N.C. State Game Review / Syracuse Game Week Thread

A shorter version this week…

NC STATE GAME OVERVIEW

When reviewing the stats from the N.C. State game, I was struck by how similar it was to the Indiana game (with the very obvious exception of the turnover margin). Here is a comparison:

Wake’s Total Offense Against Indiana: 352 yards
Wake’s Total Offense Against N.C. State: 352 yards

Indiana’s Total Offense: 611 yards
N.C. State’s Total Offense: 527 yards

Wake’s Explosive Plays Against Indiana: 3 plays for 82 yards
Wake’s Explosive Plays Against N.C. State: 5 plays for 146 yards

Indiana’s Explosive Plays: 7 plays for 303 yards
N.C. State’s Explosive Plays: 7 plays for 219 yards

If anything, Wake actually did a little better in these categories against N.C. State. This obviously shows the importance of turnover margin (+5 against Indiana and even against N.C. State). It also raises the question of whether we will be able to keep pace with future opponents when it comes to Total Offense. Wake has only outgained one of four FBS opponents (+20 against Duke) and has trailed -259 and -175 the last two weeks.

OTHER STATS

% of RB CARRIES 3 YARDS OR MORE: 33% (Worst performance of the season. Previous low was 44% against Tulane. Also a relatively small sample size as the passing game was much busier. The RBs managed just 2 carries greater than 3 yards.)

DISRUPTIVE PLAYS BY THE DL: 2 (Worst performance of the season. Had averaged 9.5 against Tulane and Duke, but have averaged only 2.5 in the last two games)

PASS TARGETS

Tabari Hines: 9 completions on 10 pass targets (90% completion). 4 receptions > 10 yards
Cam Serigne: 5 completions on 9 pass targets (56% completion). 2 receptions > 10 yards
Cortez Lewis: 6 completions on 8 pass targets (75% completion). 3 receptions > 10 yards
Chuck Wade: 3 completions on 8 pass targets (38% completion). 1 reception > 10 yards
Scotty Washington: 2 completions on 5 pass targets (40% completion). 1 reception > 10 yards
Alex Bachman: 1 completion on 3 pass targets (33% completion)
Steven Claude: 0 completions on 1 pass target

Best game so far for Cortez Lewis. Nice to see one of the outside WRs contributing more.

WAKE’S EXPLOSIVE PLAYS
Hines 35 yard reception from Wolford
Hines 40 yard reception from Wolford
Washington 26 yard reception from Wolford
Colburn 22 yard run
Wolford 23 yard run

OFFENSIVE LINE

Obvious individual breakdowns:

Tyler Hayworth (3) – 1Q allowed pass to be batted down, 2Q conceded pass pressure, 3Q conceded pass pressure that was negated by a roughing the passer penalty

Ryan Anderson (3) – conceded pass pressures in 2Q, 3Q and 4Q

Justin Herron (2) – 2Q face mask penalty, 3Q conceded hit on Wolford

The individual breakdowns against NCSU (8) were nearly as many as I had recorded in the previous 3 FBS games combined (10). However, I attributed 2 of the 4 QB sacks to the TEs (Pike and Serigne), and the other two weren’t attributed to anyone specific.

The 3 breakdowns attributed to Ty Hayworth might be more than I’ve attributed to him over the last season and a half combined.

I was curious how aggressively N.C. State would blitz. I continue to believe that bringing 5 and 6-man rushes is the best way for opponents to limit Wake offensively. N.C. State was aggressive, but not as aggressive as it seemed when I watched the game live. I watched 35 pass plays and they rushed five 8 times and rushed six 3 times. That’s a 31% blitz rate. Certainly aggressive. Wake did struggle handing the blitzes, but to be honest N.C. State got some good pressure with their 4-man rush as well.

Thanks for the report, 94. Some screen passes would have slowed down the pass rush. Some trap blocks would have helped the rushing attack. But 3rd down conversions tell the story.4-14 versus 7-14 (+1 4th down conversion). We had 10 drives die on us, they had 6.

Thanks for your analysis 94. Your statistical objectivity confirms my own impressions of the game.

What can we expect from Syracuse? I have not seen them play this year.

Buttermaker said:

What can we expect from Syracuse? I have not seen them play this year.

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I've heard talk of their epic front seven. Big talk.

Buttermaker said:

What can we expect from Syracuse? I have not seen them play this year.

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I do not like this matchup at all. Their QB is 5th in nation in passing yard and their #1 receiver is 1st in the nation in receiving yards.

Wake is 103 out of 128 in passing yards allowed. Top 30 in rushing defense. 66th overall in defense. Being that they do not run much anyway, they will definitely air it out on us.

However, their defense is atrocious and we should be able to run the ball on them.

Any chance Hinton and/or Carney will be back?

