-- Wolfpack deflated in Cincinnati loss.
-- NCSU-Cincinnati Observations. How bad did it get last night for the defense?
At one point in the second quarter, with end A.J. Ferguson out with a knee injury and tackle Brian Slay out with an ankle injury, N.C. State used walk-on Jacob Kahut on the defensive line.
Ferguson returned to the game, at least. Slay didn't, and it looked like he was in some serious pain. Cross your fingers and toes and whatever else might be crossable.
-- Wolfpack finds lots of wounds in blowout loss at Cincinnati. Tis but a scratch, sir!
-- Mike already posted this in a fanshot, but I'd already planned on including his post on State football and Russell Wilson, so here you go.
The Wolfpack dialed up plenty of pressures, they got one sack. They let Zach Collaros get out of the pocket, he shook defenders out of their shoes and his offensive line made the NC State defenders look pitiful as they could not get off blocks, cold not diagnose run vs pass and were totally incapable of disrupting Cincinnati's flow. They made Mike Bajakian, who is a good offensive coordinator, look like some sort of sick Bill Walsh-90's Steve Spurrier-WVU Rich Rodriguez offensive mastermind.
This Bajakian fellow really did look smart last night. If we helped him get a contract extension then I guess some good came out of the game. It's funny when these lopsided games happen, though: I rarely spend any time thinking about how our poor play is affecting appearances and usually end up thinking "why can't we have coaching like this?" most of the time.
-- Wolfpack's problems bigger than injuries. Yeah, you could say that.
-- Among the notes from this game:
The Wolfpack managed -26 rushing yards in tonight’s loss to Cincinnati, the lowest tally since collecting -13 in 1987 against South Carolina. That’s the lowest mark under Tom O’Brien.
See, that's why you go to the ballyard every week or, failing that, turn on the TV. You might see something you haven't seen before, or something you haven't seen in at least a quarter century. Good times. OH GOD WHY IS THIS HAPPENING.
-- One of the few highlights from last night: ESPN's Jenn Brown accidentally referring to Cincinnati's coach as "Bitch Jones."
-- SBN's Bill Connelly on Tom O'Brien, Russell Wilson, and the real trouble with State's football program. Good stuff here.
-- Joe Ovies says the TOB era is at the crossroads.