#139 R.P.I. Virginia Tech @ #22 R.P.I. Nc.State:

Today’s word of the day is… Canis Lupus!

noun.

Old English wulf, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wolf and German Wolf.

1. a wild carnivorous mammal of the dog family, living and hunting in packs. It is native to both Eurasia and North America; has been widely exterminated.
2. used figuratively to refer to a rapacious, ferocious, or voracious person or thing.
   “He calls the media ravening wolves”
3. Canine puncture wounds and k9 d.n.a. in the V.P.I. F’n Gobbler come midnite Thursday?

North Carolina State Head Coach: David William Doeren: age=5o, (69–51 @State and 92–55 overall); has a rep’ for being a HARD-worker bee. A team (not an individual coach). As a defensive coach. And as a Pro’ painter on the side.
$3,250,000.oo

Baller Doeren played college football at Drake University as a Te1 on O. Student-athlete Doeren… lettered at Te for the Drake Bulldogs, catching 19 catches for 237-yards for his career. He majored in pre-medical biology, earning Academic All-America honors as a senior. He took the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

Coach Doeren’s first coaching job was as wide receivers and defensive line coach at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Shawnee, Kansas. Afterward… Drake U is also where he also held his second assistant coaching position. First as Linebackers coach then elevated to D-cord’ overall. Later he became a graduate assistant with the U.s.c. Trojans before being named secondary coach of the Montana Grizzlies, where he was a member of the 2oo1 national championship team and pocketed a D-1aa Alpha Bling for it. Doeren was linebackers coach with the Kansas Jayhawks from 2oo2 to 2oo5 before becoming linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator of the Wisconsin Badgers. He was given the sole title of defensive coordinator in 2oo8.

Coach Doeren served as the head football coach at Northern Illinois University from 2o11 to 2o12. Doeren led the Huskies to a Mid-American Conference Championship and a win in the GoDaddy.com Bowl in his first year. The following year the Huskies only won a second consecutive MAC Championship and would go on to become the first MAC team to earn a BCS bid with a trip to the 2o13 Orange Bowl. That’s all, no big-M.A.C. biggie there. 23-4 at Northern Illinois if you need him.

In 2o12 Coach Doeren was tabbed by Nc.State. Where he has tallied a very reasonable looking 7 positive (winning) records vs. only two negative marks. Winning 3 bowl games and twice finishing Nationally ranked 23rd or higher. Coach Do’ also has more nine-win campaigns than any coach in Nc.State school history; so there is that too.

Coach Do’ does have NC State’s graduation success rate for football at an all-time high (74%) and it has risen each of the past four years. Accordingly, he is coaching mo’ than just football and NCSt.edu proppers on that! Additionally, David has instituted “Real World Wednesdays.” Every week from January until the season starts, a different speaker comes in to speak to the team about his or her experiences or to help teach real-life lessons. Further, Doeren has provided practical guidance to his players that will help them in the professional world. They learned about proper dress attire for interviews and business and learned how to tie a cravat/necktie. They have participated in etiquette dinners and have met with leaders from the financial world who taught them about money management. Again; there is a lot to like here, as in how few are taking the time to do all of, ^that^?

Doeren.edu has also earned his master’s degree from Drake in educational leadership. Dr. Doeren during his stint with the Trojans, where he began work on his Ph.D.

Daddy Doeren met his wife Sara while he was coaching at Drake and she was a nursing student. The couple has three sons: Jacob (21), Luke (19), and Connor (15).

2021 record: 9 up 6 down and 6-2 in the A.c.c. (note: Holiday Bowl vs. U.c.la. was canceled).

 North Carolina State Defense: (starters back=8, mo’ if you count returning ‘2o starters)

• Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson and his 3-3-5 scheme are back.
• 18th in Total D!!
• 37th vs. the run!
• 21st vs. the throw!
• 8th in Passing Efficiency D!!!
• 123rd in zone D?
• 8.5 of 1o in dLine Havoc. Daniel Joseph is gone at De1 after finishing third on the team with five sacks. The State Dt’s are nothing if not active— Cory Durden is a pro prospect who can work inside or out in the thirty-four, and Savion Jackson has to do more on the outside and emerge as not less than a legit De2. Ng1 and Ng1a Cory Durden and C.J. Clark conspire to afford State a fresh fighter in either zero-technique or outside-eye look for the duration. That is pretty dang big in a 3-4 to men. The 1’s are really strong here folks. The 2’s and not so much. However, the 1’s are really really bulky, lumpy mashed potatoes bulky; this makes them hard to dislodge. And that is just what your base 30-set S.e.c. wants/needs for it to boot.

