NC State Postgame

Heisman's Ghost

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Not a bad performance, except where it counts. We lost the game because of penalties in the red zone. There were others, of course, but the ones down there were what hurt. If we get the game to 20 - 17 when we had the ball on the one twice, I think Tech goes on to win. But they had their chances too and actually blew a few more then Tech did. So, on to the opinions:

The Good:

• We kicked two field goals! We kicked two field goals! We kicked two field goals! And I repeat: we kicked two field goals! Problem = we didn't have enough faith in Stewart to kick one when it might have helped.

• The run game was really good. Mason got 21 carries and delivered 99 yards, again just like clockwork. Smith looked good. And - wait for it - we actually called some runs for Sims and he delivered. You know, he could have been doing this for some little time instead fo running for his life instead.

• The D performed well in the run game again. I was impressed. Again.

The Bad:

10 TFLs again? I'm not sure how we rushed for 261 net yards with that stat staring us in the face. This has simply got to stop. And I'm not sure why it hasn't. Shoot, Clemson had 11 and these people weren't anywhere near as good on D as the Tiggers.

• And, as usual, the opposing QB feasted on our secondary. This, given the DL problems, is more understandable. But it isn't good.

• The team's concentration in scoring opportunities was a problem again. Why do we keep getting penalties at the very time we should not? By this time in the season, even one as screwed up as this one, you would expect that to be abating.

But, like I said, not a bad performance. With another year or two of experience - you will notice that I didn't get on Sims's case; he's freshman - a game like this would have been a win.
I really believe that had we scored a TD instead of kicking the field goal and put pressure on them, they would have wilted. State has no one that should scare an opposing defense running the ball. The 10 TFL is a stat I had not seen which explains why we did not top 300 yards rushing like I supposed we did just watching the game in real time. It looked to me like we were going up and down the field running the ball and they could not stop us. Given that huge and mobile defensive tackle they had it was surprising.
 

takethepoints

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5,910
Did you notice the length of the FGs?Basically xtra pts. We will NOT win close games w/o a real threat from 40 yds.This might be , sorry, IS the WORST defect of the new regime.
Well, yes, but we did get the points. I agree with the lack of length, but at least Stewart is getting his kicks up enough so they don't get automatically blocked.
 

SteamWhistle

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Small sized 3 star receivers such as king, McCollum, Boyd, Rutherford aren’t going to be a big time threat due to small size and physical traits, those guys are smaller slot speedster types. We already have one of those type of receivers in brown. We’re lacking a big physical receiver next to AB and it really shows at times.
Watch the Chiefs offense. Their Whole WR Core outside of Watkins is like 5’10. Speed wins in today’s game.
 

TheNaturalScientist

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
128
I just rewatched the condensed game on YouTube and a couple of things stuck out to me offensively:

1. Sims plays like a freshman a lot. There were multiple instances where NC State was showing blitz but we didn’t audible. I’m not sure if he has the power to do so yet. Also, our offensive line is not where we need it to be right now but there were many times when his initial read looked to be open but he hesitated and ended up eating the ball. I would like to see a wide view with receivers running their routes. Lastly, the fumbled exchanges. Not sure who that is on. I think he will clean up all of this in due time.

2. We don’t need to do an RPO every play. There are times when we don’t need to pull the offensive line and we just need to pound the ball for 2-3 yards. Sims reading the play also takes more time and closes up running lanes which were open initially. Doing RPO seemingly almost every play hurts our pass protection and gives our true freshman quarterback too much to think about.

3. This is in the same vein as above, but how about a few tosses or reverses? NC state blitzed both ILB up the middle on 4th and 2 in the first half and mason got stuffed. We need to be more creative in our running game imo.

4. Finally, we need to try to establish the run early. We have admittedly tried this some this season with mixed results. However, it seems like we try to get the quick passing game going to get sims confidence. I understand the idea, but getting a solid running game going before passing will help in the RPO even more.

All that said, I am proud at how we played. I am still extremely concerned with the penalties and turnovers, but considering how shorthanded we were on defense, I thought we played pretty well.

Go Jackets!
 
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