North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: No Quick Fix For Pack
9/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
BY TONY HAYNES
He also knows that there’s no such thing as a perfect world.
Very little went right for the Wolfpack (1-3) in its 42-20 drubbing at the hands of nationally ranked Clemson on Saturday. And after giving up 609 yards of total offense to the explosive Tigers, O’Brien must now prepare his defense for yet another football moving machine.
This Saturday afternoon’s opponent is
“In a perfect world, you probably would have liked to have an off week after your second or third week so you could evaluate where you are and tinker with a few things,” O’Brien said. “We haven’t had that luxury. [The off week] doesn’t come until the middle of the year. We’ll continue to do the best we can and get better each and every week.”
The best O’Brien and his staff can do for this year’s team is to put a Band-Aid on some of the more obvious deficiencies and develop a team that competes for four quarters and limits self-inflicted errors. It’s not as if the former
Line play, in particular, is an ingredient for success at the highest levels of college football. Saturday’s one-sided match-up with Clemson certainly exposed NC State’s vulnerability in the trenches on both sides of the ball. For most of the afternoon, the Tigers played the part of bully on offense, often pushing the Wolfpack’s defensive front back three and four yards on basic zone running plays.
On the offensive side of the football, the Pack created very little push for backs Andre Brown and Jamelle Eugene, rushing for only 55 yards. In passing situations, quarterbacks Harrison Beck and Daniel Evans were frequently forced to hurry throws in the face of a fierce Clemson pass rush.
“The only thing you can do is go back to the practice field and keep doing the fundamentals over and over again until we get them right,” O’Brien said. “If we can execute with speed and get our techniques right, then we can be better up front running the football. We have to get into the strength room, but that’s too late now for this year. I think I made the statement after the B.C. game that we were beaten to the punch and they controlled the line of scrimmage on us. We were certainly controlled on both sides on Saturday. That’s a lack of strength and a lack of explosion on our part. We got overwhelmed on Saturday. That takes time and time isn’t our friend right now. We’ve only got a couple of days to get ready for this group.”
It should be consoling to know that O’Brien has been down this road before. The
O’Brien and his highly organized staff know what types of players they’re looking for on the recruiting trail and they have complete faith in a football philosophy that has already proven itself. But they also know there are no quick fixes.
Of course, all of that doesn’t prevent the coach from believing that anything is possible, even this season.
“We’re a third of the way through the year and we’ve got two-thirds left to go,” O’Brien said. “There’s no telling, maybe a light will go on and we’ll win the rest of our games.”
Safety DaJaun Morgan was hopeful O’Brien’s arrival would create instant success and a turnaround for the ages. Four games into the season, however, reality may be setting in.
“I thought it was going to change around pretty fast,” Morgan said. “When coach O’Brien came here, a lot of guys bought into the system and the team morale was very high. At times, change takes time and right now, it’s taking time for it to turn around. Once it gets going, it’s going to take off.”
Morgan was one of the players O’Brien said had been a bright spot up to this point, saying the junior safety was playing “spectacular.” Morgan recorded a team-high 12 tackles Saturday against Clemson.
“There are guys who have understood what we’re trying to accomplish and they have stepped their game up and played better,” said O’Brien. “You can’t do it with two, you can’t do it with five; you need 45 or 50 guys playing that way.”
Of course, the Pack is also getting great production out of Darrell Blackman, the ACC leader in all-purpose yards with an average of 179.8 yards per game. The senior wide receiver had 200 all-purpose yards on Saturday, a day that included a school-record 99-yard kick-off return for a touchdown.
“I would say right now after the first four football games he’s the best player on our team,” O’Brien said. “We have to keep trying to get him the ball the best way we can because as he showed on Saturday, he can score from anywhere on the field.”
Blackman was named the ACC's "Specialist" of the week on Monday afternoon.
O’Brien said on Monday that Beck, who left Saturday’s contest in the first quarter, would start at quarterback in the
Defensive tackle John Bedics is expected to miss his second straight game with an ankle injury. His brother is also hurting. Fullback Pat Bedics is listed as questionable with a knee sprain. Free safety Miguel Scott is also listed as questionable with an oblique strain.
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