NC State vs Tennessee
August 31, 2012
Georgia Dome, Atlanta
Well, after driving home this morning from Atlanta, I had some time to think about last night's performance against the University of Tennessee. First off, kudos to UT for coming out and playing great the whole 60 minutes. State on the other hand, has some work to do. In the next couple paragraphs I will go over both the good and the bad that I saw from last nights game.
Good:
Mustafa Greene: I thought Mustafa looked great. I was a little surprised last week when the depth chart was released and Tony Creecy was listed as the starter. However, I was impressed with Mustafa's speed and ability to change directions so quickly, much improved from the Creecy-Washington duo of last year that seemed to never quite get where they wanted to go. Overall I am excited to see what Mustafa has in store for us this year, and the best part is he is still a sophomore.
Asa Watson: I had heard about Asa before, but I did not know he was this explosive. Asa will be a force to be reckoned with this year.
Bad:
David Amerson: I, along with almost every other State fan had high expectations this season for David. I was extremely disappointed last night with his performance. If I remember correctly, he overplayed his man at least twice, and two times his man broke away and scored a touchdown. Summary: Dissapointed.
Defensive Line: Horrible. Maybe touched Brey twice? I know UT has SEC caliber linemen, but still. We NEED to work on the pass rush if we want to be successful.
Offensive Play-calling:
This happened a lot more last year than it did in the game last night, but I get tired of having a 3rd and long and we run a screen pass out to a sideline. How long will it take for TOB & Co. to realize we cannot run a screen because our guys are too slow?
I did not go into this game expecting us to win, but I did expect us to at least put up a decent fight. I think the momentum changer was the first possession of the second-half when we were moving the ball great, had a first down, but Wentz (I think) was called for a personal foul on a late hit. After that we go 3-and-out and never really show a great fight after that.
Also, the 1st half was the widest experience I have ever had a sporting event. State's crowd was electric early, and UT fans were as well. The concourse rang of "Wolf-Pack" and the VOLS chant, and people trash talking. An absolute awesome experience. The best thing about the evening was that the UT band was on the other side of the dome, so I could barely hear the Rocky Top song which was great!
I would also like to take a second to remember the Tennessee student who fell from the upper level into the club level mezzanine seats, and later died at the hospital. Prayers and thoughts are with his family and the entire UT community.
Final Score: NC State 21, Tennessee 35
NC State (0-1, 0-0)
Next week:
NC State @ Connecticut, 12:00PM, ESPN3
My prediction:
NC State 31, UCONN 24
