North Carolina State University Athletics
HAYNES: No. 98 for State?Carolina
11/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
BY TONY HAYNES
NC State’s players seemed to be grasping at motivational straws a few weeks ago when the Wolfpack was in the midst of a four-game losing streak. The record was 2-6 and few, if any, observers outside the program saw any light at the end of the 2008 tunnel. But inside the walls of the
Following a close loss at
What was going on here?
Well, it was obvious that the ACC schedule makers had done NC State a favor. Upcoming was a line-up of games against Duke,
A solid 27-17 win at Duke on November 8 was followed by an exciting 21-17 NC State triumph over
Now comes the final piece to the in-state puzzle. With a victory at
“To go through the state and beat all the Division 1-A teams would be quite an accomplishment,” said NC State running back Andre Brown. “This is a big game for us because if we lose, we can’t go to a bowl game. I want to be around these guys over the holidays because this is a good team and I love the bonding and the unity that we have here.”
Like most high school stars from the state of
It didn’t quite happen that way.
NC State suffered excruciating losses to its archrival the first two years of Brown’s career, and making matters worse, he got banged up in both games. Last season, the Wolfpack turned the tables on the Tar Heels by taking a thriller at Carter-Finley Stadium, 31-27. But even that win was somewhat bittersweet for Brown, who had a broken foot that caused him to miss most of the 2007 campaign.
As cornerback Jimmy Sutton broke up a pass in the end-zone to preserve NC State’s victory, Brown stood in the
“It hurt that I wasn’t out there playing,” Brown said. “I was in the tunnel thinking I’d like to throw on my equipment and get in there for at least one play and do something so I could feel like I was a part of it. It didn’t happen, but I was very happy that we pulled that win out.”
On Saturday starting at noon, Brown will have his chance to throw on his equipment and make a big contribution in what will be the senior’s final State-Carolina game.
Here’s the breakdown...
Limit quick strikes: Two words best describe the Tar Heels this season: BIG PLAYS! In its wins,
Linebacker Bruce Carter, a player O’Brien calls “a freakish individual,” has blocked five kicks including three blocked punts in the same game.
Safety Trimane Goddard owns a league-best total of six interceptions. On offense, receiver Hakeem Nicks is a defense-stretcher and leads the ACC in receiving yards per game (91.1).
In last year’s meeting, NC State generally dominated play at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, but was forced to rally to win because of
The team that has held the upper hand in rushing the football has won 15 of the last 16 games in the series and Saturday’s game will likely continue that trend. After holding Duke and
Ideally, the Pack would like to stop the run with seven people so that its safeties can concentrate on taking away the deeper portions of the field.
Punt protection has got to be a big priority and a concern for NC State in this game. Had he taken the proper angle and stretched out last week,
Balance on Offense: With quarterback Russell Wilson getting better and better each week and a running attack that has averaged better than 150 yards the last four games, Wolfpack offensive coordinator Dana Bible has really been able to balance out his run-to-pass ratio. Over the last four games, NC State has run the football 137 times and passed it 112 times. And that ratio is even closer to 50-50 when you consider the number of called pass plays that ultimately went into the rush column because of
It’s been the best of both worlds, really.
The Wolfpack offense is staying on the field for more plays and in doing so is helping the defense. It’s rather significant that the Pack owned a 33:15-to-26:45 possession time advantage over
And while
“The games in which we’ve played well, we’ve played well against the run from a defensive perspective,”
The smash-mouth zone,’ that area in the box where a lot of big guys will be leaning on each other, will be interesting to watch on Saturday, especially when the Wolfpack’s improving offensive line locks up with North Carolina’s front seven on defense.
“We’re going to play a great defense,” O’Brien said on Thursday. “They’re awful big in the middle, they have great speed and size in their linebackers and certainly their secondary is playing well. They’ve created a lot of turnovers; they’ve returned interceptions for touchdowns, so you know it could be the best defense we’ve played this year.”
Wolfpack Sports Network coverage of the 98th meeting between NC State and
