Music City Bowl By The Numbers: [Sad Face]

(*Yds/carry stats are calculated after removing sacks from the equation.)

Box Score

Omega touched on this yesterday, and indeed, NC State significantly out-gained Vanderbilt and still managed to lose by two touchdowns. The offense looked comfortable in spurts but simply could not get out of its own way, whether it was dropped passes, poor decisions made by Mike Glennon, or a freshman running back putting the ball on the carpet.

So Vanderbilt's offense rarely had far to go. For the game, their average starting field position was the NC State 49. Their worst average starting field position in any one quarter was their own 41. NC State's defense did a nice job under the circumstances--it adjusted well after Vanderbilt's opening drive--and limited the Commodores to just three third-down conversions on 14 tries, but there's only so much that you can do when you're put in a bad position time and time again.

The offense wasn't simply disappointing because of the turnovers, it was also disappointing because Dana Bible stuck to the exact same boring crap we watched all season long. It was Bible's last go 'round at State, perhaps his only opportunity to be a head coach, and rather than opening things up and treating the bowl game for what it is, he stayed in the comfort zone that really hasn't done much for us this year. There were no trick plays or other shenanigans that might otherwise be described as "fun," and hell there wasn't even a damned handoff to the fullback. That's not exactly what you might consider going out in style. The craziest the team got was on a kick return where they threw a lateral to the other side of the field.

None of which was surprising to me; it's a good example of why I'm glad we're moving on. NC State football just stopped being fun, even when we were winning games.