1. NC State's offense has struggled mightily so far. BC fans know this scheme but might not know the particulars on why it is not scoring this year. Aside from the QB play, what are the other issues facing this version of TOB and Dana Bible's offense?
YANCSSB: Well I think you're seeing what happens when you gear an offense around one guy and he can't stay healthy. Much was made about the quarterback battle heading into and out of the offseason, with five guys jockeying for one spot, but I think O'Brien and Bible knew all along that Russell Wilson was going to be their guy. They went out and tried to install some read option into the playbook for him, to give him the opportunity to make plays with his feet. Neither of the other options we have at quarterback--glorified walkon Daniel Evans and Nebaska transfer Harrison Beck--work well in this new system as neither is equipped to run any read option. I think, for this season, it was Wilson or bust, and unfortunately we've been busting.
As far as other issues facing this offense, it all starts up front. We just plain stink along the line right now. Normally when you convert defensive linemen into offensive linemen it's to add depth. O'Brien turned them into starters. That speaks volumes of what he thought about our existing talent. We both know that Dana Bible's never gonna "Norm Chow" you to death on offense...his style isn't fancy; it's to overpower you on the line. So it's no surprise that until our offensive line is experienced enough and deep enough to go toe-to-toe with BCS-caliber defensive lines, we won't be scoring a ton of points.
2. Do you expect Russell Wilson to play this Saturday?
YANCSSB: Ask me on Friday. Or Saturday, better yet.
The truth is I don't know. With the way injuries have gone this season, what originally appeared to be a minor nagging thing one week may drag out into a two, four or six weeks more thing. We were supposed to have Toney Baker, one of our stud running backs, back from injury after Spring practice. Now it looks like his career is in jeopardy. Anthony Hill went down with a chest injury in the South Carolina game. He may not play Saturday. So it wouldn't surprise me if a supposed relatively minor shoulder injury ends up dragging out for a few games. Then again, as coy as O'Brien has been with his injury status updates this year, who knows. He may start. I wish I knew, I can tell you that.
3. The defense has also suffered some setbacks and injuries. Who are the impact players left standing? How do you think TOB will attack BC?
YANCSSB: I'll say this about injuries, in general. This has been the strangest year I've ever seen. Nearly every position on the field has been impacted in one way or another, on both sides of the ball. Every game seems to bring with it another player out for either an extended period of time or for the entire year. At one point we were down to only 46 available scholarship players in the 44-man two deep. That number may have actually gone DOWN since that time as the injuries keep coming. It's a real shame because what it's done is slow down the rebuilding process and robbed us State fans of knowing just how good or bad this team really is. With a healthy starting QB, RB, TE, WR, DT, (2)SS and one hell of a MLB, I'd like to see how we would stack up. I think we would've stood a chance against South Carolina, blown out William and Mary and ECU, and given South Florida a better run for their money than we did. That we're 2-3 with a win against a then-top 15 program is remarkable in one sense.
Of those left standing, I guess you have to look at Andre Brown and Jamelle Eugene in the backfield. If the offensive line can get it together, I think these two can be the difference in a game's outcome. You saw how Brown took over the overtime period against ECU. He took it right at them and they couldn't stop him. We'll need a big game from him every game from here on out. Eugene can catch out of the backfield just as well as any tailback I can recall at State. He can take a swing pass for big chunks of yards, and isn't afraid sit down in the zone and catch the ball over the middle, as well.
4. What is your prediction for Saturday?
YANCSSB: I predict we'll see two football teams trying to find themselves. In other words, it could get ugly. If Beck starts--and I expect he will--we should see him throw the ball all around again with mixed results. He has zero touchdowns and 12 interceptions against BCS foes. That's atrocious. He needs a 3 TD, 0 picks kind of game to start righting that ship. I hope we see some of Wilson, honestly, as he gives us our best chance to win.
I think on defense, we'll try to bottle up the run and force Crane to beat us with his arm. We didn't generate any kind of pass rush at all against USF, and since Alan Michael Cash is done for the year, I don't anticipate it to get much better the rest of the way out. Nevertheless I think we'll attack the run and keep our fingers crossed.
If you read my blog every Friday I try to offer up some reasons to be optimistic heading into that week's game. With that in mind I won't deviate from that tact in my prediction: 17-14 home team, in a game marked with turnovers and nasty passing offense. The team with the fewest mistakes I think wins this game.
The safest prediction of the year, however, is that yet again, one of State's two-deep will go down with an injury that forces him to miss at least one game. That's the safest bet around these parts.
FOR MORE ON NC STATE CHECK OUT YANCSSB.
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11 comments:
Nice to see that YANCSSB isn't afraid of proudly wearing the uber homer tag (like so many BC fans do, including yours truly).
17-14 would be a surprise. BC now favored by 9.5...I really don't see that offense doing anything vs. the Eagles, particularly if Wilson is out. Only way they score is if we cough it up in our side of the field (cough cough Chris Crane cough cough)...which is certainly possible.
The *real* question is what BC can do vs. NCSU's D. I think we get a good ground game going and wear them down in the second half, with a couple late scores that make the game seem less close than it was.
I'll go with 10-3 BC at half, 27-3 as the gun goes off.
Bleeep Boop Injuries, Humidity, Bleep Blop.
I predict NC State fans have a big Friday night, show up a little hungover, and go through the motions at this noon game. The atmosphere won't be intimidating for Mr. Crane.
State has one of the more underrated venues in college football in my admittedly biased opinion. The lower bowl is completely bowled now in and traps in a lot of the crowd noise. And the fans that are there tend to make a lot of noise.
If it's a game (within 2-3 scores), it'll be rocking.
it might be underrated as far as the noise levels go, but i'll tell you this - all in all, they're the worst fans in the acc with regards to the level of class they show to visiting fans. can't wait to get down there and make up for that horrendous loss last time.
BostonCollegeEaglesFootball.blogspot.com
"all in all, they're the worst fans in the acc with regards to the level of class they show to visiting fans."
Ben, you obviously haven't been to College Park, MD.
It sounds like you had a bad experience the last time you were down in Raleigh, and I hate to hear that. I think if you could sample all of the visitors that come to Carter-Finley you'd find that the overwhelming majority of them come away with positive experiences.
I hope you have a better trip this year, with respect to the fans (I still hope you're not pleased with the outcome, of course ;).
"Ben, you obviously haven't been to College Park, MD."
UMD hoops fans are notoriously horrendous, but I had no issues with the football ones a couple years ago when I watched BC play at College Park.
I know one fan doesnt represent everyone, but for the record I had emailed James a couple of questions about places to eat/drink and how the parking siutation is at NC State earlier this week (before this post and before the comments) and he was very helpful - he gave me a long email with a lot of good suggestions. Thx James
i'll reserve judgement until after i've had my second experience at nc st - and no, i've never been to a md game, so maybe they're worse.
look, i know no school is perfect when it comes to this sort of thing - i've certainly seen some lame stuff happen at bc, too. part of it is the nature of competitive sports, part of it is kids being kids. but there are only a handful of schools where i've actually been seriously uncomfortable - playing georgia in nashville, nc state and rutgers.
we should all take our cues from clemson - now those folks know how to host a football game.
Anyone heard of any places BC fans will be in NC prior to the game?
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