North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: Little Things Hurt Pack in Big Way
9/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 27, 2005
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - The NC State football team is 1-2 after losing to archrival North Carolina on Saturday. It's in times like these that coaches like Chuck Amato get a lot of advice on how to run their football programs. One fan writing to Gopack.com said the Pack needed to run the ball more. Two e-mails later, it was suggested that NC State has to pass the ball more. Everyone has an opinion on what NC State needs to do to win a ballgame, yet most of the opinions vary to extreme degrees. The reality is that - in the Wolfpack's case anyway - the margin between success and failure right now is very, very small.
Let's start with the false premise that the Pack program is not competitive. Clearly, Amato's program has gotten to the point where it can compete with anyone. But competing at a high level doesn't amount to much if you can't produce the wins to show for it. Dating back to last season, NC State has dropped seven of its last eight ACC games, six of which were against teams that were either nationally ranked or qualified for bowl games. Amazingly - and this is what stings the most - the Pack went deep into the fourth quarter with a decent opportunity to win six of those seven games that ultimately ended up in the loss column.
So what has gone wrong? Well, obviously, penalties and mistakes are certainly more magnified in close games. Last year at Clemson, the Wolfpack lost by six after having two touchdowns called back because of penalties. NC State had another score taken off the board by a penalty in a game against Georgia Tech that wasn't decided until the final minutes. In the season opener this year, a critical facemask penalty gave Virginia Tech the impetus it needed to keep a key drive alive during its comeback in a 20-16 win at Carter-Finley. Then on Saturday against UNC, the Tar Heels' first score came on a blocked punt that was setup by a high snap. Carolina then needed to drive only three yards for its next touchdown after recovering a fumbled snap from center.
"They have 14 points on the board and the defense didn't give up but three yards to allow those 14 points," Amato said. "And I can't remember us having an exchange problem between the center and quarterback since I've been around here."
In other words, NC State continues to make it too easy for its opponents to win these games. Statistics don't always tell the entire story, but if there is one statistical category that rarely fails the litmus test, it's turnover margin. In those seven league losses, the Pack's turnover margin is minus 12.
On the penalty front, five of NC State's 10 penalties on Saturday were whistled against the right side of the offensive line. In order to turn its season around, the Pack must get consistent, mistake-free play from its offensive front. If that happens, everything else in the offense will take of itself. But after playing well against Virginia Tech and Eastern Kentucky, the NC State O-line took a step back on Saturday, allowing six sacks of quarterback Jay Davis. To make matters worse, the running game sputtered with Toney Baker and Darrel Blackman gaining 86 yards on only 19 carries between them.
"You've got to be able to run the football with the people we have," Amato said.
And when the running game is working, Davis is at his best in a passing attack that can employ play-action fakes that freeze pass rushers, linebackers and safeties. Davis, who has thrown for over 200 yards in 10 of his last 11 games, leads the ACC in passing yardage with an average of 267 per game.
Other areas in which NC State has excelled involve the kicking game. Blackman leads the ACC in kick off return average (35) and the Pack ranks 10th nationally overall. Kicker/punter John Deraney is off to a good start all the way around. Along with being six of six on field goals and averaging better than 42 yards per punt, Deraney's kick offs have netted 11 touchbacks in 15 attempts.
The question isn't whether NC State is good enough to beat the teams on its schedule, but rather can it reduce the errors and little mistakes that continue to hold it back? Once again next Thursday night, the Wolfpack will have little margin for error against a Georgia Tech team that leads the nation in interceptions with 10.
"The mistakes we're making seem to be coming at the most opportune time for our opponents," said Amato. "Those things have to be corrected and we as coaches have to get out there and coach better too. There's a lot of football left in front of us. I mean, when was the last time the University of Michigan lost two games in the month of September? There's a lot left out there and we're not that far off."
Correcting the little things might be the biggest solution to NC State's woes right now.
