Story in Photos: Tar Heels lose another to rival Wolfpack
Here’s a link to Joe Schwartz’s half-time report and post game article.
Showing posts tagged “Tom O’Brien”
N.C. State shuts down Tar Heels in second half en route to season-ending victory
Wolfpack linebacker Audie Cole celebrates with his classmates following N.C. State's victory over Carolina. (Photo by Rob Rowe)
CARTER-FINLEY STADIUM/RALIEGH — “N.C. State here we go,” a man dressed all in red shouted as he exited Carter-Finley Stadium, his team having just defeated its bitter rival for the third straight year. “TOB (Tom O’Brien) 3-0. Here we go. Butch Davis, what do you have?”
“Stop, you’re making a spectacle,” his girlfriend told him sharply.
“But this is all we’ve got,” he sheepishly replied.
He’s right, N.C. State’s season is done, and Davis’ team now moves on to a yet-to-be-determined bowl game, but what they’ve got matters one heck of a lot. Ask O’Brien who said after the game this was his most challenging season in a three decades as a college coach. Or talk to one of the nine seniors on the team who end their careers victorious. Sure, on its face this 28-27 win that closed the books on a 5-7 season might not seem like a big deal, but boy is it.
“We could play this team in the McDonald’s parking lot and it would be a bowl game,” wide receiver Owen Spencer said.
The odds seemed long at halftime. UNC had dominated offensively scoring touchdowns of 35, 40 and 70 yards on the way to a 24-14 lead. The Wolfpack’s much-maligned defense turned things around in the second frame, and quarterback Russell WIlson was able to create big plays of his own, twice finding Spencer deep over the middle for scores. Senior Alan-Michael Cash blocked a Casey Barth 38-yard field goal attempt with 4:45 to play and N.C. State was able to pick up key first downs before giving the ball back to Yates on the 28-yard line with just 23 seconds to play. Yates overthrow Greg Little on a corner route, and Clem Johnson picked the ball to seal the win. Continue reading »
A tale of two quarters as UNC leads N.C. State 24-14 at the half
CARTER-FINLEY STADIUM/RALEIGH — Someone turned on the offensive switch at Carter-Finely Stadium in the second quarter. After a first stanza that saw N.C. State go three and out on all three possessions and UNC come away with a field goal and a turnover in two red zone trips, the teams combined for five touchdowns to close out the half. UNC leads 24-14 at the half.
Tar Heel quarterback T.J. Yates found freshman wideout Jherani Boyd for a 35-yard strike on the opening play of the second quarter, and the floodgates opened.
Key series of the half With the Wolfpack trailing 17-7, Russell Wilson led his team on an 11-play 77 yard touchdown drive capped off by a 14-yard toss to prolific target Jarvis Williams. He had help dressed in Carolina blue (well, kind of, UNC is wearing white jerseys and navy blue pants that border on Duke colors to some). Two pass interference penalties, one on Charles Brown and one on Kendric Burney and an unnecessary roughness call on defensive end Michael McAdoo gave N.C. State 44 free yards. The toss to Williams, his 11th TD grab on the year, ate up 4:50 on the clock and stymied a UNC offense that’s looked the best it has played in weeks.
Key stats of the half Yates has been an efficient 6 for 8 for 201 yards and two touchdowns, both to Boyd, who has 100 yards receiving on those two catches (insert Cris Carter all he does is catch touchdowns reference here). Most telling though is that UNC has 313 yards of total offense to N.C. State’s dyslexic 113 yards.
What to watch for in the second half N.C. State needs to sure up its secondary, which has been torched for three long scores. Tom O’Brien’s club must feel lucky to only be down a touchdown given the total yards difference. Look for them to try to establish the run (one yard per carry so far) and keep the ball away from Yates.
UNC-NCSU Preview: Heels aim to reverse 41-10
Russell Wilson's decision-making will be key Saturday. (Photo by Rob Rowe)
North Carolina (8-3) at N.C. State(4-7)
[12 p.m., Nov. 28, Carter-Finley Stadium]
Televised by ESPN2
A win by either team Saturday won’t have any serious implications on the season as UNC has secured a bowl berth and N.C. State will be sitting at home over the holidays. But a win could go a long way in determining the future for each program.
