Death On The Margins
by Akula Wolf on Jul 20, 2009 3:34 PM EDT
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PrintGoing back through some things, I noticed something interesting about the unfortunate 2004 season...
| 2004 | Yds/Play | OppYds/Play | Diff |
| NCSU | 4.9 | 3.5 | +1.4 |
| VT | 5.5 | 4.4 | +1.1 |
| UVA | 6.1 | 5.0 | +1.1 |
| FSU | 5.2 | 4.3 | +0.9 |
| Miami | 5.5 | 4.8 | +0.7 |
| GT | 5.0 | 4.5 | +0.5 |
| Clemson | 4.4 | 4.4 | 0 |
| UNC | 6.0 | 6.2 | -0.2 |
| UMd | 4.3 | 4.5 | -0.2 |
| Wake | 5.0 | 5.4 | -0.4 |
| Duke | 4.2 | 6.1 | -1.9 |
Thanks mostly to a dominant defense, NC State was better on a down-to-down basis than every other team in the conference. And thanks to an offense that was about as stable as a drunk monkey on ice skates, the team finished under .500 both overall and in conference play.
Some fun facts:
-- Since 2000, there have been 16 other instances where an ACC team has finished a season with a yds/play margin of 1.0 or better. The combined record of those teams: 152-52 (.745) overall, 95-33 (.742) in conference play.
-- The '04 team's +1.4 margin is better than that of the '02 team that won 11 games.
-- The 2004 team out-gained all 11 opponents. It out-gained six opponents by 100+ yards and lost three of those games. Out-gained UNC by 221 yards, averaged 7.4 yards per play, and lost. Full game-by-game breakdown after the jump.
Something to ponder: if the 2004 team has the results to match the performance, it goes bowling. Does The Chest still get canned after 2006, what with that being his first down season after six consecutive bowl appearances?
| Opp | NCSU Tot Yds | Opp Tot Yds | Tot Yds Diff | NCSU Yds/Play | Opp Yds/Play | Yds/Play Diff | TO Margin | W/L |
| Richmond | 403 | 167 | +236 | 5.8 | 2.7 | +3.1 | +2 | W |
| Ohio St | 256 | 137 | +119 | 4.3 | 2.2 | +2.1 | -4 | L |
| Va Tech | 223 | 192 | +31 | 4.0 | 2.8 | +1.2 | -1 | W |
| Wake | 455 | 279 | +176 | 5.6 | 4.7 | +0.9 | -1 | W |
| UNC | 577 | 356 | +221 | 7.4 | 6.7 | +0.7 | -3 | TLB* |
| Maryland | 303 | 91 | +212 | 4.0 | 1.6 | +2.4 | -1 | W |
| Miami | 440 | 416 | +24 | 6.0 | 5.5 | +0.5 | -2 | L |
| Clemson | 381 | 267 | +114 | 4.8 | 3.9 | +0.9 | -5 | L |
| Ga Tech | 291 | 269 | +22 | 4.1 | 4.4 | -0.3 | 0 | L |
| FSU | 123 | 121 | +2 | 2.1 | 1.8 | +0.3 | 0 | L |
| ECU | 387 | 140 | +247 | 5.0 | 2.1 | +2.9 | -2 | W |
| TOTALS | 3839 | 2435 | +1404 (+128 yds/g) | 4.9 | 3.5 | +1.4 | -17 |
5-6 |
(*: Tastes Like Burning)
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You're killing me, Steven
Do we really need to pick at scabs and open old wounds anew?
The days of dominating opponents but losing have hopefully passed… unless we have something to leave, I want to just forget they happened…
Tastes Like Burning
Somehow I knew that was in regards to the UNC game, so I read it “Tastes like Bunting,” which is downright disturbing.
Just learned about this site
I’m glad to see that we have a State site on SB Nation. Akula, you wouldn’t happen to be the guy who ran Section Six, would you? I haven’t had time to read the state blogs like I used to, but I liked checking that site regularly. Always good analysis.
by WolfpackSteelersFan on Jul 20, 2009 5:20 PM EDT reply actions
cool! :)
I’ll add you to my regular rotation.
by WolfpackSteelersFan on Jul 23, 2009 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions
First, great play on Dr. Saturday's "Life on the Margins"
Second, ooooof. A defensive YPP of 3.5 is absolutely absurd. Also recall that this same team beat VT in Blacksburg…and VT subsequently went 7-1 and won the ACC.
