| Plays |
Total Yds |
Yds/Play |
Yds/Carry* |
Yds/PassAtt |
|
| NCSU |
66 |
318 |
4.8 |
6.6 |
5.0 |
| Liberty |
74 |
406 |
5.5 |
4.8 |
7.0 |
(Yds/carry stats are calculated after removing sacks from the equation.)
The ground game looks much better once sacks are taken out of the picture. NC State lost 43 yards on four sacks allowed, which is an unusually big amount of yardage. We need you to take smaller sacks, Mike Glennon. Big sacks are not good. That all sounded vaguely dirty, didn't it.
TOB wasn't pleased with the number of pass attempts in the first half, and once the team made a point to lean on the ground game, Liberty started to wear down a bit. Curtis Underwood finished the evening with 114 yards, 68 of which came on runs of 33 and 35 yards in the second half.
Mike Brown handled the vast majority of Liberty's rushing attempts, and several of those were scrambles during pass plays, so I'm not sure that number is the most accurate indicator for how the defense handled running plays.
Something to which I may pay extra attention this season: receiver targets. I'm curious to see which guys emerge from the shuffle and become Glennon's favorites.
| vs. Liberty | Targets | Receptions |
| Graham | 5 | 1 |
| J. Smith | 5 | 1 |
| Palmer | 4 | 3 |
| Gentry | 4 | 4 |
| Howard | 3 | 3 |
| Carter | 3 | 2 |
| Washington | 2 | 1 |
| Bryan | 2 | 0 |
| R. Smith | 1 | 1 |
| Underwood | 1 | 1 |
| Payton | 1 | 1 |
Taylor Gentry averaged about one reception per game in 2010, so he definitely isn't used to having the ball in his hands this often. I wonder if we'll continue to see Glennon dump it off to him 3-4 times per week. If he does, I'm all for it. Putting the ball in Gentry's hands and letting him go run somebody over is not a bad strategy.