• 7 outta 1o in Linebacking Havoc. Eye do not personally agry with this one… mmm-k? Though I had preseason sourcing that is wondering out loud if this might could be the best 2nd-layer in all of D-1 football! Again, that’s a bridge and a pontoon too far to me… though it is a Talented Nc.State 2nd-layer; make no misQ here on that. That all said… 4th-leading tackler Vi Jones is gone to the No Fun League. Still yet, 1st Team All-A.c.c. Drake Thomas is back in the mix after leading the team with 99 stops (and he seems to have a nose for the ball); and Devon Betty is a pretty dang good young option in the middle at the Meg or Mike spot internally. Then… Isaiah Moore is back after missing last year with a knee injury (A.c.l., St.Nikon bless). Payton Wilson (trick right-knee, St.Nikon help)  –the team’s leading tackler in 2o19 and 2o2o alike– returns after missing all of last season with both shoulders hurt (St.Christopher bless, twice). And that is why this is said to be an All-A.c.c. linebacking crew if everyone can stay ’22 healthy. Right-sized 2nd-layer and they flow if not outright move well enuff for it to boot.
• 7 from 1o in Secondary Havoc. SAF is code for Safety to the ‘packers. FYI and just so you game-day Program bought know. ‘K? Overall, in secondary terms… the State corner tandem of Shyheim Battle and Derrek Pitts is solid, if not spectacular. The State safety situation however is terrific around First Team All-A.c.c. 82-tackle playmaker Tanner Ingle. Tanner is taking hides; get it? Jakeen Harris doesn’t leave many plays out on the field and he doesn’t make many mistakes, either. State does key the ball not the man and they do this pretty aggressively upon breaking tape. Might be a Hokiebird play to be had if/when they miss the ball-hawking here. As State has been Top-3 in A.c.c. picks for several years under coach Doren. This is a very senior and/or upperclassman heavy hind-4; so, they should be right as rain mutually Learning and Experience curve(s) wise. And they have the depth to spare here. This is not less than a ‘good’ secondary that could bat eyes at being, great. The defensive backfield is deeper than it is great. And although tall enuff, they are a little lightweight in the seat of their pants.
• D overall: In ’21 NC State went through a rash of injuries, with six positions affected, and yet the Pack allowed just 19.7 points per game to finish second in the A.c.c. and No. 14 nationally. I mention this twice as that is triple-double (mostly) unreal. Most D’s are Training Room gutted just like dat. As 5-game-no.-1 starters or ‘1s were ’21 done by game no.12 to end the year. Yikes/wow alike!
  (Film-study🙂 …Eye suppose that this is supposed to be a base thirty-four? B.Patterson prolly has some newfangled word for this… that is peaking on old-school when I go to look it up. Anywho… they sure toggle, and old-school T.Landry ‘flex’ at times pre-snap. They align, misalign, and realign. This can confuse blocking {sic: assignments}. Or, plain run-fit fills when they are late getting into place or slow to get back 3-point-stancing down. And the front 2-layers both move, keyed by the ILb or Mike if they go even. State loads up and attacks play or wide-side. Tho’ they attack so heavily they miss stops for it; and Eye thought they looked a little stiff at times upon breaking tape. State is not super physical, and they catch too many blocks. They are not super aggressive in their off-man looks or split zones. Kinda the flattest possible Buy Lyte ever tapped. The State 2nd-layer does blitz or fake-blitz (then: short-hook-zone) a lot. State secondary either is small or fights small on tape. ‘Cuse got their hips-turned way too much as well; found sideline real-estate to work as well. State will play one Fs as a Centerfield way deep and front-load or flood the box with everyone else in off or medium man and variable intensity zones. Tacking was too forward facing (too north) vs. ‘Cuse and/or just army looking. Again, NOT a physical D or team overall. The one caveat is that… the secondary plays the ball only. They will jump routing and go for broke for INT’s; with: (11 passes pilfered) or 3rd nationally in picks is never a bad looksee. Did like the inverted arrowhead in the 2nd-layer and make sure you get …they play a lotta guys within 8-9 yards of the LOS (line-of-scrimmage). Kinda like ‘cuse themselves used to do. This means you must win long(er) and they ain’t too shabby after a few adjustments in-game on turn-n-burn. The secondary is their primary strength here to be sure once they tighten up and start to jam a bit (intensity pun intended).