State faces the uncomfortable offseason questions that come after a disappointing year. After being considered a sleeper in the Atlantic Division with all-ACC caliber quarterback Russell Wilson, the Wolfpack has managed to win exactly one league game with one left to play.
UNC, meanwhile, recovered from losing three straight ACC games with a four-game winning streak, including wins against two ranked teams (Virginia Tech and Miami).
Turnovers, running game dooms N.C. State against the Hokies
TV/ESPNU — Prolific Hokie freshman running back Ryan Williams ran wild Saturday, scoring four touchdowns as No. 15 Virginia Tech defeated N.C. State comfortably, 38-10.
Early turnovers, an inability to run the ball or stop the run plagued the Wolfpack (4-7, 1-6 ACC) all day. N.C. State’s depleted team, now missing 12 players to season-ending injuries, couldn’t hold onto the ball long enough to have a chance at Lane Stadium. Williams churned for 120 yards along with his four scores for Virginia Tech (8-3, 5-2 ACC).
Quarterback Russell Wilson (pictured) was sacked and fumbled on the team’s first offensive play, giving the Hokies the ball on the N.C. State 34-yard-line. Virginia Tech could only muster a field goal, but they soon got a second chance when wide receiver Darrell Davis fumbled along the sideline on the Wolfpack’s next drive. Virginia Tech’s Cody Grimm caused both turnovers, recovering the first one himself. Stephan Virgil fell on Davis’s loose change at the N.C. State 25.
This time Ryan Williams crossed the plane from four yards out, spotting his team a 10-0 lead with 7:55 to go in the 1st quarter that N.C. State never surmounted. They did answer with a 20-yard touchdown strike to Owen Spencer on the next possession on a nice pump and post, bringing the game to 10-7 in the first quarter. That was the closest they came, though.
N.C. State was outgained 200-14 on the ground and couldn’t overcome three lost fumbles and an interception. Tom O’Brien’s club will have to lick its wounds on the trip home, but the Wolfpack won’t have any trouble getting up for next week’s rivalry contest against UNC on Thanksgiving weekend.
Despite today’s result, this is an N.C. State team that’s far more talented than the record shows. Injuries and inexperience have forced a near constant reshuffling of the starting lineup. They are a tough out when able to hold onto the ball and stop the run, as they did early in the year, jumping to a 3-1 start including a win against Pitt, now a top 10 team.
Now they don’t have a bowl or even a winning record to play for, but you can bet that they’ll be fired up at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday.
Wolfpack heads to Blacksburg with pride on the line
N.C. State tries to play spoiler
N.C. State (4-6, 1-5 ACC) vs. Virginia Tech (7-3, 4-2 ACC)
3:30 p.m., Saturday, Lane Stadium
ESPNU, WRAL 101.5 FM
N.C. State's dynamic duo of Russell Wilson and Toney Baker will face Virginia Tech on Saturday.
Key stats … There will be no late-season bowl run this year for Tom O’Brien’s club. Clemson’s dynamic C.J. Spiller put an end to those hopes last week. Now the Wolfpack travel north to the always hostile Lane Stadium where Frank Beamer’s 16th ranked Hokies sit waiting. Virginia Tech is out of the ACC Championship picture thanks to loses to Georgia Tech and UNC, but they still have a New Year’s Day bowl to play for. These two teams have squared off only twice since Virginia Tech joined the ACC six years ago, splitting contests in 2004 and 2005.
It was ugly, but N.C. State will take its win against the Terps
CARTER-FINLEY STADIUM/RALIEGH - Everything had been going about as well as you could expect for a team that was winless in ACC play. The struggling defense picked off a pass on its first play to set up a short field and a two-play touchdown strike.
Sure, Maryland answered with a touchdown of its own of the next drive, but Russell Wilson responded with a 35-yard toss to a streaking Donald Bowens. The defense forced a three and out on the Terrapins next possession. The Wolfpack had momentum and a 14-7 lead on their side.
