had the pass been lower.)

    Just before Glennon threw the pick 6, I made the comment that I thought he had finally made up his mind to take charge of the offense because of the determination I saw in the preceding touchdown drive.

    I remembered a game I watched from beginning to end in 1984 – involved Maryland and is still the most amazing comeback I’ve ever seen. Defending Nat. Champ the “U” at the height of their gangsta era had them down 31-0 at the half and knocked the starting QB out of the game. But I decided to watch the second half anyway – hate the Terps but they were an ACC team and Miami wasn’t at the time. I wanted to see someone shut the frickin’ “U” up. Enter Frank Reich and 42 second half point to win 42-41.

    Games always have ups and down and those in this game were just about as large as is possible. But it takes a full 60 minutes to play and apparently about 55 minutes to cook a turtle. You start out slowly and bring it to a full boil.

    What I’m most happy about is that although this was the perfect setup for one of the following to happen:

    1. State rallies but falls a point short on some kind of disputed call.
    2. State rallies to take a lead by one point and MD kicks last second field goal to win.
    3. State rallies to tie, misses one or more extra points and loses outright or in overtime.

    NONE of that was allowed to happen. The Pack finished them off and won GOING AWAY.

  8. PackMan97 11/28/2011 at 10:18 AM #

    Not to make light of those that suffer domestic abuse, but for some reason being an NC State fan sometimes feels like I’m in an abusive relationship.

    NC State beats the crap out of me emotionally, let down after let down. They realize what they’ve done and promise they’ll change. They promise things will be better, and for a time they will be. Until the cycle starts over.

    /sigh

  9. DC_wolf 11/28/2011 at 10:30 AM #

    Key stat: Possession Time – NCSU 34:53, UMD 25:07 (including a staggering 10:21 to 4:30 in the 1st qtr alone!) this augmented by tackles-for-loss: NCSU 6 for 28 yds, UMD 5 for 29 and their defense was on the field for 10 more minutes.

    Major muse: Just think, Russell Wilson was up 14-0 in the game last year to secure a place in the championship game before being stymied by the Terps; this year he makes it to the championship game – of the Big 10 (or whatever they’re called).

    Minor muse: there is talk that the Pack may receive a bid to the Military Bowl at RFK, you know, the bowl where UMD beat East Carolina last year? How’d you like to play ECU… Again..

    Fun Fact: there are only 2 teams in the ACC that currently own a winning streak: Virgina Tech (7) and NCSU (2). 😉

    And if you walked out on the team early Saturday @ Carter-Finley, you’re lame.

  10. TruthBKnown Returns 11/28/2011 at 10:36 AM #

    How’d you like to play ECU… Again…

    ECU is not bowl eligible.

    All the talk I’m hearing is we’re pretty close to a shoe-in for the Belk Bowl, and the Holes are most likely headed to the Military Bowl.

    And if you walked out on the team early Saturday @ Carter-Finley, you’re lame.

    We stayed until well after the game was over!

  11. ancsu87 11/28/2011 at 3:28 PM #

    “In my mind I was booing every one, coaches players. The plays they were (or weren’t making) deserved it at the time. That’s what fans do.”

    REALLY???!!?? That is what fans do? I must not be a fan then because I attended STATE and watched Monte Kiffin (5-6) and then Tom Reed (3-8 3X)before Dick Sheridan’s first season. During those 4 seasons I attended every game. I left a few early and left quite a few feeling disappointed and disgusted. However I never booed my team and was always hopeful for the next one. Maybe it is becasue I am also a Saints fans but I doubt it.

