North Carolina State University Athletics
HAYNES: View from the Booth
11/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
If you believe that variety is indeed the spice of life, then the NC State football team is for you. Each and every week, the Wolfpack (3-5, 0-4) comes out with a new and different cast of characters wearing the red and white uniform.
This week will be no exception.
With guard R.J. Mattes (knee) and receiver/kick return specialist T.J. Graham (leg) joining a long list of injured performers, a grand total of 12 players have seen their seasons ended by injuries.
Sure every team deals with injuries, but when the numbers approach what NC State has experienced this season, the trickle down impact is enormous.
With fewer bodies available in practice, there's less competition for playing time. And by Saturday, less depth makes it difficult to keep players fresh throughout the game, potentially nullifying their effectiveness in the fourth quarter.
After playing 48 snaps against Wake Forest and 41 versus Duke, freshman linebacker Terrell Manning was on the field for 72 total defensive plays in last week's 45-42 loss to Florida State.
"Terrell Manning is a redshirt freshman, he's still a little undersized and he's got to gain some more weight to play at that position," said Pack head coach Tom O'Brien. "We're down to the end. They've got to bandage themselves up and play to the end."
So concerned was O'Brien with late-season fatigue that he elected to skip the regular Sunday practice session this week, meaning the players didn't return to the practice field until Tuesday.
"I gave them another day off so they can get their legs back and play much faster on Saturday," O'Brien said.
Maryland (2-6, 1-3) won't have such concerns when it visits Carter-Finley Stadium for Saturday's 1 p.m. tilt. The Terps are coming off a bye week after falling at Duke back on October 24. Although they gave up 371 passing yards to Blue Devils quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, the Terrapins forced three turnovers and only allowed two touchdowns.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Maryland's offense is producing only 91 rushing yards per game. Traditionally, Ralph Friedgen teams are physical up front and will pound away with a jackhammer running attack. Problems in the offensive line have sabotaged that strategy, not to mention the fact that Maryland has been playing from behind most of the year.
This happens to be one of the closest series in ACC history, with the Terps holding a narrow 31-30 advantage with four ties. Eight of the last nine games in the series have been decided by 10 points or less.
Here's what we'll be looking for from the booth during Saturday's broadcast on the Wolfpack Sports Network....
Feast or Famine? Under new defensive coordinator Don Brown, Maryland has become a high-risk, go-for-broke blitzing team on defense. On one hand, the Terrapins are giving up 31 points per game, a figure that ranks last in the ACC. On the other hand, Maryland leads the league in quarterback sacks with 22.
"Don Brown loves to bring pressure," O'Brien said. "He brings pressure the whole game, and loves to outnumber you, especially in pass protection. If he gets you in third down situations, he figures he's got you and is going to come after you. The last couple of weeks, they've actually gotten better in their coordination of the defense."
All eleven players on the field, corners and safeties included, will and have blitzed for Maryland, meaning NC State quarterback Russell Wilson will be asked to make not only shrewd decisions, but quick ones as well. Just as importantly, the offensive line will need to be nearly flawless in blitz pick-up and the Pack receivers will need to break off into hot routes when necessary.
Of course, Wilson's mobility will give Maryland defenders another dimension that could ultimately be the biggest wild card in this game. Going 20-of-30 for 349 yards and a career-high five touchdowns last week at Florida State, Wilson put together perhaps the best game of his career. Interestingly, he rarely had to freelance against the Seminoles, passing effectively from the pocket. And on those occasions when Wilson did get outside, it was due to pre-planned bootlegs or sprint-outs.
Chances are, he'll be asked to use his athleticism a bit more in this week's game. Maryland's blitz schemes will likely cause some bad-looking offensive plays in both the running and passing games, but Wilson and his talented receiving targets could also produce some big plays when the Terps sell-out.
If Maryland hassles Wilson all day and forces two or more turnovers, it will have a great chance to win. But if the Pack succeeds in punishing those blitzes with big momentum-changing offensive plays, it could be a happy homecoming at Carter-Finley.
Get Wilson the ball: In a continuing trend, the NC State defense allowed Florida State to convert 8-of-12 third down plays last week. During this recent four-game slide, Wolfpack opponents have converted nearly 60 percent of their third downs.
Just how big a number is that?
Well consider this possibility: say the NC State defense would have held FSU to just 50 percent on third down conversions last week. Not only is that two drives that probably would have produced no points for the Seminoles, it also gets Wilson and a red hot offense back on the field.
When the final score is 45-42, two or three extra conversions on third down during the course of a 60-minute game are huge.
Opportunity for dramatic improvement exists this week, since Maryland's offense, a unit that ranks 11th in the ACC in scoring (21.6) and 10th in total offense (325.6), has converted 38 percent of its third downs this season.
Senior Chris Turner is a capable quarterback who averaging 229 passing yards per game. Interestingly, Turner has more carries (78) than any of the Maryland tailbacks.
It won't be surprising if Friedgen tries to get a struggling running attack going against an NC State defense that has surrendered 571 yards rushing the last two games. The Wolfpack must stop the run first and force Turner to be the hero with his arm instead of his legs.
