First off, thanks to NCSU officials for opening up the east side stands. Considering the crowd sizes we get for these scrimmages, it was a no-brainer to give folks more space so that no one would have to sit in the upper deck. And it was nice to sit over in section six one more time.
For added hijinks next season, we should have one side wear white and root for the white team while the other side pulls for the red team. Vulgar signs and drunken hollering encouraged.
The story on Saturday, not surprisingly, was the passing game, as both Mike Glennon and Daniel Imhoff got off to quick starts against the beleaguered secondary. The coaches gave Glennon a major workout, calling pass plays 76 percent of the time, and Glennon responded by throwing for over 400 yards on 38 attempts. Imhoff wasn't as efficient and wasn't asked to do as much, but he looked comfortable against the second-team defense.
As for what to make of it, well, that's anybody's guess. It's the yin-and-yang factor, as TOB would say. A trick play fooled the second-team D and resulted in a 49-yard touchdown. Later on, Imhoff was able to bail the red team out of a 3rd-and-long situation with a 27-yard TD pass--that play in particular was a painful reminder of our struggles a season ago. All told, the offenses put up 693 yards through the air on 64 attempts--a robust 10.8 yards per attempt.
The passing game was similarly effective last spring, and I wrote this afterward:
If the scrimmage stats are any indication, Russell Wilson has retained the awesome he found last season, which is good. Not that I was concerned. He and Glennon combined to throw for 312 yards on 31 attempts, which is either encouraging (10 YPA yay quarterbacks) or worrisome (secondary oh noes) depending on how you want to look at it.
Turned out to be secondary oh noes. Let's pray we didn't just see the same omen.
Recaps:
-- Tim Peeler.
-- Brett Friedlander @ the Wilmington Star: one, two.
-- Adam Smith @ the Times-News.
-- Ken Tysiac.