  12. JohnGalt78 11/28/2011 at 4:02 PM #

    I was there. Can’t speak for anyone other than the group surrounding me. But I suspect the vast majority of the boos at the various points in the game where aimed, as were mine, toward the staff. My seats are in section 27, second row from the top. In the “old days” we could turn around a yell at the coaching staff up in the trailer. We still have a tendency to turn around and boo up toward the press box. Nonetheless, we were booing the coaches….in particular the DC. None of us are very football literate but even we knew that the Maryland QB was going to keep the ball and run for the short TD in the first q. He’s a running QB right? That was in the paper, right? Was it 100 yards he had last game??? So we, the fans up where I sit, kinda had a clue. And that was the first one he ran in. The second time they lined up in the exact same formation. Granted, it was the second quarter so to the untrained eye the play must have been like looking in a mirror. Perhaps the DC got confused by that. For sure he couldn’t hear us warning him of the impending QB keeper….for his second rushing TD. The boos up where I sit are never aimed at the players….UNLESS one of them acts like a classless jackass with behavior unbecoming a STATE player. And that hasn’t happened in a long time…certainly not this past Saturday.

  13. WuffDad 11/28/2011 at 4:03 PM #

    I don’t like the booing or calls to bench the QB. They sure don’t make it a very attractive place to be for any recruits that may be there. But by the end of the half I understood it. The game had degenerated to a point where it didn’t look like it would get any better and there was obviously a lack of effort or focus or both on the part of the skill players in particular. How is it that the fans are to let the team & coaches know what’s going on is unacceptable?

    If the booing had continued once they righted the ship then I agree we’ve got a problem.

  14. Wolf74 11/28/2011 at 8:02 PM #

    I didn’t boo the players. I didn’t boo the coaches but I was plenty upset because it sure didn’t appears the coaches had the players prepared properly.

    I had a son that played 4 years of D1 baseball so I really believe in booing players, except maybe if the player is being a thug or just plain loafing. Bad coaches are a different matter. I have booed coaches just to let the AD know I was upset.

  15. mak4dpak 11/28/2011 at 8:03 PM #

    I agree with the majority regarding the boos. It was more toward the coaches/team for their play calling/effort.

  16. ancsu87 11/28/2011 at 8:57 PM #

    So after he threw an interception the boos were for the DC? Or is it the HC? The OC? If you were watching on TV, as I was, you could clearly hear the loud round of boos just after he threw an interception.

  17. wolfpacker 11/28/2011 at 9:22 PM #

    Glennon obviously redeemed himself. However, with 8 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter the announcers were saying “Maybe the sacks have taken their toll” as he was throwing the ball to quick and often too high. This was exactly when we started the drive that turned the game around. The first half we looked like the ‘bad news bears’ of football, nothing went our way.

    The Defense has improved beyond measure. If it’s due to injuries that we played so poorly in the beginning of the year, please sneak these weak links in occasionally so this never is the excuse ever again.

    This was a game where in the first half it seemed as the coaching staff actually did the right thing and the players let them down…FOR A CHANGE! This team has a LOT of talent, but just as in the PAST, the COACHES do not make adjustments fast enough, nor do they open up the offensive game. Take the Wake and Georgia Tech games. Both games had us down to fight back. Had we played WIDE open from the beginning, we may have won at least one of those games. As for the Wake game, we did not go to ‘no huddle’ soon enough. We are much more talented than Wake and I believe have more stamina…the coaching staff needs to ATTACK every single team we play. Instead, they sit back, wait and see what’s going to happen. If we PLAY TO WIN, there is NO DOUBT we will. I HOPE that the coaching staff learned from this game as much as I am certain the players did. The PLAYERS never gave up and that’s the only way we WON!

    Glennon showed LEADERSHIP and that he has the ability to comeback after playing a disastrous 2 1/2 quarters and pull us through to a WIN!

  18. TruthBKnown Returns 11/29/2011 at 8:04 AM #

    I thought the boos were because we gave up at the end of the first half without at least TRYING to get some more points on the board.

  19. Prowling Woofie 11/29/2011 at 9:01 AM #

    The fact that TOB walked the team off with 16 seconds left in the half – after gaining some yards, without so much as an attempt at the end zone – is what made me furious. Might as well have run off the field waving a white flag.

  20. TruthBKnown Returns 11/29/2011 at 10:43 AM #

    If we were going to do that, why not just take a knee and end the half? I didn’t like it either. And it’s not the first game this year where we had time to try for a late score in the first half, but didn’t even try.

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