We had a great game against FSU. Packi and I were debating a bit yesterday though whether this one could be interpreted as a sign of better things to come, or whether we caught FSU ripe for an upset and will promptly regress to the program’s norm. Beating FSU was fantastic, but means NOTHING if we don’t come out and take care of business against Syracuse on Saturday. MOC beat FSU down in Tallahasse when they were GOOD, but then would lose the next week to a weak team.
It is one thing for coaches to say that Syracuse is just as important, but they have to believe it and the players do as well. Here’s to hoping we have enough Senior leadership on this team that they really do get it. If this were a young NC State team, I’d expect we’d lose Saturday.
Against FSU, a few things stood out to me…
Good:
– We looked equally matched talent wise. That speaks to our player development and S&C.
– Our QB has clearly improved. Last year he was good against weak teams, but average at best against the strong ones. The play to push the ball out of the back of the end zone may have saved the game for us.
– We have the best collective OL and DL together that I can remember at NC State. I am convinced that football is won in the lines (and with the QB). We have a great OL coach and I think that will continue to just get better. We had a great DL coach. It will be interesting to see where the DL is in a year or two.
– JaySam is a once a generation player for a school like NC State. We are getting spoiled by him.
– We kicked the ball out of the end zone on kick offs. Thank goodness.
– We made a legitimate attempt to find balance on offense. Hines surprised me in his ability to get yards against FSU. I figured we’d have to have had Gallaspy to run inside.
Bad:
– Killer instinct…. We just don’t have it. I thought we took the foot off the gas too early in the fourth.
– Punt block……. ugh…
– Secondary: We made more plays this week, but I still think teams can go over the top.
