I can’t get enough of NC State talk. Great thing that Bloguin site ACC Rivals hunted me down and got me to spill the beans about UC while I got them to talk about the Wolfpack. My interview or whatever is already up there. Here is an exclusive excerpt.
“I had the honor of talking to Scott, writer at BearcatsBlog…”
That’s all you need to know about how well that went. Let’s see how my queries were answered by them. I tried not to ask the same questions twice. I probably did, but pretend it’s new to you.
BB: The Wolfpack got nothing from Russell Wilson in the air last week, is there concern over whether that was just a bad game, or if he hasn’t matured as expected?
ACCR: We’ve had a few offenses like that. When Chuck Amato was coach at NC State, we had the #1 defense in the nation and an offense that spent more time looking for who our QB had thrown an interception to.
Russell Wilson’s strength is the passing game, make no mistake. Our runner backs getting it together has kind of snapped into place this season so we are excited to see that. Last game was, as you correctly called it, a real shitter of a game. Russell Wilson just wasn’t connecting well all night (even in the first half when we “were doing good”). That being said, the general sentiment appears to be “he’ll get it together”. He spent last spring out of football practice because he has been drafted by the Colorado Rockies and playing in their prep-league. Most people feel he is just rusty from the spring and typically he only takes a couple games to warm up. He had previously beaten out current Chargers QB Phillip Rivers (former NC State QB) for average yardage per game which, after the UCF game, is no longer true. Again, I think you called it correctly, a win may very well hinge on whether Russell is back or still stuck in spring training. My two cents.
BB: What about the run game?
ACCR: As far as the running game, UC probably has a better chance at getting the short-field passing game under control. Our backfield was just atrocious last season, as I mentioned earlier, and they still aren’t necessarily champions. However, the backfield proved in the UCF game that they are capable of an amazing performance. The question for NC State is whether this performance is due to off-season adjustments and improvements or just having a “good game”.
BB: You mentioned that NC State has as many sacks in 2 games as they did all last season. What’s been the big change?
ACCR: The front line is actually getting fun to watch again. We’ve seen some inconsistent performance stopping the run game, but NC State’s addition of Tenuta (former Notre Dame DC) has taken a post at NC State as DL coach (which many of us expect is a temporary position while a personal promise is fulfilled to our current DC, Mike Archer. Tenuta is famous for his blitzing schemes that had Georgia Tech ranked 30th in the nation his first season there and that actually gave ND a few gasps of air the last few seasons. During the UCF game, our defense was able to penetrate, disrupt the offensive scheme and draw bad passes from the QB or get the sack. What’s changed: highly acclaimed Jon Tenuta.
BB: NC State as a team seemed to look a little lost most of the second half against UCF. Was it more the Pack resting with a 21-7 lead, or do you have any larger concerns?
ACCR: As for the second half the UCF game, I think relaxation might have been a part of it. Actually, a huge part of it. Rest assured, with The Marine at the helm (HC Tom O’Brien) any attitude problems are probably currently be dealt with via medieval torture. He’s not an excitable guy, but he’s disciplined. Recently he’s taken to kicking nationally ranked recruits off the team for not flying straight, but that’s another story.
BB: What do you think will go down Thursday night?
ACCR: As for next game, here are our biggest variables: (1) the previously mentioned Russell Wilson concern and (2) what will UC pull out of their bag? Seriously, UCF had a hidden gem in that 2nd string QB. NC State had the game under control until second-string QB hit the field, then all bets were off. We didn’t know him, or his style, or his strengths. Recipe for disaster. This is a valid concern in a pre-game analysis because Tom O’Brien has been notorious for not adjusting well to his opponents. If UC can switch their game up enough, they have a good shot at the win.
Big ups to them for taking the time to help out. I hope you take the time to read both interviews that I did on the other sites. I’ll link to them on the twitter.
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