Aside from the UNC game (“OH GOD IT BURNS!!!”) the Clemson game was enormously awful as well. 5, count them, 5 INTs. Including this sequence:
S 1-10 C33 Davis, J. pass complete to Dunlap, J. for 33 yards to the CU0, clock 00:51,
PENALTY NCS illegal procedure 5 yards to the CU38, NO PLAY.
S 1-15 C38 Blackman, D. rush for 1 yard to the CU37 (Bennett, C;Billie, T).
S 2-14 C37 Timeout NC State, clock 00:45.
S 2-14 C37 Davis, J. pass complete to Hall, T. for 13 yards to the CU24 (Watkins, N).
S 3-1 C24 Davis, J. rush for 1 yard to the CU23, 1ST DOWN NCS (Watkins, N;Tate,
T).
S 1-10 C23 Davis, J. pass incomplete to Washington, R..
S 2-10 C23 Davis, J. pass complete to Dunlap, J. for 23 yards to the CU0, clock 00:10,
PENALTY NCS illegal procedure (Holt, J.) 5 yards to the CU28, NO
PLAY.
S 2-15 C28 Timeout NC State, clock 00:10.
S 2-15 C28 Davis, J. pass intercepted by Miller, J at the CU0, Miller, J return 0 yards
to the CU0, touchback.
That’s right, two TDs called back on illegal procedure penalties, followed by an INT.
And if Chuck wins that UNC game, he might still be here. He certainly doesn’t go after the 06 season. Just like Herb might still be here if he wins the 2003 ACC tournament final.
You just insist on bringing back the horrid memories, don't you?
TVP… dude… I’d almost forgotten that absolutely ludicrous sequence at Clemson. I mean, that turnover never should’ve happened… and if it didn’t, we likely win the game. But our OTHER Amato legacy, the penalty, got us TWICE in 41 seconds to kill any momentum we had and turn the game decisively to Clemson.
But since we’re recounting frustrations from the past few years…
- PR’s senior year ends up being utterly forgettable, because we hung ludicrous point totals on folks, but our defense was an embarrassment. 7-5, I think, plus the bowl win over Kansas in what looked like an All-Star game in terms of defense played.
- The very next year is the 2004 season Steven refers to… we bring in the stud defensive coordinator who went to Arkansas the next year… he builds what was arguably the best defense in the country at the same time that our offense loses the ability to snap the ball and throw a forward pass without either a penalty or a pick.
If you can just pull that defense forward one year to the 2003 season, we may not lose a game. I’m in no way kidding… PR’s senior-year offense, coupled with the 2004 defense, likely runs the table and contends for a national title. I remember one of the OSU players saying as much after they beat us in Carter-Finley, despite our defense holding them to the 137 yards shown above.
Such is the life of a Wolfpack fan. The pieces just never fit together at the same time. We’re seemingly so close… but things just don’t quite work out.
Dammit.
And yes – Akula is the same guy who ran Section Six – he brought his show over here… nice digs, eh?
by wolfonthehill on Jul 20, 2009 10:34 PM EDT up reply actions
if only Rivers would have redshirted
You could just say that Amato should have red-shirted Rivers the first year. Then River’ senior season would have been paired with that ’04 defense.
03 offense/04 defense
03 offense yds/play: 6.6
04 defense yds allowed/play: 3.5
Diff: 3.1
Saying that team would’ve been a title contender is definitely no stretch. For example, USC had a +3.0 margin last season. National champ Florida was +2.6. And the FSU team that ran the table in the ACC and played for the national title in 2000 also had a +3.1 YPP margin.
What a horrid season
We managed to shoot ourselves in the foot in almost every single game. I remember thinking how the next year would be so much better with an experienced Jay Davis and a young stud in Marcus Stone to take over should Davis falter. sigh
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