Russell Wilson threw for a career-high five touchdowns and a career-high 349 yards but it wasn't enough to hold off the Seminoles as the Pack fell 45-42. It may have been the best offensive performance put on by the Wolfpack so far this season but again, it was the inability of the defense to get a stop that lead to the loss. Although Wilson and company racked up 538 yards of total offense, the most since 2004, the defense was only able to force three punts all game, allowing FSU to score on 7 of their 12 drives. The Wolfpack defense has been punished so far this ACC season as they now fall to 0-4 in the conference. The Pack has been criticized for their soft secondary, but yesterday it was their inability to stop the run that allowed the Noles to take home the victory as they tallied 278 yards on the ground, 186 of it coming from sophomore Jermaine Thomas.
The game was a back and forth shootout with both offenses clicking on all cylinders. Wilson's career night coupled with Toney Baker's 112 yards on the ground and Owen Spencer's 165 yard receiving day kept the Pack within striking distance as they matched FSU, touchdown for touchdown all game long. With 3 minutes left in the game, the Pack took their first lead of the game, 42-38 and it looked like O'Brien's squad were going sneak out of Tallahassee with their first conference victory. Unfortunately, Christian Ponder, FSU's junior signal caller, marched the Noles down the field in under two minutes to punch in the game winning score.
It seemed as if NC State has been forced to play catch up all season long as the defense hasn't been able to find any answers. Opponents are scoring at an average of 44 points per game against the Pack, a league high. It has been disappointing to say the least for those who felt the Wolfpack were the ACC favorites coming into the season. The offense has been as billed, electric, consistent and unstoppable at times, however it's been the defense that has held back the Pack. With ten players already lost for the season, one of which being star LB Nate Irving, the Wolfpack has been trying to fill holes and plug gaps in what has turned into a patchwork defense. Tom O'Brien has had nowhere to turn. With seven different combination in the secondary already looked at, nobody seems to be taking the reigns. Freshman Jarvis Byrd was shown his first game action of the season yesterday and will look to break into the ever morphing rotation.
With the Pack now sitting at 3-5 and 0-4 in the ACC, it's back to Raleigh to take on Maryland in what will be a battle for the basement. If the Wolfpack can win they can move out of sole possession of last place, tying themselves with the Terps, probably not the stakes Pack fans were hoping for this late in the season, but with only four weeks remaining in the regular season, State will try to get back on track any way they can.
comments
35 Responses to "Heartbreak in Tallahassee, Wolfpack Falls 45-42"It's refreshing to see the offense able to establish the run early.
As of now. Eugene and Baker are averaging 7.0 yards per carry combined.
Tough to watch them score every possession, but Russell and the offense have looked sharp.
Top Offense with Worst Defense if a recipe for disaster. We cant tackle anyone or cover anyone....
Soft zone def is getting old...
Finally...A STOP!
COME ON...two big mistakes after another big Spencer gain.
Why not call the timeout here? WTF?
WE HAVE 3 TOs!!!!
Not real sure what was going on there Eric. After that completion there should probably have a been a timeout called...not a qb sneak.
Alright Gotta have atleast 45pts to win this game but positive news Ponder has bruised ribs. No doubt he will play but if we can continue to pressure him and make him think about every hit we have a shot. Bad clock mang. at the end of the half w/ us leaving timeouts on the table. Interesting to see what TOB says about that.
Touchdownnnn!!!!
Russell looks unstoppable right now!!!
Comon D get a stop
Brutal D. I can only hope that the experience these guys are getting will pay dividends sometime in the very near future.
CJ Wilson IMO is a real bright spot in this game. He has made some real good tackles and looks quick out there. Good job FINALLY stopping them from waltzing in to the endzone.
Got away with that one...that should ahve been 6 for FSU...
Zone D continues to get burned. WPH, is TOB trying to make this his goto D, or is this an injury situation and we don't feel like we have any other choice?
Maybe its just me or is Cole missing more tackles than anybody else?!?!
There is no bright spot in this defense. . . another disgusting effort on defense. The frustration is ridiculous. . . the seat Mike Archer is sitting on should be getting unbearably hot at this point.
Baker is a horse
We think we have fallen...there was a time when FSU would go for this without thinking twice.
I love watching Toney Baker run all over FSU. Toney Baker runs so damn strong - he's getting us great yardage on the ground and opening up the passing game. You're a stud Toney!
OK here we go. GAME TIME. We MUST use all 5 minutes and score a TD. No time must be left on the board!!!
TOUCHDOWNNNN!!!!!!
PLEASE STOP THEM!!!!!
PLEASE DEFENSE. . . Just don't let them in the endzone thats all I want!! Please!
Go Pack
1:36 on the clock. I have confidence in the offense today to get us within Josh C.'s leg range -- if not a TD first!
FSU clock ref. is crooked.
yep. . . thanks again defense.
