NC STATE WOLFPACK VS. FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLESKickoff: 12 Noon
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Television: Raycom
Records: Wolfpack (3-4, 0-3 ACC) , Noles (3-4, 1-3 ACC)
Coming off of their bye week, the Wolfpack is looking to turn around their season, as they take on the Florida State Seminoles. The Pack has struggled on both sides of the ball the past few weeks, but they have taken their off week to get back to the fundamentals. "We just had to get back to the basics, get back to doing the little things right." Said DeAndre Morgan who will start opposite freshman CJ Wilson this week in the NC State secondary. It's been the little things that have haunted the Pack thus far during ACC play. Missed tackles and costly penalties have been much more prominent than they were early in the season, however, those are not the only problems.
The injuries are starting to really mount up for Tom O'Briens squad. Ten players have now been lost for the season, and now Ray Michel, the veteran of the linebacker corps, will be sitting out with an injured ankle. Top punt returner and budding wideout TJ Graham will also be inactive due to an injured leg. The increasing amount of injuries do not bode well for a Wolfpack team looking to turn the corner, but if anyone knows something about post-bye week hot streaks, it's the Pack. After a bye week last season, Tom O'Brien and his men reeled off four consecutive wins, qualifying them for a bowl and making people pay attention to a team that looked to be all but finished after week 8.
If a 2008-esque turnaround is in store, it will have to start this weekend in Tallahassee. To do this, the Wolfpack front line is going to need to turn up the heat on Seminole quarterback Christian Ponder, who looked unstoppable last week against UNC. Ponder put up a very impressive 395 yard, 3 touchdown performance against a defense who has been, for the most part, very good this season.
For NC State, the defense has made it hard for the offense to get it rolling. Playing from behind most of the time during ACC play, Russell Wilson hasn't had the luxury of selling the play action to buy time. Playing from behind has also prevented RB Toney Baker from controlling the game with the run. The result has been an offense that has been forced to throw, creating a one dimensional offensive attack. It will be important this week for the Pack to strike early and be able to control the tempo. The past 3 match-ups have all been played at the opponents pace, something the Wolfpack can ill afford if they want to fly out of the sunshine state with a victory.
This week they face one of the best passing offenses in the conference. Christian Ponder is leading the league with 2,176 yards and has also tossed 12 touchdowns. He is a smart quarterback who doesn't take big risks often, but when he does he has the receivers to bail him out. Bert Reed, a 5'11", 165 pound wideout, leads the Noles with 438 receiving yards and is their go to possession receiver. Opposite Reed is their deep threat Rod Owens, who has already made a 98 yard house-call this season.
On the ground the Noles aren't much to be seen. Ty Jones is their leading rusher with just 228 yards and 4 touchdowns, meaning the Pack will have to stop the air attack, something they have not been able to do over the past 3 weeks.
Dead Heat*
Over the last 8 games, the Pack and the Noles are dead even in their W-L records, with all of those games being decided by 10 points or less. The average margin of victory in those last 8? 6.5 points.
Homecoming*
There are 17 players on the NC State roster that hail from the sunshine state, 13 of which are on the 2-deep, and six of which are starting.
Late Season Success*
Over the first two seasons of Tom O'Brien's reign, the Pack has gone 4-10 combined over their first 7 games, however, they made it a habit of turning it around late in the season. Over the final 5 games the past two seasons, the Pack has gone a combined 7-3. Last season, they lost their first 4 ACC games, only to finish .500 in the league at 4-4. They hope that these numbers are an indication of what is to come.
comments
9 Responses to "GAME PREVIEW: NC State vs. Florida State"Dana, please, please run the ball early and often. Beat down the defense, then start the air attack. Being down 7-10 points in the first half does not constitute abandoning the run game. TB is a stud (when he holds on to the football), use him.
Of course, when FSU hangs 600 yards on us, we may be forced quickly back into the air attack. Ugh. Will be interesting to see the LBs get torched in the flats, especially with Michel out. My optimism overflowith....
Injuries mounting up? You mean AGAIN this year? This was a huge concern after last season and was widely mentioned at the beginning of this season. There is no surprise, we continuously have a high rate of injuries with this current regime. We can't ALWAYS play the 'oh, we're playing like hot poopoo because a lot of our key guys have injuries and that is an act of God.' There's obviously a weakness within the coaching staff in this area. Whether it's strength/conditioning, level of intensity in practice (or lack thereof), etc. The fact that it has gone virtually unsolved is reason for concern.
UNC pulled the upset over Va Tech...there is hope we can do the same against the noles.
^UPSET???!!! WHAT UPSET???!!!
C'mon man, don't you know the heels were highly ranked in the pre-season. And highly ranked in the pre-season last year, and the year before that, and the year before that...
This is going to be ugly.
With the injuries and the youth factor, TOB has a tough row ahead of him this year. I don't expect much going forward, but I can't seem to shake the fact that only the BC loss was one that we didn't have a chance to win if we'd executed a few plays better & made some tackles. So maybe, just maybe, somehow we can hold our own enough to stay in this game.
To me I think to win this on the road
1) Have our DL carve up FSU blocking scheme- make Ponder and RB's beat us and tackle better after bye week. If DL doesn't make initial play they HAVE to pursue to the whistle and help back seven.
2) Special teams has got to be flawless- If TJ is healthy we NEED good TJ- not questionable judgment one.
3) Must win TO battle.
Pack 23 FSU 19
JOSE!!!! haven't seen you in a while! good prediction....Ole'! What happened to Jose's Ole's? WTF? Comeback, C'mon.
We can't stop them.
Post a Comment