Well, I feel like I let everyone down. I really believed we would play better than that, and I thought I had good reasons. Obviously I was wrong. Haven’t actually been that wrong in a while. Up until this past weekend, we had only lost under Paul Johnson three times where the game was decided before the final few minutes: at UNC in 2008, LSU in the bowl game, and at Miami in 2009. All three of those games were against pretty good teams and were not at home. Well, N.C. St. was at home. Whether or not they are a pretty good team remains to be seen.
The loss was a total team effort. The offense put us in a hole in the first half, and the defense missed several opportunities to let us back into it in the second half. Special teams even gave up a touchdown.
The defense really played well in the first half. I was very impressed. They gave up only 3 points on the first five possessions. They only conceded a touchdown at the very end of the half, and that was just barely, on a long pass play that was initially called out of bounds. That last drive probably doesn’t even happen if our offense had been moving the ball and eating up any clock. And the blocked punt obviously wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t been punting. Given all that, I would say that if the offense played well, we could have (should have?) been up something like 17-3 or 21-3 at halftime. Then in the second half, the offense finally got something going, but the defense conceded 4 touchdowns on their first 6 possessions.
Here are my initial thoughts from after the game:
Offense:
- Stephen Hill has all the physical tools, but needs to learn how to play football.
- I love Nesbitt, but I think its time we stopped assuming that just because the offense usually runs pretty well, that means he is making all the right reads all the time. I saw enough plays where I thought the ball either should have been given to Allen or should have been pitched and wasn’t that I think maybe Nesbitt deserves a little more of the blame for this game than most will probably give him. More on this in the game analysis after I have had a chance to review the tape. (Of course, after I say this, Nesbitt will probably just use his mind control powers to make sure everyone forgets I said it, including me. But maybe its something we should be thinking about.)
- Did the offensive line play on Saturday? I don’t remember seeing us block anybody at all. Ok that may be a slight exaggeration, but really guys? We can’t block N.C. St.’s front four? I’ll wager that by the end of the season, their defensive line is exposed as not being that good. Maybe we aren’t any better up front this year after all.
- The A backs and receivers probably didn’t block very well either, but I’ll wait until I see the tape.
Defense:
- Where is the sense of urgency? Ever. Our players appear to me to be a little too relaxed. For example, the defensive line doesn’t seem to understand that if the running back breaks through the line cleanly with a full head of steam, that makes it easier to get past the linebackers. I thought I saw some plays where the D line could have lunged and gotten some contact on N.C. St.’s running backs. Even if they don’t make the tackle, a missed arm tackle can slow him down and be the difference between a 5 yard gain and a 12 yard gain, if it helps a linebacker make the tackle when he otherwise wouldn’t be able to make it.
-And the secondary lacks urgency in key situations as well. I remember a third down and 5 or so, on a drive in the third quarter deep in our territory. They threw a pass into the flat about 1 yard short of the marker. It appeared our guy could have sprinted up and hit him before he turned around, and a good tackle would have left him short. But there was no urgency, and he turned and easily made it. On third down and long, also in our territory, with State leading 31-28, Wilson floated a pass into the end zone. Our guy appeared in position to intercept it if he had turned around. He didn’t know the ball was in the air. That in itself is not necessarily a huge problem. In man coverage defensive backs frequently play this way. Ideally he would have figured out from looking at his man that the ball was in the air, and turned to make a play. But even if he isn’t going to do that, when the ball comes down you would like to see him fight like he is trying not to give up the potential game sealing touchdown. From what I saw, he scrapped and fought like it was practice in the middle of April.
I am sure the defense had other problems as well, but I don’t remember any specifically enough to talk about for now. They will be covered in the full analysis coming later this week.
So what does this loss mean for the season? Well, first and foremost, it means we aren’t very good right now. N.C. St. may turn out to be world beaters, but I sorta doubt it. And even if they are, I don’t want to lose by 17 at home. Do I think we can play better than this? Absolutely. But we have to do it, and soon, or else this loss won’t mean much at all for the season. It will just be one of the losses in our 4-4 ACC record.
