USF tramples, stampedes, gores and does other sundry bull-like things to the Pack

Last week, the Pack defeated an ECU Pirates team perhaps undeserving of its #15 ranking.

This week State got spanked 41-10 by a 13-ranked South Florida team that looked every bit the part.

Bulls quarterback Matt Grothe unleashed a surgical strike on the Nate Irving-less Pack defense, carving them up for 20-of-29 passing, posting 31 points in the first half alone.

How's this for a stat: The Bulls had more first downs (29) than the Pack had rushing attempts (27). The two numbers were intertwined closely, as State had no choice but to wing the ball around the field while playing catch-up the entire game.

(Continues)

Harrison Beck only completed nine of his 32 pass attempts for 239 yards, which--another crazy stat--was an absurd 26.6 yards per completion. In that stat is the essence of Beck; the name of his game is bombs galore, some that connect but many that don't, or do so to the opposing team. His three picks against the Bulls only worsened his atrocious interception-to-TD ratio against BCS opponents: 12 to zero. Yikes.

The weather decided to play a part in the game, as an unexpected torrential rain lead to two safeties when snaps squirted over the heads over Beck and punter Bradley Pierson. It also cleared out the majority of the stadium, as folks unprepared for the rain decided it wasn't worth a good soaking to see the Pack get its lunch money taken.

In a day of upsets, the Pack was not to join the ranks of spoilers. State was outgunned and overmatched the entire game, missing its quarterback and best defensive player. From here the Pack will try to regroup and prepare for Boston College, a team with something to prove to its former coach.

Welcome to the meat of the schedule.

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My Weekly Dose Of Optimism: Week 5

Well, it's the second week in a row that a top-15 team will make their journey into Carter-Finley Stadium. This week the Pack hosts the #13 University of South Florida.

The Bulls are good. REAL good. They've got a mobile quarterback in Matt Grothe that makes plays with both his feet and his arm, which really tests the discipline of a defense to cover their assignments, stay at home and not get out of position.

Their defense is just as stout. They've got a great lineman in George Selvie who will put a ton of pressure on Harrison Beck to make quick, correct decisions.

But here's why I think the Pack can win tonight:

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1. Above all else, Harrison Beck will be tonight's X-factor. As Tom O'Brien joked earlier this week, if he can restrict his throws to the folks in the red jerseys we'll stand a chance. But I think Harrison will have an added amount of motivation to get the job done tonight. He's a native of Clearwater, Fla., which is practically in South Florida's backyard. He grew up with a lot of the folks that will play in tonight's game and will be eager to put on a good showing, I believe. I think Beck dials the gunslinger nonsense down a bit and focuses on moving the chains instead of chucking it 60 yards every chance he gets.
2. Through a wealth of injuries, a lot of folks on our two deep are getting playing time. You like to have experienced depth on your squad, and though this isn't the way you like to go about getting it, nevertheless it helps. You saw that last weekend with the play of third-string tight end George Bryan. He stepped up HUGE in the game against East Carolina. We'll need another big game from him, as well as other relative unknowns on the two deep, in order to beat the Bulls. I think we will.
3. Safety Clem Johnson, who was expected to miss the whole season with a broken jaw, was upgraded to "probable" on the depth chart on Thursday. Having him in the secondary will be a big help facing a tough South Florida offense. His return could provide a spark to a team that's watched so many of its own befall injury.
4. Winning against East Carolina proved to this team that they can fight and win against ranked competition. I would feel much worse about this game had we lost to ECU, but winning that game should provide a boost of confidence to the Wolfpack squad. I think they'll come fired up and give USF everything they can handle early. If the Pack can score some points and maintain that momentum, I think the win will be ripe for the picking.

So there you go...your weekly does of optimism. USF is a great team, no doubt, but the Pack played the role of spoiler last night and I think stands a good chance to do it again in front of a lively nighttime crowd at Carter-Finley.

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Where the Pack is ranked, statistically: Week 5

By week five these numbers start to mean a bit more. Most teams have played a 1/3 of their schedule by now and have played at least one solid game against either a conference opponent or a tough out-of-conference opponent.

As you might imagine, State still has a lot of room to improve offensively. The ECU win was huge but one game isn't going to turn the Titanic around just yet. And it may head back toward the iceberg this weekend as the Pack faces off against a very stout South Florida defense.

Punting, turnover margin and sacks continue to be the bright spots on the ledger as State ranks 32nd, 39th and 36th in those categories, respectively.

(I included the conference leaders this week to give an idea of how our numbers stack up against the league's best. Want to know how Wake Forest continues to beat teams despite a subpar running game? Check out that ridiculous +3.33 turnover margin.)

