The NC State Wolfpack has played two I-A opponents in 2011. Wake Forest is coming off of a 3 win season where they only scored ~22 points per game. They racked up 34 against the State defense in Winston-Salem. Cincinnati was also coming off a terrible 4 win season scoring around 27 points per game. Last Thursday, they piled up 44 points on NC State. Bottom line: State's defense is struggling.
Offensively, the Wolfpack is only really outperforming Duke and Boston College, which is not saying much. Senior Mike Glennon is the trigger man and against the Deacs and Bearcats, he's tossed for a 5:3 TD:INT ratio. The rushing offense is probably the blight of this offense. Against the two I-A defenses, State has only averaged 1.7 yards per carry.
The first stat that glares in your face when you look at the box scores for NC State's losses to Wake and Cincy is the pass:rush ratio. State only rushed on 38% of their playcalls. Factor our 8 sacks and that number drops to 32%. The ineffectiveness of the veteran NC State offensive line is pretty apparent. And when I say veteran, they are all veterans. The entire OL averages at least a season of starts. I think they have just not transitioned very well from the scrambling Russell Wilson to the stagnant Mike Glennon.
The running backs have done little to help Glennon. In both I-A games, State only picked up 6 first downs on rushes. For perspective, Tech racked up 45 first downs on the ground against Kansas and MTSU. State's feature backs are Curtis Underwood and James Washington. Anthony Allen had 7 fewer carries in 2010 than they've both had in their entire careers (247 combined). Notorious TOB's complete abandonment of the run against Wake and Cincinnati indicates, to me, that he has zero confidence in either back. Tom O'Brien's top backs even with Russell Wilson behind center combined for roughly 20 carries per game from 2008-2010 so the 2011 run-less offense is a shock for TOB fans.
Any State fans want to discuss their offensive woes or their defensive futility?
Offensively, the Wolfpack is only really outperforming Duke and Boston College, which is not saying much. Senior Mike Glennon is the trigger man and against the Deacs and Bearcats, he's tossed for a 5:3 TD:INT ratio. The rushing offense is probably the blight of this offense. Against the two I-A defenses, State has only averaged 1.7 yards per carry.
The first stat that glares in your face when you look at the box scores for NC State's losses to Wake and Cincy is the pass:rush ratio. State only rushed on 38% of their playcalls. Factor our 8 sacks and that number drops to 32%. The ineffectiveness of the veteran NC State offensive line is pretty apparent. And when I say veteran, they are all veterans. The entire OL averages at least a season of starts. I think they have just not transitioned very well from the scrambling Russell Wilson to the stagnant Mike Glennon.
The running backs have done little to help Glennon. In both I-A games, State only picked up 6 first downs on rushes. For perspective, Tech racked up 45 first downs on the ground against Kansas and MTSU. State's feature backs are Curtis Underwood and James Washington. Anthony Allen had 7 fewer carries in 2010 than they've both had in their entire careers (247 combined). Notorious TOB's complete abandonment of the run against Wake and Cincinnati indicates, to me, that he has zero confidence in either back. Tom O'Brien's top backs even with Russell Wilson behind center combined for roughly 20 carries per game from 2008-2010 so the 2011 run-less offense is a shock for TOB fans.
Any State fans want to discuss their offensive woes or their defensive futility?