Breaking down N.C. State
Greetings-
J.P. Giglio of the Raleigh News & Observer was kind enough to answer a few questions about N.C. State. Some good stuff in here; you should definitely give it a read. You can read his work on the News & Observer blog and you can follow him on Twitter. I am going to try to get something up in the afternoon with a few points about the game. Thanks for reading.
1) Is the N.C. State running game really that bad?
Yes.
They miss Mustafa Greene, who hurt his foot in spring practice, and hasn’t played yet. James Washington is undersized and Curtis Underwood fumbles too much. Just by the eye test, I’d say redshirt freshman Tony Creecy is the best athlete of the group but the coaches haven’t given him much of a chance yet, either because of a lingering foot injury or his inability to grasp the playbook. I think Creecy will get a look with Underwood out with a knee injury.
2) Coaches at Tech have been talking about the challenge of defending Mike Glennon and his rocket arm. Do they have reason to be so concerned?
Yes.
Glennon is good and he has been able to make big plays with receivers T.J. Graham and Tobais Palmer. Glennon obviously not Russell Wilson, though, so the protection in front of him has been an issue (see: putrid running game) as has been his ability to use the whole field, and not just hit home runs (five of his 10 touchdown passes have been 60 yards or longer).
3) Who’s a player with an interesting background or story?
Graham’s dad, Trevor, was at the center of the BALCO scandal with Marion Jones and other defrocked track stars.
Glennon’s brother Sean was a punching bag for the Virginia Tech fan base, despite being a productive player.
Defensive tackle Markus Kuhn and kicker Niklas Sade were both born in Germany.
4) There were high hopes for this team in August. What’s happened since then, and can the season be saved?
The injuries, particularly to Greene and defensive tackle J.R. Sweezy, have crippled them. The healthy defenders have been terrible, out of position or both. A pair of I-A teams they beat last year, 30-19 (Cincinnati) and 38-3 (Wake Forest), have beaten them 44-14 and 34-27 this year.
There are eight games left and Tom O’Brien has turned them around from worse before, but if you look at the schedule, there aren’t many obvious wins (Central Michigan is about it) out there. It would take a team-wide epiphany to get to seven wins and another bowl game.
5) How would you assess Tom O’Brien’s job security?
Pretty good, not great, but not DefCon2, either. O’Brien went 9-4 last season, which is actually tied for the second-most wins in school history, and the team ended up in the AP rankings for the first time since Philip Rivers‘ junior year, so he does have some margin of error. He also has another four years on his contract. The school just bought out the basketball coach (who’s on the books for another two years) and is still paying the former AD, so financially, it doesn’t make a ton of sense to make a change after one bad season.
6) Where should Tech fans in town for the game go to eat?
There’s no equivalent of the Varsity in Raleigh but near campus, Mitch’s and Porter’s are both good (and vastly different) spots and downtown you can’t go wrong with the Raleigh Times (good beer) or Tobacco Road Sports Cafe (will have all the games on TV).
Links
You should definitely read Michael Cunningham’s story on Tyler Melton.
N.C. State defensive tackle J.R. Sweezy, who has yet to play this season, is listed as questionable in a hopeful development for the dinged-up Wolfpack in a News & Observer report from J.P. Giglio himself.
It would have been better had I posted this Thursday afternoon, but, still, an update from Michael Carvell on Tech prospect Josh Manley of Milton High, who gives an admirable reason for why he hasn’t been able to make a visit to a game at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Thanks for reading. Please follow me on Facebook and Twitter.
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134 comments Add your comment
19
September 30th, 2011
5:49 pm
I hope we break them down! I’ll settle for a win! Go Jackets!
George Stein
September 30th, 2011
7:36 pm
Where did you get the quote, BTTF?
Delbert D.