Secondly, it is a significant loss, much moreso than Kansas was, even if we start playing better. It is not as bad as a divisional loss would be, because for the moment we still control our own destiny in the Coastal. But that is only true if we win out. One more loss, to anybody in conference, and we won’t control our own destiny anymore. So this loss does affect our chances to win the conference. It obviously has no affect on our ability to beat UGA.
We have a couple of games on deck that we should be able to win, which could help get us back on track. But we have to play better. My suspicion is that if we play like we did against N.C. St., then Wake Forest and especially UVA very possibly might beat us as well.
Overall, it was a tough loss, but there is still plenty to fight for… for now. I believe in these coaches (although Groh doesn’t have my absolute trust forever… Good defense in spurts is only going to keep me happy for so long). I believe in these players. But we are in danger of letting our season really start to get away if we don’t start showing some serious improvement, and a lot more consistency.
As always, Go Jackets!
As bad as GT played, their performance was much better than this post game analysis and your week 4 preview.
ReplyDeleteAt least your football team had an excuse, they had a talented opponent that forced them into a poor performance. You laid this egg while up against air.
"I would say that if the offense played well, we could have (should have?) been up something like 17-3 or 21-3 at halftime. "
Genius. Right up there with "If only we had scored more points than our opponent, we would have won the game."
Btw, the Wolfpack offense played poorly in the first half. They missed several opportunities and should of hung up at least 2 more TD's before half time... still feeling generous, the Wolfpack missed two easy FG's.
"I’ll wager that by the end of the season, their defense line is exposed as not being that good."
Really, based on what? Do you have any evidence, any whatsoever, to back up this statement?
I'll take that bet. How much?
Maybe you should call PJ and offer up all this expert advice and advanced coaching knowledge. I'm sure he'll appreciate it. After all, you obviously know better than he, his staff, and all the players. Your genius drips with every word that you post.
Or... perhaps you should start considering the possibility that you don't know a fraction of what you think you do, and that perhaps, other teams actually have honest to goodness athletes, good enough to earn scholarships and everything.. golly gee... yep, really, that good. And NC State even has real life, professional coaches. Honest, they do. They make a salary and everything.
Wow. Your arrogant (and ignorant) condescension is amazing. A team comes to your place, smacks you around, kicks your butt, and you still belittle them, claiming you would have won if only you had played better? Seriously?
Wow. You are approaching UNC Tarheel level of arrogance.
Read my comments to your week 4 preview. Not only do they point out your errors and misconceptions, they explain why GT lost.
Oops. Forgive me. I just noticed the title of your blog. At first, I didn't take it literally. My mistake. Apologies.
ReplyDeleteT - I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe I was condescending. I think I said many times that N.C. State is a good team. I thought you would matchup poorly with us, but obviously I was wrong.
However, I dont think I was wrong about everything. I still dont think you are a very good power running team. UNC and Kansas pushed us off the ball from the start of the game. It took State a while to get their offense going. Looked to me like you trouble against our weak front, until we got a little bit tired.
Also, the sizes you quoted me for your defensive front seem to support my original contention that you are undersized, but fast. You dont seem to have many 290 pound ends or 3200 pound interior linemen. A cursory glance indicates to me that your D line is about as small as ours, which is pretty undersized IMO.
And no our offensive line is definitely not NFL caliber. We tend to recruit smaller O linemen because they have to be able to move in our scheme. As a result, big and strong D linemen usually give us the most trouble. We move well, so usually quick defensive players aren't as troublesome. However, obviously you can be quick enough to give us problems, and its looks like State was.
I don't see what is wrong with saying that the defense for GT played well enough in the first half for us to be ahead 21-3 (or a fair point, 21-9 if you made the FG's). Our offense typically has more success than that, and if they had State probably does not get that last drive. Obviously you could turn that around though and say if State's offense played better, you could have been up by even more. Both true statements. But I am trying to assign blame to our team, nor yours, since this is a GT blog. And the offense is to blame for the first half.
