Your analysis overlooks what is critical to evaluating the first 4 game performance. In all 4 games the coaches were using those games as “pre-season” learning experiences. Each game revealed what needed to be worked on or developed. Did you notice last night that we threw the deep ball, something we hadn’t done well if at all before?It has been duly noted by many that the best athletes on the team are from the 2 most recent recruiting classes. Our coaches wisely have been bringing along slowly but surely the freshmen additions to this team. IMNSHO it would have been disastrous to have thrown them in the first games.
I didn’t say any negative about the offense other then they have a tendency this season to wait until halftime before waking up. As for the best athletes and such coming on slowly that still doesn’t change the fact that the current defensive players are showing some really bad tendencies while playing bad. I don’t disagree that the freshmen don’t need to sink or swim when you have this weak OOC schedule but (and I’m not looking at who’s getting the PT on defense) I’d hope with such bad competition they have been getting them quality PT.
As far as being prepared to play is concerned, this team is not the same team that we saw in the GSU and ODU games. The “average or below average” ODU team is, IIRc is 3-1. Only by shooting themselves in the foot (kinda like Clemson last night) did GSU lose to GT who in turn beat VT in their house. USF in most certainly does not have an incredibly bad offense or defense either for that matter. They may have some problems just as many other teams but they are most definitely not “bad”.
Just as I’d point out who has State played and beaten, I’m going to do the same for ODU and GSU. I really hope people aren’t thinking that ODU/GSU are in the top half of the teams in the country. …I’m sorry but USF is most certainly BAD. They are horrible, the only teams worse than them State will play all season is PCU & maybe WFU. I’m not going to drag out all their stats but anyone who looks at them and then reads up on their play during games can easily see that.
You say our DL was pushed back 3 and 4 yards by a very small PC OL but only averaged 2.7 yards per rush. Were they tripping and falling over their own feet? FYI a smaller, quicker, well coached OL can do things to open running lanes that larger slower OL cannot do. Ever wonder why our Ali Kassam at 34o lbs. is not playing?
I did not say or imply it happened every time but they were getting pushed around enough to notice they were getting out muscled by guys weighing 50-100 lbs less than them. There’s a difference between speed and speed with strength and if players at PCU are that much faster than the State DL then it’s worse than I thought.
Early season comparative analysis is a dangerous game. For some reason you and a few others seem to think the objective of a football team in the early season should be to do its best to impress the fans and critics. Not happening at NCSU. Check out Coach Doeren’s coaching resume. His 2 years spent as a graduate assistant at USC wasn’t just something to do. The foundation of his coaching philosophy was built there. USC by and large is not a bad place to learn how to be a head football coach.
I think after 25% of the season has been played it’s safe to make quality analysis of tendencies that are being repeated over and over again. I never said they have to impress me, the object of the cupcakes is to bring them along, find the mistakes and fix them if possible. I’m just pointing out the problems that are being repeated game after game against average at best competition. These problems will become bigger when the competition increases. You’re also implying that I’m bashing the coaches which I haven’t done once, I’m simply pointing out the things that most people either want to ignore or simply gloss over while treating the results against HORRIBLE teams as actual improvement. It’s simply a difference in how we look at these cupcakes, I’m assuming you see these games as tangible results while assuming the competition is still pretty good; I see these games as worthless beyond seeing the mistakes that are made over and over again and will be worse when State plays someone with a pulse.
Here’s the good news, one of us will be proven correct in the next few weeks when State is done feasting on dessert and gets to the main course. I predict the offense will continue to score points but only in the 20-29 point range and will struggle against better defenses. I also predict our Defense will be exposed everywhere on the field as weak up front and slow in the back.