September 30th, 2011
7:47 pm
Hayseed Dixie – Thanks much for the tip. I am in the stadium for Maryland.
fan of shorter passes & longer runs
September 30th, 2011
7:53 pm
You guys remember NCSU was talking to Johnson before they selected TOB…Johnson might just show them something again…and about the whipping Wilson put on Tech last year.
http://www.sectalk.com/boards/archive/t-40514.html
Delbert D.
September 30th, 2011
8:10 pm
Check this out on the ESPN site:
“”I could care less about Maryland, I’ve burned my diploma. I’m flying a Georgia Tech flag right now,” Friedgen told the station. “
Ken Sugiura
September 30th, 2011
9:32 pm
Anon – marcus wright is healthy, he’s just deep down the depth chart. being hurt probably helped others pass him. i noticed at the north carolina game, during offensive possessions, he was maybe 20-30 yards away from the second string who were standing at the ready near the line of scrimmage, an indication that he isn’t part of the rotation.
BigTimeTECHFan
September 30th, 2011
9:50 pm
@George Stien Scout or Rivals, forgot which one, story was about a week ago
GT93
September 30th, 2011
10:05 pm
Quick little article on ESPN.com about Ralph Friedgen and his continued animosity towards Maryland over his dismissal:
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7039655/maryland-terrapins-former-coach-ralph-friedgen-says-burned-diploma
Quote of the day:: “I could care less about Maryland, I’ve burned my diploma. I’m flying a Georgia Tech flag right now,”
Classic. Should CPJ ever decide to hire an Offensive Coordinator, I vote we bring Friedgen back!
Gr8 2B aFuzzyB
September 30th, 2011
10:22 pm
@ fan of… good find. I didn’t realize Bama may have been in the mix as well.
Delbert – when did the Fridge make that statement?
GT9
September 30th, 2011
10:24 pm
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7039655/maryland-terrapins-former-coach-ralph-friedgen-says-burned-diploma
sports
September 30th, 2011
11:05 pm
f… tech and everything they stand for
Athens, we have a problem...
September 30th, 2011
11:31 pm
@sports – getting a little hot in the kitchen flipping burgers? Time to do a little trolling?
UGA fans are ...
September 30th, 2011
11:47 pm
One good place to eat in the Raleigh area is Smoky’s BBQ Shack, located on Chapel Hill Rd in Morrisville. Not impressive from the outside, but food is great!
GT71
October 1st, 2011
7:49 am
Run the offense. Works almost every time.
And the D – well, if it’s a step process, a step forward means an easy W. If it steps back, watch out.
First road test. A pretty good measuring rod for the future.
GDBurdell
October 1st, 2011
8:09 am
HAHAHA “where can we find some terrible hotdogs and crappy fries in a dangerous rundown neighborhood”
Answer: sorry, this is Raleigh dumbass
woooooooooooow another crippled team, will tek break a record? Will another t-shirt be printed?? Will tek alums unite (after) Warcraft and sign a petition asking for tek to share this years bcs title??
I'm flying the Georgia Tech flag right now
October 1st, 2011
8:15 am
The Ramblin’ Wreck is tuned up and ready to cruise at 53.3 ppg.
*points per game
rxdawg79
October 1st, 2011
8:16 am
@Give me a break: I’m thinking it’s over at halftime, too. But I’m hoping CPJ pulls the starters after the 1st series in the third. Stats are nice, but they don’t make your team any better than it already is. And the unnecessary loss of a couple of key players (especially with VT, Clemson, and Miami looming) isn’t worth the risk.
Just my 2 cents.
GDBurdell
October 1st, 2011
8:16 am
Haha then your choice of lifestyle is now legal in most states
Chris
October 1st, 2011
8:29 am
One thing about Coach is, when somebody tells him he can’t do something, or somebody says something about the offense, that just absolutely infuriates him,” said quarterbacks and B-backs coach Brian Bohannon, a Johnson aide since 1997.
Hey Paul you WON’T beat UGA this year.