Category	National Rank	Actual	Atlantic Coast Conference Leader	Actual
Rushing Offense	101	104.75	Georgia Tech	306.75
Passing Offense	94	179.00	Duke	252.33
Total Offense	109	283.75	Florida St.	425.00
Scoring Offense	101	18.25	Florida St.	39.33
Rushing Defense	81	156.25	Florida St.	48.33
Pass Efficiency Defense	74	124.35	Boston College	77.58
Total Defense	74	370.75	Florida St.	205.33
Scoring Defense	81	27.25	Florida St.	6.33
Net Punting	32	37.69	Florida St.	43.25
Punt Returns	69	8.45	North Carolina	23.17
Kickoff Returns	61	21.31	North Carolina	24.42
Turnover Margin	39	.50	Wake Forest	3.33
Pass Defense	71	214.50	Boston College	112.00
Passing Efficiency	102	102.92	North Carolina	148.05
Sacks	36	2.25	Florida St.	3.00
Tackles For Loss	T-85	5.00	Florida St.	8.67
Sacks Allowed	63	1.75	Virginia	1.33

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WRAL: NCSU's relationship with Rivers unfortunately a cold one

WRAL.com

This kind of confirms something that I've suspected for a while now...while State fans love to rag on Carolina for Willie Parker not recognizing his alma mater during intros on Sunday, State's relationship with their signature football alum may be just as icy.

You walk into NC State's football shrine, the Murphy center, and you have to search for a picture of Philip Rivers. His jersey? Only in a picture. Nine NFL helmets with autographs of former Wolfpack players sit in a glass case.

There isn't a Chargers/Rivers helmet among them.

Why?

Did it get lost in the mail? You could have walked it from San Diego to Raleigh in the five years that Rivers has been gone.

When recruits walk into the Murphy center they want to see recent history. Guys in the NFL who have played at NC State within the last decade. Guys who recruits see on TV playing right now. A star like Philip Rivers would pull some serious weight.

Who's fault is it?

Probably both parties. Rivers doesn't get back to NC State much at all. He is still bitter about Chuck Amato being fired.

It kind of makes sense, doesn't it? When was the last time Philip was on local radio? Was spotted at a football game? Was in town to take part in a charity event or some other State related event in the community. My boy Joe Ovies at 850TheBuzz has confirmed as much to me before -- the relationship between Rivers and State fans is mostly a one-way street.

It's odd that this story from Jeff Gravely comes on the same day that PackPride caught up with another N.C. State player doing well in the pros, Steven Tulloch, in a story entitled 'Tulloch: 'I Love NC State.' Tulloch, too had many positives to shower upon Amato, but he didn't seem to harbor any ill will toward State for his former coach's treatment.

With all due respect to Philip, I don't think he should be bitter that Amato was fired. He had difficulty getting the job done once Philip left and couldn't seem to get out of his own way with the media at the end. If anything, he should be proud that he is probably the reason Amato lasted as long as he did.

I would hope that Philip would take a page out of Amato's book. As much as Chuck was dogged and badmouthed during his final years here, the man still deeply and passionately loves the school he suited up and played football for. I wish, and hope, Philip reaches that point someday.

UPDATE 10-01-08: If you clicked on the above WRAL link hoping to find Jeff Gravley's story, I've got bad news...the story's no longer there. The link takes you to the front page of WRAL's new sports site, but a search on the new site yielded no results pointing back to the original piece.

Given the accounts posted in the comments section, I'm inclined to believe that Jeff was mistaken about his account of Rivers' memorabilia in the Murphy Center and decided to pull the piece. That's the only thing I can figure. If you find it on the redesigned page in the future, let me know via the comments or through email and I'll repair the link.

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Q&A with www.thebullgator.com's Joel Smith

I was approached this week by Joel Smith of www.thebullgator.com, a blog dedicated to South Florida and UF athletics, to partake in a Q&A exchange between the two sites. I thought, sure, what the hell!

You can find my responses to his questions here.

He came out firing with some pretty tough posers, so I felt like I needed to step up and take this seriously. Like, you know, asking him questions about the Bulls and what we can expect on Saturday. I didn't let him off the hook, though, as I did what every good North Carolinian would do and quizzed him on all things North Carolina BBQ.

What follows are his responses.

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Here's a scary thought (for me, at least): In 1997, I was a sophomore in college and South Florida's football program didn't exist. Now, just 11 years later, y'all are a top 15 program and the favorite for the Big East's BCS bowl bid. What's it been like watching your program progress so rapidly from literally nothing into a contender?

