NC State Wins The Belk Bowl, 31-24
by Akula Wolf on Dec 28, 2011 1:27 AM EST
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PrintIt's funny how things work out in the NC State universe sometimes. You expect a close, low scoring game and the next thing you know it's 31-10 and then it's 31-24 and then how the hell did this crap happen this is some crap. But it was too little too late for Louisville, despite their kickoff shenanigans, despite Wil Baumann's inability to cleanly catch a long snap.
That's the fun part about bowl games--with all that time off, something is guaranteed to explode in unfortunate fashion, but as for which thing, your guess is as good as anyone else's. In NC State's case, it was a special teams unit that at the very least had managed not to botch a snap in a punting situation.
Mike Glennon was really good. He threw an ill-advised pass that was underthrown and picked off, but he again carried an NC State offense that couldn't really bother the opposing defense with running plays. Tobais Palmer helped him out with a brilliant catch near the end of the first half.
And T.J. Graham...good lord. He may have had the reception of his career in his final game, at least in terms of the way things went after the ball hit his hands.
Defensively, Audie Cole racked up 10 tackles, including four for a loss. David Amerson picked the ball off twice, and Terrell Manning was huge in halting Louisville's first drive with a right-place-right-time interception. Brandan Bishop led the way with 12 tackles.
It was enough, despite the obvious necessity of an interesting finish.
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the game analyst and I
wondered why O’Brien ran on fourth down and three (?) on what was State’s last significant possession; then i realized that O’Brien probably did not want to risk a blocked punt as he was using his back-up punter (not that his starting punter did all that well).
here’s to hoping that Manning stays for his last year! if so, i expect 10-11 wins next year absent another year of injuries.
But a punt is just
a lousy idea there anyway. Best case, you tack on another 20ish yards. Middle case, it’s 10. Worst case, it’s blocked.
You make the first down, the game is over.
Yep
we were squarely in no mans land and going for it made all the sense in the world. I would have liked to have seen a very low risk screen pass or something of the like, but it wasn’t a bad call.
by ginger avenger on Dec 28, 2011 10:50 AM EST up reply actions
He should have passed there
I love the Steelers.
by tannofsteel84 on Dec 28, 2011 1:39 PM EST up reply actions
bingo
It was funny how Brian Griese was so absolutely certain it was the wrong call. He was saying the obvious move would have been to let the play clock wind down and take a delay of game penalty.
It was the right call for the reasons sbas and PeeDub mentioned above. I have no problems with trying to win the game on offense rather than simply hoping the defense can hold on.
Going was the right call
Running it was not. Play action to George Bryan – all day long. No-brainer. You can’t punt it – and you can’t run it…
by wolfonthehill on Dec 28, 2011 10:16 PM EST up reply actions
Shortly after Terrell Manning put a black, “Belk Bowl Champions” hat on his head to commemorate N.C. State’s 31-24 bowl win over Louisville on Tuesday night, the junior linebacker started talking about next season.
Seven starters on each side of the ball, including defensive stars in Manning and cornerback David Amerson, and quarterback Mike Glennon, are scheduled to return for a Wolfpack team that won six of its final eight games to finish 8-5 in 2011.
“We’ve got a lot of good guys coming back, and we’ve got a big opening game with Tennessee, so we’ve got a lot to look forward to,” said Manning, who had an interception and five tackles against the Cardinals.
by non_sequitur on Dec 29, 2011 8:25 AM EST up reply actions
i just dont like that he ran it 4 times. talk about a great time for a freakin’ play-action fake on any of those downs.
That’s exactly what I was saying last night.
by SunDropDrinker13 on Dec 28, 2011 11:07 AM EST up reply actions
I know who did the ones you didn't, but I'm not telling.
Nice going on those, by the way.
by Undertoe on Dec 28, 2011 1:09 PM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
a little over two months ago
many wanted O’Brien and especially Archer gone already. now, it looks like O’Brien is building State’s program similar to how he built B.C.’s.
with Glennon back next year, State will have five years of solid to excellent play at quarterback. anyone have any details about State’s quarterback of the future?
I was a card carrying member of the anti TOB club
I think he’s a great teacher but only an average coach (rah rahs and X & Os) and bad recruiter. Perhaps the bad recruiting is correlated to the lack of cheating. Its frustrating, because if we were really good at two of the three, I think we would be in the conversation for winning the conference. Instead, we are hustling to make belk bowls. Nonetheless, 8 wins keeps you employed forever at NC State, and it was overall a good season.
On an unrelated note, Bridgewater (UL’s qb) is made of absolute steel. I am glad we played him this year, not in a year or two
by ginger avenger on Dec 28, 2011 12:05 PM EST up reply actions
The problem with the recruiting
is that TOB seems to be recruiting worse than NCSU’s historical levels and I don’t think “not cheating” can explain that away. I say “seems” because I have not actually gone back and looked through the recruiting rankings.
by PACKHOOLIGAN on Dec 28, 2011 12:42 PM EST up reply actions
my guess is it's no worse than we recruited in the 80s and 90s
Especially the 90s. But I think we’ve established a new baseline level of expectations with all the facilities improvements over the last ten years. And certainly compared to what CTC’s staffs were doing, TOB is not close.
I know that the stars won't reflect it
but it seems we are actually setting ourselves up to have a nice class. Not a top 25 class, but one that will provide quality depth in a couple years. 4-5 of our commits played in the Shrine bowl, and another Shrine bowl player possibly going to commit to us.
by SunDropDrinker13 on Dec 28, 2011 5:16 PM EST up reply actions
I stopped really following
football recruiting a few years ago. I would get all excited about a player committing, only to have them never pan out. I do like that TOB does identify the needs of the team and recruits to those positions. I think that is a better philosophy than Chuck’s recruit the best athletes and find a position for them philosophy.
by PACKHOOLIGAN on Dec 29, 2011 8:34 AM EST up reply actions
Our second straight 8+ win season is also our second since 2003
I think we can safely say that O’Brien has improved the program significantly. He’s never going to turn us into annual national title contenders but that’s not a realistic expectation. Annual ACC title contention is a possibility, and he’ll do it in a way that we can all be proud of.
Also, he might have been a Marine. I’ll have to do some digging to make sure…
Great win!
Next year should be better beating FSU and/or Clemson still should be difficult.
I love the Steelers.
Great game... helluva game to be at, and the drinking kept me warm.
8+ wins, two years in a row, and let’s hope we can actually build on this season. Please come back Terrell, we could use you.
Great game!
although it was frickin’ freezing up in the nosebleed section.
I read Jared's
fanpost on the Louisville SBN blog. It sounds like he and his family had a real bad experience with a Cardinal’s fan. I hope your mom is doing ok Jared.
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