Road Scholar
October 1st, 2011
8:32 am
Check this out:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/terrapins-insider/post/ralph-friedgen-ive-burned-my-diploma-and-is-flying-a-georgia-tech-flag-right-now/2011/09/30/gIQAd61v9K_blog.html
J
October 1st, 2011
8:47 am
rx
starters were taken out in the 3rd qtr of kansas and we still scord either 14 or 21 more.
my scoring guess
1q 14-7
2q 24-10
q3 38-17
4q 51-24–we miss an extra point
interesting that texas tech is just a 6.5 point fav @ kansas.
J
October 1st, 2011
9:03 am
The fridge will be here pulling for tech next week! ha!
Doug Jacket
October 1st, 2011
9:41 am
Tom O’Brien could not coach himself out of a pot hole. He might be the most overrated coach in the ACC from his BC days. I know two ACC football coaches very well, and both say that NC.State is very easy to prepare for, and the talent level is laughable. O’Brien is outdated. Debbie Yow, inherited a mess when she took over at AD. She will do nothing, as she allowed fatty Fridge at Maryland to have many losing years. Tom O’Brien runs the show at NCSU, and will be given as long as he wants. Sad but true. If Yow were smart, she would be lobbying right now to have his contract bought out, but she will do nothing of the sort. Her hands are tied with the old fart.
The funniest part is that NCSU fans grasp on to anything, and probably believe O’Brien will get things turned around. Hey Pack fans! Wrong this time!
PJ will roll this team today!
Paul N Destin
October 1st, 2011
10:05 am
GT needs to keep working on that passing game and this game should give them just that. Coach Bryant switched to the Bone for the single coverage you get in the passing game and Bama had great success (with not great passers but good QB) throwing the ball when they wanted!!!! I have watched a little of the Teck games and the QB has improved in throwing but he’s still not where he needs to be to get GT to the topshelf this year. If GT can throw with success when they wish and continue to run as well as they do then it will very difficult for average to better teams to beat them with a week to prepare for the Bone.JMO
Jackets 2011
October 1st, 2011
10:20 am
Poor Giglio of Raleigh News.
We ridicule some at AJC as being homers but mostly reporters have to.
So he is trying not to be the total homer by predicting a GT win.
He predicts Jackets 27 Pack 21.
Well it is possible Glennon could give our secondary a lot of trouble and they do have the home field.
Most Jacket fans think the winning margin will be a bit higher.
Wish I knew where I could place a bet but I tend to dislike gambling on my team.
Go Jackets.
Jackets 2011
October 1st, 2011
10:24 am
OK couch potatoes.
I’m heading out for 3 to 5 miles of running with an Achilles threatening to fail at 60 years of age.
Get off your rumps and do some exercise this morning if overweight.
My heart felt advice to you struggling there.
For those already fit, please ignore.
GTSteve
October 1st, 2011
10:28 am
If the defense comes to play today, this one could get ugly before it is over
GT Stunner
October 1st, 2011
10:52 am
Tech better not take this game lightly or they will get embarrassed. I love our offense but we gotta get pressure on Glennon. Make him feel uncomfortable. We do that and don’t turnover the ball, we win. Go Jackets!
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 1st, 2011
11:01 am
rxdawg79, that’ll work. It’s fun to lead the nations in so many stats. That high school fooball is clicking. ” ROCK ON JACKETS “
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 1st, 2011
11:11 am
Jackets 2011, good advice, but I have something else that I do on Saturday morning that’s better than exercise. LOL ” ROLL JACKETS “
I'm flying a Georgia Tech flag right now
October 1st, 2011
11:15 am
`
If the Jacket defense gets 2 interceptions & 7 sacks again,
the Wolfpack is in big trouble.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 1st, 2011
11:31 am
Road Scholar, that was great what Friedgen said. I wish CPJ could find some job for him at Tech and bring him back. But since CPJ RUNS the offense himself, I doubt there would be much of a place for him here.
Parker
October 1st, 2011
12:50 pm
I thought kansas was awful
20-0 over texas tech
5150 UOAD
October 1st, 2011
1:51 pm
KEN are you going to do a LIVE game time blog?