On what do I base my opinion about your defensive line? Watching them play in several games this year, and in many games last year. I do think I pointed out in my preview of the game that State recruits very similar players to GT, so I am not arguing we have better athletes across the board. Nor am I saying our O line is any better than State's front four. But usually our offense works, even though our offensive line usually gets outplayed. I was surprised to see us get outplayed so badly by a front four that I dont think will look that good against many other teams. I could be wrong on that point though. We will see.
Finally, nowhere did I say that O'Brien wasnt a good coach. I think he is. And I dont think I said anything at all that could be construed as possible advice for Paul Johnson. This blog is supposed to be from a fan's perspective. I don't claim to be a coach.
I promise I will give State every chance to prove me wrong. But for now, I will be real surprised if State wins the Atlantic. And I also bet that by the end of the season, the sound beating you guys gave us will look rather surprising. Not necessarily that you won, but that you won by 17 points.
I dont think I said anywhere that we should have won, but I do think we should have played better and at the very least not lost so convincingly.
Man this "T" guy is really angry. He needs to tone it down a bit and realize that football is just a game.
ReplyDeleteGo Jackets! Here's to a 50-point win over wake!
Patrick - I would also like for T to tone down some of the aggression, but I support his passion for the game.
ReplyDeleteI don't get these types of comments though...
"Maybe you should call PJ and offer up all this expert advice and advanced coaching knowledge. I'm sure he'll appreciate it. After all, you obviously know better than he, his staff, and all the players. Your genius drips with every word that you post."
I don't remember attempting to offer PJ any advice, or claiming to know anything better than our coaching staff or players.
I just watch the game and post my response. And it didnt appear to me that we played very well, or with much of a sense of urgency. But I assume our players and coaches are aware of this, and are probably aware of other things that went wrong that I missed. And I assume they are working on them.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOops, sorry for the above two comment deletions. I was having technical difficulties.
ReplyDelete---------------------------------------
You two are right. Apologies.
I got a little too hot. Just tired of the continued ignorance of, and disrespect given to, NC State, their players, and the team (even the UCF blogs where turning their nose up to us). Tom O'Brien has been slowly stocking the roster with talented, athletic ball players, across the board, at all positions.
The problem has been that NC State has had starters miss over 180 combined games in the past 3 years. Including Nate Irving's horrific car crash in the spring, nine starters alone went down last year to season ending injuries. NINE!
Even QB Russell Wilson, the most visible and obvious 'success' on the Wolfpack roster, with his performance the past two years and leading the ACC w/ 31 passing TD's in 2009 (w/ another 4 on the ground) doesn't get the recognition he deserves. In the voting for preseason All ACC, he did not make the first team, the second team, the third team, or even an honorable mention...
(cont.)
ReplyDeleteNow we've finally been able to avoid the nast injury epidemic, we're still reading things like
" We can’t block N.C. St.’s front four? I’ll wager that by the end of the season, their defensive line is exposed as not being that good. "
implying that any success NC State has is due not to the talent, effort, and ability of the Wolfpack, but to the poor performance of their opponents.
I was tired and cranky, and had little patience at the time of my posting. I think reading your post game analysis, tinted by my mood, what the proverbial straw.
But regardless, I should have better tempered my comments. I was out of line. Not providing an excuse here, just background information and an explanation.
We obviously disagree on our analysis and assessment of personnel and what/why/how went down Saturday, but that doesn't mean I should have responded as I did.
Apologies.
PS:
ReplyDeleteThank you for beating the 'Heels, and BIG apologies for comparing you to them.
Also, should you be inclined, I welcome you to check out statefansnation.com and statefansnationforums.com for analysis and thoughts on common opponents.
Good luck to you the rest of the season, unless we happen to play again.
Why don't you come over here and try it you dumb son of a bitch.
ReplyDeleteT - I appreciate the more reasonable and rational response. I can definitely relate to other teams fans not giving your team the respect it deserves.