I grew up in Tampa, but grew up a Gator fan because USF football didn't exist. Their first season was also my first year at UF, so I was too heavily engrossed in all things orange and blue to pay much attention. When I returned to Tampa to attend USF, I figured it was time for me to adopt a second team. Let me be clear, I am first and foremost a Gator, but the Bulls run a close second. Years later, I have a blog dedicated to both schools and I'm a USF season ticket holder.

You'll hear a lot from people about how USF's rise was expected and how they always knew the Bulls would be good, but...no pun intended...that's a bunch of bull. How can anyone not be surprised? You never know how a new program will perform and if they'll ever rise to national prominence. USF is obviously in a great recruit-producing state, but so is UCF and they haven't experienced the same success despite being around a lot longer. At the same time, the big time recruits still go elsewhere. The Bulls have been able to get 110% out of the kids they do bring in and the results are now coming out. Look at it this way: the program has only had 2 losing seasons. That's remarkable in my opinion.

I’m still waiting for the first conference title and that first 10-win season. We could see both this year.

You asked me about Tom O'Brien's quote that has stirred up a lot of attention leading into the game, so I'll ask you about it in return: How has it been received in Bulls Country, and what impact do you think it will have on the outcome of the game?

People are furious. I mostly just think it’s funny.

Let’s be realistic for a moment. Apparently other coaches came to USF to ask how to stop the spread offense because the Bulls had done so well against West Virginia the last couple of years. But I have to ask, does WVU run a true spread? Urban Meyer is thought of as one of the masterminds of the spread you currently find throughout the nation and West Virginia’s offense looks very different than the ones he used at Utah and now Florida. The true spread seems to involve passing the ball much more than WVU ever has. So should a coach seek out advice from USF as to how to stop it? Probably not.

As for O’Brien’s comments, people aren’t happy. USF’s defensive coordinator Wally Burnham has already responded, giving both teams bulletin board material and I’m sure both fan bases may believe these comments mean the teams will play that much harder. I have always completely disagreed. If a college football program need its opponents to talk trash before the game in order to get motivated, then there’s a much bigger problem. This is big time college football. These players should be ready to go at 100 miles per hour for every game and every situation.

Take the Florida/Miami game as an example. UF receiver Louis Murphy made some comments about Miami not being the U in his mind. Miami fans got all upset and said he better watch out because Cane defenders were now out to get him. Were they? They didn’t do anything to him. They just played their game. He didn’t have a great game until late, but that’s mostly because he played poorly and dropped a few passes. Not because the Miami players were out to get him and were harassing him on every play.

I have never believed things like this have any outcome on the game at all.

Matt Grothe's ability to make plays with his feet as well as his arm has obviously given opposing teams a lot of fits. If you were scheming a defense to shut him down, how would you do it?

QB spy.

People compare Matt Grothe to Tim Tebow a lot down here. The big difference though is size. Put a linebacker on Tebow at all times and you still don't have the greatest chance of stopping him. Tebow is just as big as most of them and has the power to run them over. Grothe doesn't. Not that Grothe doesn't have a little fight in him, but going head-to-head, I'm going to take the linebacker 99 times out of 100. So, it's probably a good idea to have someone keep an eye on Grothe when he's in the shotgun. Make sure at least part of the field is contained so you can force him to run a certain way. Not the other way around.

The biggest issue for defenses is play length. The longer the play takes to develop, the more likely Grothe will kill you on the ground. Few college linebackers are disciplined to spy/contain for too long. Eventually someone else coming out of the backfield can distract them or they will drop contain to try to make a big play. This is where Grothe can thrive. If someone is spying him, they need to stay home regardless of the temptation to do something else. Grothe's biggest plays are when the defense eventually breaks down and he makes some improvised run or crazy throw to a suddenly wide open receiver.

It sounds like the injury bug has bitten the Bulls defense of late. What's the latest you can tell me about the status of Bruce Mompremier and George Selvie, and what impacts will their injuries have on the game?

At this point, it seems like USF is most worried about Mompremier the person and not Mompremier the football player. He seems to be doing fine and actually made an appearance at practice on Tuesday without a neck brace. The Bulls have said he is definitely out for at least the next two games, but other reports say getting him back on the field isn’t the concern just yet. As for replacing him, I’m not really worried. Not to say he wasn’t a contributor, but USF has always had good play out of its linebackers and has a number of guys ready to step up. It seems like the defense has gone to a 4-2-5 as of late, so we could see middle linebacker Kion Wilson move into the spot, although it’s more likely one of the backups will step up. Mompremier will be missed, but there are a number of players behind him with big game experience as well who will be ready to step in.

