There is good news for Mike Glennon, and it's this: the standard is not as high as he thinks it is. The story of the 2010 NC State offense was promise unrealized; maybe it was to do with Russell Wilson's divided attention; maybe it was the result of so little help from the running game; maybe we completely overrated the receivers on hand. Whatever the case, it definitely was not a "perfect storm" last season despite all preseason signs to the contrary. NC State slid from 5.6 yards per snap in 2009 to 5.2 in 2010, though the team nonetheless took several steps forward and won nine games. As a result there wasn't much dwelling on the disappointment at the offensive end, at least partially because when you've done what Russell Wilson had done, track record serves as teflon.
State's per-snap output ranked 78th in the country--a welcome step up from the years about which we do not speak, but in a sense almost equally disappointing. As a seasoned veteran, Russell Wilson was supposed to transcend and march his team up and down the field. (In fairness to Russell, Philip Rivers didn't level up until his senior year.) It just didn't work out that way.
During Rivers' senior year State averaged 6.6 yards per play, chewed up defenses and spit them out without mercy--that was a hell of a storm, and a hell of a thing to match. Glennon's task isn't nearly so large, but the foundation around him is similar. The defense is going to be there for him to an extent it wasn't for his predecessor. The question now is the same as it was by the middle of 2004: we're here and who are you?