I noticed the clock ref also but this one is deff put on the defense again. U cant ask much more from the offense they scored on what all but 3 possessions. One of those was the last one with 1:36 and the other was the end of the first half. Man o Man so many questions after this game. Why no timeout at the end of the first half to get into field goal range? Why are we sticking with this defense? How do we lose when Russel throws 5 TDs? How do we lose scoring 42? How do we lose with 538 total yards? Why does our DT think he is a punt returner? Its one simple answer we cant rely on our D. We should have just let them score early and try to win it or at least tie. I mean wtf! We really didnt lose the turnover battle the last interception was a prayer. In all honesty are Offense can play with anybody but our D is stunting our growth this year and in my opinion its not just the players play. I think this BS play calling is horrible. I would much rather blitz all but 3 men and take our chances. I mean how many times does it take to get burnt on the wr screen to play the guys closer to the line of scrimmage. Its not like we have not seen it before (Duke). I mean they prolly ran that at least ten times and completed every single one of them and prolly averaged 7 to ten yards on them. I mean the one time u could say that we some what defended it it was when morgan knocked his guy back and they still got 3 or 4 yards on it. WTF! OK im done maybe next week we see some changes thats all im hoping for.
good eye, just about every big play has come off cole' side.pitt,wake,duke,bc, now fsu move him inside next year. that position needs speed not size,move wolf in that spot for rest of the year
this lost is on the coaches, clock mgnment,poor at best.def.no pressure,weak zone again.one coner bliz o it worked did we see that pressure any more.
they need to recruit 4 db from jc this year to show how to tackle. players are watching too many playes happen just out or inside of them, we don't attack the ball on defence.
It's Audie Cole's fault we can't stop anyone on D?
You mean the guy who is starting at a new LB position this year from the one he played last year and on scout squad the year before? He was a QB is HS before that and to make matters worse- we have no F'N' back up!
Has anyone ever looked the 2 deep for strong side LB and wondered Asante Cuerten- who? For good reason, he doesn't get in and Audi never leaves the feild.
Today the coaching staff tried putting Bobby Floyd in to give Audie a rest- BINGO! First play 55 yard TD run right up the middle and Floyd probably didn't even turn around and know what was going on by the time Thomas was 11 yards up field. (Atleast Cole, with lungs exploding, would have made the FSU RB have break stride).
Maddux at MLB and Manning a full time stater at Nate Irving's old position. This is not pretty and by the look of how these two react to pulling lineman we better hope that Ryan Cheek is a good LB.
Are people out of their mind to think we should be able to hold teams below 50 points unless the other teams self destruct? Really, honest question.
What I saw out there today looked like JV guys making a hell of an effort.
One huge gain for FSU came on a play action pass that the WR beat our FS and CB easily down the seem for a TD. Immediately after the CB #14, was pointing to the FS #27 about how far out of position he was. It was true freshman Byrd (first play ever in COllege football) telling RS freshman Wolff (the one that starts, then gets benched, then starts, then gets...) where he should be.
It was a total microcosom of the freak show that is going on all over our back seven.
It's a mess and play clock managing- schemes- rubbing chix bones together; won't fix the excruciating learning curve these kids are under.
As frustrating as it is to watch, I am sure the guys in the locker room and on the field are more frustrated. It is not that hard to figure out what is going wrong. I hope that we, as a team, understand what we are doing right. My only hope is that these guys are getting better, and that all this experience will pay dividends in the near future.
Our offense needs some work as well. Baker was the man, and Russell played pretty well, but lost his head at the end of the first half (everyone on the team should have been screaming TO, but it seemed like everyone missed it. Eugene played OK, but there were several plays where he didn't hit the hole, but rather danced around in the backfield and got smoked. Our WR made some good catches, but also missed some easy ones.
But all in all, I usually judge the game on how often I am cussing the TV. The game was entertaining, and for once, I felt like we had a shot to win. At FSU with a shot to win...can't help but think things are possibly improving (ever so slightly).
PS - word verification for this post is "state"...good omen
There is one group of kids who played extremely well yesterday, they hung 42 points on FSU's defense on the road in Tallahassee, it's a shame that we're all bummed out as fans, and those kids aren't getting to celebrate like they should be right now.
There are some valid reasons as to why the defense is not what it should be, and there are also some questions as to the techniques and methods involving the scheme in which they are playing. I'm saying this just to make note of the fact that INJURIES, YOUTH and INEXPERIENCE are the at the very root of our struggles on defensive side of the FOOTball.
I just want to make sure that when those EXACT SAME REASONS crop up on the BB court this season that they aren't neatly stuffed into a single wad, and used as a platform to fire the BB Coach. TOB has, and is using his more and more of his own players. No one, well there may be a few loose cannons out there, is calling for TOB's scalp at this point.
SHOULDN'T IT BE COMMON SENSE TO BELIEVE THAT THE SAME AMOUNT OF REASONING AND CONSIDERATION WOULD BE IN PLAY IN THE SAME MINDS OF THE SAME NC STATE FAN'S, WHEN THIS COMING BASKETBALL SEASON ROLLS AROUND AS WELL!!!
I personally don't believe that the BB team is going to give any REASONABLE fans a whole lot of reasons to whine and complain this season. But there are gaps yet to be filled, they're YOUNG, and INEXPERIENCED, and hopefully INJURIES do not become a major factor once again. When those three factors become clearly evident on the BB court this season, and they will, would anyone like to place a bet that CERTAIN fans will totally ignore the blatantly obvious causes, and go straight for the Head BASKETball Coach's jugular?
The BB program isn't really going to have to do too much at all in order to surpass the 1st half results that the FB program has provided this season. So, for those of you elsewhere, who are ALREADY bashing the BB Coach before the season has even started, use a little COMMON sense, and give it a rest!
Holy Crap it just keeps getting worst! Just read that Mattes is out for the rest of the year with an ACL tear. Man honestly we just arent getting any breaks. So the count is up to 11 now.
Redfred, I have my theories (2) on why there is a double standard between the way TOB is treated and the way Sidney Lowe is treated. One of the two has to do with the perceived importance of basketball over football. I'm obliged not to get into the other theory.
pp3, I've thought about that first theory myself, and we're on the same page there. I'm thinking that it's more than likely that we are on the same page with your undisclosed second theory as well.
Post a Comment