Selvie should be good to go. He was held out of practice up until this point, but he’s expected back for the second half of the week. If needed he probably could’ve gone, but the Bulls are playing it safe and only using him when they really need him until they are sure he’s completely back to 100%.

How do you see this game shaking out, quarter by quarter?

Given the last 3 USF games, it could honestly be 10-0 after 1, 17-7 after 2, and 27-7 USF after 3, but 27-21 when the final whistle sounds.

It’s hard to read the Bulls so far this year. They were up 24-10 against UCF entering the fourth (final score: 31-24 in overtime), down 20-3 at one point in the first half against Kansas but up 14 early in the fourth (final score: 37-34), and up 17-0 with 2:20 left against FIU (final score: 17-9). The fourth quarter has been a big turning point in all of those games and not necessarily in USF’s favor even if they did end up winning. I want to believe against FIU they learned their lesson. A game is 60 full minutes and you have to play hard until the very end. Given what we’ve seen, my prediction in the first sentence might not be that far off. But if the Bulls can finally keep up the pressure for an entire game – and remember it was NC State who blanked USF in its first bowl appearance – they should be able to keep this one from getting too close for comfort late in the game. Sorry Wolfpack fans, but with the loss of Wilson and Irving, I just don’t think you can stay in it for the entire contest. Of course, if the Bulls forget to play the final 15 minutes, you’ll have me eating my words.

The biggest thing you need to worry about is Harrison Beck’s confidence. If fans and players stay behind him, he could manage the game and keep it interesting. But if he makes mistakes early and has to play from behind for most of the day, it could get ugly. Of course, all you have to do is wait patiently until the final quarter and the Bulls should let you back in the game. UGH!

Finally, have you ever had Eastern North Carolina style barbecue, can you tell the difference between it and Lexington style, and have you now or ever used "barbecue" as a verb?

I failed miserably during my first attempt to have North Carolina barbecue. At a place just outside of Raleigh where you just place your order and don’t ask questions, I chose the chicken platter over the chicken plate. Apparently the platter meant fried and the plate meant barbecue. Luckily my soon-to-be in-laws live up there, so I’ll get another shot at it during the next visit. Hopefully I will redeem myself.

Barbecue is frequently used as a verb down here, but grill seems to be more common. If people are coming over for burgers and hot dogs, we’ll typically say we are going to “grill out.”

So there you have it. We'll give Joel a pass on his first NC BBQ experience. Lord knows it's tough enough to find good Eastern NC BBQ here in Raleigh if you're not familiar with the territory.

This was fun. I think you might see more of these in the future if we can get some willing participants.

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Understatement of the year: "Beck: 'I'm gonna throw it'"

In what may qualify as the most humorously understated story title in years, PackPride had this story up Wednesday night:

"Beck: 'I'm gonna throw it.'"

You think?

If there's any quarterback alive out there more likely to throw it, I either haven't seen him or he plays at Texas Tech.

Harrison Beck will throw it. This much is certain. It's only a question of how much, and to which team.

View the complete entry of "Understatement of the year: "Beck: 'I'm gonna throw it'""

Russell Wilson injured, will miss S.Fla. game, along with Irving

www.gopack.com

I mean...seriously?

Hopefully this is just coach O'Brien being ULTRA protective of RW and Nate Irving heading into the rest of the season, but you have to think that if it were just a minor or nagging injury for Wilson that he would see the field in the biggest game of the season for us. If this is a head injury, another minor concussion, then it could be -- I hate to say it -- possibly the last time we see Wilson at quarterback. I hate to think about that possibility, seeing how much he progressed over the three games he's appeared in. But bottom line, this man's future is in baseball. I think O'Brien realizes that, the medical team realizes it. While it would be tragic for his football career to end before it even really begins, Wilson needs to not put his baseball career at risk needlessly.

Crap. I just can't even put it into words how deflating this news is after such a big win against ECU.

And Irving's injury...again, I hope it's coach being overly protective of the health of his star linebacker and not indicative of something worse.

This changes the complexion of the South Florida game COMPLETELY.

[UPDATE x1] A source told WRAL Monday that Wilson has a shoulder injury - although it was unclear which one - and Irving has a high ankle sprain. High ankle sprains tend to be worse because they can linger.

According to one poster on the boards, Wilson was spotted with a sling on his right arm, which would add credence to the shoulder injury rumor.

View the complete entry of "Russell Wilson injured, will miss S.Fla. game, along with Irving"