North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Improvement's the Goal, O'Brien Says
9/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. - No matter who is on the other side of the line of scrimmage, NC State's football coaches have one goal from week-to-week, especially in the early season: improvement.
And that's what the Wolfpack (1-1 overall) will be looking for again when it takes on its second Football Championship Series opponent in as many weeks, hosting Gardner-Webb Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.
"[Defensive coordinator Mike] Archer has said this to us a lot: It's not about who we are playing, it's about improving us," said senior safety Bobby Floyd Monday, two days after his team's 65-7 victory over FCS opponent Murray State. "This is another week to get better.
"The way you get better is by practicing hard. You have to approach every week the same. You don't want to practice a different way for Murray State as you do for the University of North Carolina. That is something I do think we have done a better job of this year and at the end of last year."
Wolfpack head coach Tom O'Brien agrees, for the most part. He liked the improvement he saw from the season-opening 7-3 loss to South Carolina, but he sees room for more, no matter who the opponent might be.
"Certainly, you can get a gauge of how you have improved in fundamentals,' O'Brien said. "You can tell, no matter who you are playing against, if someone is in a good blocking position or a good tackling position. That is what football is all about, getting better at fundamentals.
"That's why we talk all the time, that it doesn't matter what it says on the helmet, you have to respect the game."
Specifically, O'Brien wanted to see his team improve the way it protected the quarterback, the way the receivers caught the ball and other aspects of the game.
"From a technical standpoint, we did improve," O'Brien said. "We were in good position, we were running routes the right way, the quarterback was throwing to the right spots.
"On defense, things we concentrated on in practice, was our pursuit and our tackling. We had too many loafs the first game. That's coaching. We coached them last week to run to the ball and they did a little better, we coached a little better and they performed a little better."
Saturday's game will be another opportunity for the Wolfpack to improve its impressive mark against in-state opponents under O'Brien. In the coach's first two seasons at NC State, the Pack is 6-1 against opponents from the state, including a 3-0 mark at Carter-Finley Stadium.
"We take a lot of pride in that," Floyd said. "We take pride in every team we beat. It does feel good to beat your in-state rivals."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
