And once more the secondary was wandering aimlessly. Probably one of the most disturbing press box observations.
Sitting up here in the press box and watching the plays develop – I’m not sure if Pitt’s secondary has any idea what it is doing. There are plays when some guys are in man, some look like they are in zone and after ever reception there seems to be at least one guy waving his arms as if to say “what the heck just happened?” I don’t know what the problem is, but it needs to get solved quickly.
Don’t ask Aaron Berry, though, he’s as stunned as anyone else.
“Honestly, I can’t tell you [what went wrong in the secondary],” Berry said.
“We’re in position to make plays, we’re just not making them. [The interference call], I don’t even think I touched him, I don’t even know what I did and the one on [Jared Holley], I thought that was a horrible penalty, too.
“That’s part of the game, we can’t dwell on that, that did not lose the game.”
No, it didn’t. Yet Berry seems to not have any grasp of why the secondary looked like it was absolutely clueless. Where’s Paul Rhoads to kick around when I need him?
Mick Williams, though, has an idea of what was part of the problem.
“It comes down to tackling,” said defensive tackle Mick Williams, who had eight tackles. “We missed too many tackles. We didn’t play disciplined enough to win this game.”
Congrats to the Pitt defense and secondary in particular for making Russell Wilson the odds-on-favorite for ACC Offensive Player of the Week. Oh, and one of the nominees for national player of the week honors. Well done.
Not that Wilson didn’t have help. Remember when Rutgers came into town last year, and after the game Coach Wannstedt expressed surprise at how much Rutgers threw the ball rather than run. This despite everyone else knowing that the Scarlet Knights had no real running game, a pretty good QB and two outstanding receivers.
Well, apparently Coach Wannstedt’s game preparation failed to notice Russell Wilson can do a lot more if you look at game tape from last year and note that he was getting a key member of the O-line back for this game.
After staying in the pocket for most of the first three games, Wilson showed off the speed that made him the ACC’s most feared dual-threat quarterback last season.
“We didn’t see him scramble like this at all this year,” said Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt. “He made things happen on his own. He’s a leader, and a winner.”
Biting tongue. Biting tongue. Not going to say anything. Moving on.
As gut-wrenching and painful a loss as this was to Pitt, you would think that in Wolfpack land this would be a significant win that speaks to a team on the rise and making noise. Or not.
The only thing that made the N.C. State football team content Saturday evening was the outcome.
The path the Wolfpack took to its third consecutive victory of the season wasn’t all that pretty.
N.C. State had nearly as many penalties as points in the first half.
The Wolfpack missed a pair of not-so-long field goals.
A poor snap in the game’s final three minutes nearly ruined the day.
In the face of it all, N.C. State somehow came away with a 38-31 victory over previously-undefeated Pittsburgh beneath a dreary sky at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Even Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien was somewhat baffled at the end result.
“In the final analysis, we’re not a very good football team right now,” O’Brien said. “We’ve made too many mistakes, and I’ve done a bad job coaching. We have to face up to some facts. We were lucky enough to escape with a victory today, but going into the ACC, I don’t think that performance will get it done.”
It was a harsh, but honest, assessment by O’Brien…
And no, this wasn’t an isolated storyline. The theme was that Wilson is a god, and the Wolpack needs to be very grateful he’s theirs.
An incredible athlete saved a “bad” team from defeat Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Quarterback Russell Wilson put on a dazzling display of running and passing in the final 19 minutes to help N.C. State wipe out a 14-point deficit and pull out a 38-31 non-conference win against previously unbeaten Pittsburgh.
Hell, even a stubborn, boring offense, run-first guy like NC State Coach Tom O’Brien knows enough to stay out of the way.
“With the quarterback, the way he’s playing, we’ll keep slinging it around the yard and see what happens,” coach Tom O’Brien said.
Even as he’s down on himself and the rest of his team.
“Right now, we’re not a good football team, and I’m not a good coach,” Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien said. “I have a lot of work to do this week.”
Which says, exactly what about Pitt?
Not that some weren’t expecting Pitt to have this kind of seizing defeat from victory moment.
I can’t be the only one who spent the first month of the season wondering when the requisite Pitt choke job would bite the undefeated Panthers.
All those who expected it to come in the form of a defensive implosion take two steps forward. Not so fast, Mr. Cook.
“I thought defensively we didn’t make any plays,” Wannstedt said, ever the master of the obvious. “Their offense made all the plays.”
It’s a crying shame because Pitt’s offense — especially quarterback Bill Stull — played well enough to win. If you’re like me, you’re probably feeling a little foolish for thinking he would be Pitt’s big weakness this season. Really, Stull threw only one bad ball all day — an overthrow out of the end zone on fourth-and-goal in the final 80 seconds after Pitt recovered a fumbled shotgun snap by the Wolfpack at the North Carolina State 8 with 2:45 left. A play earlier, he threw a pretty pass that tight end Dorin Dickerson could have caught for the tying touchdown, although it would have been an above-average catch.
But the game shouldn’t have come down to that final Pitt series. When Stull threw a 79-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin late in the third quarter to give the Panthers a 31-17 lead, it should have been enough for the defense.
Great defenses rise to the occasion at that point of the game, right?
Not Pitt’s.
North Carolina State went 45, 83 and 71 yards on its next three possessions for touchdowns.
Yeah, that’s some defense.
It’s safe to say the defense is in crisis mode. Probably best to have a short week with a Friday night game. Not time to dwell. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.