I would expect that we get Carney back this week. IF we get Hinton back, I doubt we find out until 7pm Saturday night. Claw likes to keep the QB situation quiet

nice to see us throw to Cam finally. This is a winnable game. Got to put some pressure on the QB

Buttermaker said:

What can we expect from Syracuse? I have not seen them play this year.

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Lots of scoring. Syracuse is in the top 10 in the country in "pace". That's number of plays per game. They average 80+ plays a game. This has resulted in lots of scoring as Cuse averages 29 points a game, but is giving up 37.5 points per game (if you exclude their FCS game, they have given up 62, 45, 24 and 50 in their 4 games against FBS teams). Eric Dungey a 6-3 sophomore, is their starting QB, and he has attempted 40+ passes in every game; he has a strong 11/3 TD/INT ratio. Last week against ND, he threw the ball 51 times. Cuse is a throw first team, and they only average 3.2 ypc on the ground. Cuse has a stud receiver in Maryland transfer Amba Etta-Towe. He has 47 catches in 5 games with 6 TDs.

Cuse's defense has been weak this year, which is at least partially attributable to the fact their offense plays at such a fast pace that the Cuse defense in on the field a lot. Cuse's rush defense has been particulary bad giving up 15 rushing TDs in their last 4 games; Cuse gives up 5.4 ypc and has surrendered 204 yards per game on the ground. They also have given up a 15+ yards per reception; so, they are susceptible to giving up the big play. Cuse's kicker is 7 for 11 on the season, Cuse has yet to give up a blocked punt or blocked kick.

Deacs will need to control clock; score in the redzone, and pressure the QB. Cuse will want a shoot out.

Interesting note: Cuse's coach, Dino Babers, replaced Clawson at Bowling Green.

After the first 5 games, it's evident in my opinion that will be key in us getting to 6 or more wins. 1) Our pass defense has to to tighten up. We're giving up too many plays and too many opposing receivers are running open. We've got to do a better job, starting this weekend. 2) Our skill guys have got to make more plays. I think if you look at the first 5 games, there has been several opportunities to make plays and we missed a lot of them. I think we've got some talent in the backfield and at WR/Slot, but we've got to take advantage of the opportunities more often. Part of it is on the QB's to make good throws, but a lot of it is on the receivers to catch balls they get their hands on, even when the throw isn't perfect.

Saturday night is huge. Syracuse is dangerous team on offense and can certainly beat us, but we've got to win on home turf against a 2nd tier Atlantic division team like us. We owe these guys several times over too!

Our receivers can't block.

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DeacsOrDie said:

I do not like this matchup at all. Their QB is 5th in nation in passing yard and their #1 receiver is 1st in the nation in receiving yards.

Wake is 103 out of 128 in passing yards allowed. Top 30 in rushing defense. 66th overall in defense. Being that they do not run much anyway, they will definitely air it out on us.

However, their defense is atrocious and we should be able to run the ball on them.

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I'm surprised that we're actually favored this week without Hinton back and with Wolford only probable. I guess everyone figures we can run the ball for at least 150 yards and maybe get a turnover or two.

Would be great to get another win against a team with clearly more talent but I think we can do it. Dommagio needs to have another big game and pin them inside the 15 a couple times.

ChrisL68 said:

Our receivers can't block.

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So much this. Those sideline screens to Hines Saturday were literally throwing him to the wolves.

DeacsOrDie said:

I do not like this matchup at all. Their QB is 5th in nation in passing yard and their #1 receiver is 1st in the nation in receiving yards.

Wake is 103 out of 128 in passing yards allowed. Top 30 in rushing defense. 66th overall in defense. Being that they do not run much anyway, they will definitely air it out on us.

However, their defense is atrocious and we should be able to run the ball on them.

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We are supposed to win. But this is a terrible matchup for us. They pass like crazy. Pass defense is our weakness.

They might come out flat after the track meet they had with ND. The Irish shut them down in the 2nd half, with only a late TD in garbage' time. They seemed to stop running the ball and the QB couldn't complete a pass. So get on them quick Deacs, and then keep the ball away from them.

I didn't see Moe Neal in the ND game when I was watching it, but I saw him in other games and he's an elusive and explosive back. We can't sleep on their rushing game either.

This should be a great atmosphere. 4-1 deacs with a very winnable ACC game. Hopefully the place is loud and full.

Doubt it will be loud or full, But here's hoping.

Lohengrin said:

I didn't see Moe Neal in the ND game when I was watching it, but I saw him in other games and he's an elusive and explosive back. We can't sleep on their rushing game either.

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Wait I thought ppl were saying they were just pass happy?

The 3:30 FSU news has to be a big boost to our guys' confidence after such a flat weekend. National media saying that they think we're a worthy national tv audience showcase, and against a (struggling) powerhouse, at that.