Then and now

In the first two games of 2004, NC State played a top-10 team with a good defense and a I-AA team. Ditto in 2005. Although the improvements in Jay Davis' skills are pretty clear already this season, I thought it might be interesting to compare these similar (but brief) stretches:

Through 2 GamesCompAttPctYardsTDINTJay Davis 2004284661%26733Jay Davis 2005396065%54533

You can't see any improvement in the TD/INT area, but the difference is obvious when you look at the yardage. It's no wonder--against Ohio State, Davis threw for 99 yards. Against Virginia Tech, he threw for 311. His yards-per-completion is up from about 9.5 to 14.0, and that's a good sign, too.

The most important thing is that the Wolfpack offense is off to a considerably better start. Whereas total yardage dropped off significantly between the respective I-AA and top-10 games in 2004 (403 vs. Richmond, 256 vs. tOSU), it remained consistent in 2005 (438 vs. VT, 475 vs. EKU). The Wolfpack currently ranks in the top-20 in total offense.