North Carolina State University Athletics
Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: Eastern Kentucky
9/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 14, 2005
NC STATE (0-1) vs. EASTERN KENTUCKY (0-2)
DATE: Saturday, September 17, 2005
TIME: Kickoff: 6:00 p.m. (EDT) Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NC (57,500)
RADIO: Wolfpack Radio Network: 5:00 p.m. (EDT)
TELEVISION: None
OPPONENT---- Eastern Kentucky's Josh Greco was outstanding, but Western Kentucky was just a little better Saturday night. A last-second 27-yard field goal by Chris James helped the No. 7 Hilltoppers escape with a 23-21 victory at home over the Colonels in the "Battle of the Bluegrass."
Greco's performance earned him the Ohio Valley Conference's Offensive Player of the Week award. The sophomore quarterback was 24-of-34 passing for 273 yards and 3 touchdowns, notching career highs in completions, yardage and scoring passes
WKU (2-0) scored on three of its first four possessions to build a quick 17-0 advantage, before the Colonels defense made a big play. Junior end Steven Cassell picked up a Western Kentucky fumble deep in Hilltopper territory late in the second quarter. Three plays later, Greco connected with junior tight end Patrick Bugg on an eight-yard touchdown pass. The Colonels lost another chance to score when Bugg fumbled with less than a minute to play in the half and WKU enjoyed a 17-7 lead at the break.
With 9:05 remaining in the third quarter, the Eastern Kentucky defense came up big again by holding the Hilltoppers on 4th-and-1 at the EKU 39-yard line. Greco then connected on two big pass plays of 25 and 18 yards, both on third down, before finding Bugg again in the end zone to pull the Colonels to 17-14, late in the third quarter.
Following a Hilltoppers field goal, Greco guided the Colonels on a 10-play, 86-yard touchdown drive to give Eastern Kentucky a 21-20 lead. Greco completed 7-of-8 passes in the series, including a 24-yard touchdown strike to senior Andre Green with 11:42 to play. Both Green (101) and senior Andre Ralston (106) posted 100-yard receiving games for Eastern Kentucky.
The score remained unchanged until a bad snap on an Eastern punt attempt with less than two minutes left gave Western Kentucky the football on EKU's 42. Colonels punter, Benton Kuszmaul, had no chance to field the snap which sailed over his head. Amazingly, Kuszmaul was able to track the ball down and get a punt off, but only for minus 3-yards.
Western Kentucky took advantage of the mistake. A 17-yard completion by the Hilltoppers Justin Haddix to Maurice Perkins on third-and-10 and a 15-yard run by tailback Lerron Moore set up the game-winning field goal. Moore finished the day rushing for 164 yards on 22 carries.
EKU had two turnovers in the game and both stopped potential scoring drives. The Colonels were penalized 7 times for 60-yards. Two weeks ago, Eastern fell to Appalachian State 24-16. EKU ran for 189-yards, but turned the ball over four times and suffered 7 penalties for 58 yards.
Eight starters return on offense for the Colonels, including all five linemen. Right tackle Sean Dumford, a redshirt sophomore (6-5, 295) was a second-team All-OVC selection last season. The offensive line has good size and averages 306 pounds.
Due to injuries, Greco saw action in eight games last season as a redshirt freshman. The on-the-job training led to rough-sledding at times for the young quarterback who threw 10 interceptions. However, it's obvious that Greco has improved. Plus, he has experienced receivers in Green, Bugg and Ralston, an All-OVC performer in each of the last two seasons.
Sophomore, tailback, Mark Dunn, replaces 4,000-yard career rusher C.J. Hudson and has potential. Dunn rushed for a career-high 164 yards on 30 carries against Appalachian State. He has decent size (6-0, 200) and is a physical player.
Defensively, EKU has had to replace five starters in its front-seven, including both ends and linebacker, Juston Rivers, the OVC Defensive Player of the Year. Fortunately for the Colonels, linebacker Jerome Jones (6-2, 220, Sr.) is back. He's an All-American candidate who led EKU in tackles a year ago (113).
The secondary is experienced. The only hole EKU had to fill was at free safety where redshirt junior Victor Nichols (6-1, 195) replaces All-American Pierre Wright. Strong safety Carl Hayden has recorded 4 interceptions since the start of the 2004 season and is the No. 2 tackler this season behind Jones.
Ralston, senior Tremayne Perkins, and sophomore Kyle Barber give the Colonels a strong return game. Barber ranked eighth nationally in kick return yardage in 2004 with an OVC-best 27.6 average. Perkins has been impressive returning punts with a 13.2-yard average this season. However, there are questions in the kicking game with a new punter, place kicker and snapper.
True freshman, Taylor Long, has made all four of his PAT kicks and converted his only field goal attempt this season, a 22-yarder. All of Long's kickoffs have been returned for an average net of 35.3 yards. Kuszmaul, a redshirt sophomore, is also first-year starter and has punted 10 times for a 41.5-yard average. His snapper, Brad Willoughby, is a true freshman. Adam Ellis, the back-up snapper, is a senior. The Colonels have not had a punt blocked this season.
NOTES: NC State is 19-3 against non-conference opponents during the Chuck Amato era, including an 11-1 record at home... The Pack's last non-conference loss was to Ohio State last season... Under Chuck Amato, the Wolfpack is 14-5 in the month of September... NC State has outgained its last 13 opponents, but has a 6-7 record during that span...Four of the Pack's five starting offensive linemen played every snap in the opening game loss to Virginia Tech. Defensive linemen, Mario Williams and Manny Lawson also played every snap against the Holies...No opponent has gained 300 yards against the NC State defense for five straight games...Pack quarterback, Jay Davis, has thrown for 200 or more yards in eight of his last nine games, including a career-high 311 yard performance against Virginia Tech...In 63 games under Chuck Amato, the Wolfpack has entered the fourth quarter with the score differing by seven points or less 31 times...The Pack has not won at Carter-Finley Stadium since beating Wake Forest 27-21 on October 2, 2004. Tailback, Toney Baker, was the only true freshman to see action for the Pack in the season opener... Saturday's game is Eastern Kentucky's first against an ACC opponent. The Colonels have finished second in the OVC in each of the last two seasons.
INJURIES--NC State: DE Manny Lawson (knee sprain)-probable; OG Merci Falaise (ankle sprain)-probable; LB Stephen Tulloch (ankle sprain)-probable. Eastern Kentucky: None reported.