ReplyDeleteThe comment about "we cant block N.C. St's front four" really should be explained further. It's not that I am shocked that we lost the battle up front, its how badly we lost it. N.C. St. may in fact turn out to have a very good defensive front, but from watching State play this year so far I dont think thats the case. I expect it will end up being more in the average to pretty good category. And given how badly you pushed us around and beat our blocks, I would certainly hope that our O line played poorly. If that was a good game for us, and we were dominated by an average, or pretty good, front four, thats obviously real bad.
I do think that State has good players, and I have been on the Russell Wilson bandwagon for a long time now. I think he has been clearly one of the ten best QB's in the country the last three years and really deserves more credit.
Anyway, my final opinion of the game is still that I hope we simply played a bad game. But that is not to say that if we had played well, we would have won for sure.
However, at the end of the season, I expect if you look back on both teams schedules, it will appear surprising that we lost at home by 17. But maybe not.
At the very least, for now I am pulling for State to do well. The better you do, the less bad this loss looks for us. Further, you are one of the only teams in the ACC that doesnt already have an embarassing non conference loss, so it would be good for you to win the Atlantic, or at least contend, for that reason.
So I'll be going for state to do well the rest of the year, and I do think the Pack are a good football team.
No one expected a 17 point win. And losing your center, the QB of the OL, certainly didn't help.
ReplyDeleteBut I do think you will be surprised by the front 4 (front 8, actually, we rotate liberally) of NC State as the year progresses.
None are really 'great' (not yet), but 5-6 of them are really good, and there are a few true freshman (not playing) who are probably the most talented. A few are coming back from injury, have the potential to be great.
As I referenced before, Tom O'Brien has been slowly stock piling depth. It just hadn't shown with the insane amount of injuries...
Now those players are finally getting healthy (and staying that way). Combine them w/ those freshman/sophomores who were thrust into early playing time, but now have the benefit of the added experience, and you have a good team developing.
In addition, 4 of the 5 starting OL are sophomores. 2 in the 2deep are redshirt freshmen, 1 is a true freshman. All 3 of those freshman were 5 or 4 star recruits.
Some say our backup QB (soph 5 star recruit 6'6" Mike Glennon) is better than Wilson. I say that is ridiculous.
We only have 4 seniors in our starting lineup. 2 WR's, of which we rotate 6, the left tackle (whose backup is more talented, just less experienced), and LB Nate Irving.
FWIW, I am a PJ fan. He was my second choice to replace Amato after he was fired. Jimbo Fisher was my first. Jimbo, who was OC at LSU at the time, had publicly stated he wanted the job, and would be bringing Bo Pelini (LSU's DC at the time) with him.
And what does Lee Fowler - our former (thank God) AD - do? He cancels the interview the day before Jimbo is to fly down for the interview.
Jimbo's offense with Polini's defense... what kind of moron doesn't even take the interview?
N.C. St. seems to always have at least pretty good talent and speed at the skill positions and their LB's/secondary. And semi regularly, its really good, with guys like Torry Holt, then Rivers and the crew he had there, like Cotchery.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion of Tom O'Brien was pretty high when he was hired. I thought he did a good job at BC, even though the select few BC fans I have heard talk seem to unanimously hate him. I never figured that out. But I did think that O'Brien would do well at State bc I think its easier to recruit there than it is at BC, and he did pretty well at BC.
As for Glennon, I have seen him take a few snaps for you guys and he looks extremely talented. As for whether or not he will be better than Wilson, its hard to say. Its possible that he may have better physical tools than Wilson. Wilson is extremely good in that area, but not unbeatable. But playing QB is so dependent on understanding the game and being able to make the right reads. Given how hard it is to be a great QB, even with all the physical ability in the world, I would say its a likely that Glennon won't be as good as Wilson, just because Wilson is very good physically and mentally. I really hope he gets a shot in the NFL, I dont care if he is 5'11.
Of course, Glennon could not be as good as Wilson and still be really good. And its possible he is even better than Wilson, I just have no way of knowing at this point anything about his understanding of how to play the position.