Then came the type of move that fans applaud when its made and second-guess for an entire off season after it fails. The Wolfpack had just executed a textbook pooch punt, pinning Maryland inside the 10 yard line, but a Terrapin bumped into N.C. State punter Jeff Ruiz. Head Coach Tom O’Brien made an aggressive decision to accept the 5-yard penalty and go for it on 4th and 6 from the Maryland 33 yard line. Boy did it backfire. Wilson’s pass was snatched in the flats by Maryland linebacker Alex Wujack, who chugged 70 yards for a score. It was the first interception returned for a touchdown by Ralph Friedgen’s club in more than three years.
Such is life for this Wolfpack team that went winless in October and rode a four-game losing streak into this Homecoming weekend contest. It would have been easy to fold, and a lesser team would’ve. But somehow, someway, N.C. State was able to put one in the win column, a 38-31 victory that went down to the final snap.
N.C. State seeks first ACC win against fellow struggler Maryland
Running back Toney Baker (22) and quarterback Russell Wilson (16) have turned in solid performances all year. Against Maryland, they'll need a little help from their friends.
Maryland (2-6, 1-3 ACC) vs. N.C. State (3-5, 0-4 ACC)
1 p.m., Saturday, Carter-Finley Stadium
ESPN 360, WRAL 101.5 FM
Key stats … This isn’t the preview story either of these two teams thought would be written when the season started, or just a month ago, really. But two teams that started far more brightly than they find themselves now will square off Saturday with seven conferences losses and a single ACC win (Maryland’s 24-21 victory against Clemson in their conference opener) between them. Now they face off as the last place and second-to-last place teams in the Atlantic Division. UNC is the only other team with one ACC win or less.
For Wolfpack, another shootout, another loss
TV/RAYCOM—Florida State had just scored, the latest team to cross the plane in a game where neither team could stop the other. They’d just recaptured the lead 45-42 with 96 ticks remaining. A faint “d-fense, d-fense” chant began among Seminole fans in Doak Campbell Stadium, sounding more pleading than confident.
It started with the Duke game, shown here, but it's been this kind of an ACC season for N.C. State fans.
For four quarters, this contest looked like your classic “whoever has the ball last will win” script. Wolfpack quarterback Russell Wilson tossed five TDs. Florida State’s running game accounted for 278 yards and a five scores of its own.
As the Seminoles prepared to kick off, Raycom ACC football analyst Doc Walker summed the game up best. “Highly entertaining. I doubt if either of these teams will be named champion this year, but highly entertaining,” Walker said. “You’re just not going to beat anybody really good if you can’t stop them.”
Wolfpack, Florida State showdown at high noon Saturday
Wolfpack head to Tallahassee
N.C. State (3-4, 0-3 ACC) vs. Florida State (3-4, 1-2 ACC)
[Noon, Saturday, Doak Campbell Staidum]
Broadcast info: ABC, 101.5 FM
N.C. State fans hope to salvage the season, but they will have to watch this one on TV.
When you go to the official N.C. State athletics football Web page and a story about Wolfpack players in the NFL greets you, you know there haven’t been a lot of good things to write about Tom O’Brien’s club this season. It started decently enough. Russell Wilson set the NCAA record for most consecutive passes without an interception (he’s thrown four in four games since), Toney Baker returned from a two-year knee rehab (he’s run well since fumbling on the season’s first play) and the team raced out to a 3-1 start (two wins against Football Championship Subdivision foes and a shootout against Pitt.
Of course, after that victory, O’Brien told his team they weren’t good, and he’s been right ever since. They hit the road for the first time all season and lost to Wake Forest. They were beaten by three touchdowns by Duke, a team that hadn’t won in Raleigh since 1984. Two weeks ago Boston College ran all over them, Montel Harris leading the charge with 264 yards on the ground.
The bye week came at a perfect time. Now the Wolfpack are set to take the field on Bobby Bowden’s home turf against a less-than-their-best Florida State team that won its first ACC contest last Thursday in Chapel Hill. It’s a defining game for both teams. One that O’Brien and Bowden both know they need to salvage their seasons, and in Bowden’s case to continue his storied career.
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