| Plays |
Total Yds |
Yds/Play |
Yds/Carry* |
Yds/PassAtt |
|
| NCSU |
91 |
476 |
5.2 |
3.9 |
6.2 |
| ECU |
86 |
496 |
5.8 |
4.1 |
7.1 |
(Yds/carry stats are sack adjusted.)
Maybe someone with experience can explain this to me because as someone who didn't played organized sports beyond middle school, I am continually baffled by teams that come out flat. Especially in a game like Saturday's, where it would seem that the energy from the stadium and the opposing team--circumstances aside--would raise your own energy no matter what went on in your own locker room. You only get 12 of these things per season--13 if you're lucky. So how does this happen? Is it just a narrative invention we fit into the sad performance on the field? Or do guys really come out and decide you know what they'd really rather be at home playing Halo?
Sweet Jesus I'm starting to feel like throwing cuddly, precious bunnies out of a window again. Saturday was death by a thousand tiny cuts, the cuts in this case being all of those quick throws to the perimeter by East Carolina. You can lament uncalled holds all you want, and I have no doubt that the Pirates got away with their share, but to my eyes the secondary just played, well, like this. They got hit in the mouth early and had no idea how to respond. They didn't work hard enough to get off blocks. David Amerson missed so many goddamned tackles you'd think he forgot he has arms.
They're just an easy target because of recent history. I could go in any number of directions, but I'm not going to because I care about the bunnies.
The numbers merely confirm what we saw Saturday--the right team won. What an embarrassment that said team was ECU.