  

• ∑ (summary): returning D production=88% (5th)%! Very experienced halt-unit. Aydan White may just be your conflict defender here. As he is blackout lights out in pass defense and turns opponents over. The State defense that was third in the ’21 A.c.c. overall and 14th in the nation in scoring D and there are those who say it should (actually) be even ’22 better! There’s a ton of all-A.c.c. and all-star talent, great depth, and more big-time players about to get back into the mix to make a great situation even better. On a statistical aberration notice of a note… State really tackles the person. Not the ball and seldom recovers the rock when it does come free. Like rarely. What with 8 fumbles recovered in the last 3.5 years rare! Lotta ‘moo’ in their recovery, steak. As that is pretty bloody poor by most standards. The defense both returns 13 of the 15 players with 25o-plus snaps last year and brings back three potential starters from injury. The Pack’s defense constantly pushed teams backward in 2o21 and boasted some of the surest tackling in the country. When these guys hit you -same as Philo Beddoe- you stay, hit. As State forces opponents to play behind schedule, then they dominate with consistent pressure (eighth in pressure rate). That is a dang tough row to hoe with you have to chase consistently as an opposing O. It fatigues you physically and {sic: then} mentally alike. And frankly, when you see the immediate grades below… this is a Gestalt Theory D. Mo’ than the sum of their, parts.

Defensive letter-grade:

Nc.State Offense: (returning starters=7)

• 99th in Total O.
• 88th in ground O.
• 88th in aerial O.
• 96th in Passing Efficiency O.
• 53rd in zone O.

  

• O overall: Qb1: 6′1″, 215 lb., r-Jr., Devin Leary is back and peeps best be leery here. The rising upperclassman, the top-2 recruit outta N.Jersey in 2018, showed some promise when he didn’t try to do too much. Yet the tag here reads that he has to improve his accuracy (48.1%) and decision-making on top of that— which is not entirely saying the same thing in Devin’s case. And with all-Universe and the 2nd-highest Qb1 recruit (Aaron McLaughlin) on the way… now would be a good time to make people less, leery at such a Pivotal position indeed. Well, Aaron was on the way, until he was not. And the Qb1 spot is now pretty firmly Devin’s. DeeL himself -who may or may not be on the: “down Low”- is a throwback yesteryear era pocket-Qb by trade. And quite frankly, he looks it upon breaking tape as he has enough shoulder to win the arms race, tho’ he is a few bricks shy of a load from winning most any foot race. Guess that 2o2o busted leg did this no favors as well; St.Culbreth help! Good fundamentals, a textbook robo-Qb who gets the mechanics down pat. Competitor or a bit cocksure… ‘pends whom you ask. Still yet, only 49 other Qb’s in the history of history itself can say that they finished their careers as their given home-states Alpha-Qb statistically. As Devin finished his career as the state of New Jersey’s all-time leader in passing yards (9,672) and in touchdown throws (117)! And he was merely Gatorade Player of the Year in New Jersey twice, or back-to-back as a Jr. and again as a Sr. season Qb1. That does not suck, although the fact that he has cut 1″ in height and yet found nearly ~34 lbs. of sinew since his Raleigh arrival pretty much tells the tale here. That all said… HeDoesNotHate… HIM. (See: pic.). And it really is hard to hate on his: throwing for 3,433 yards and 35 touchdowns with five picks in his last ~1.5 seasons of work. This from: Rival’s no.8 ranked Qb in the nation in his recruiting class. In his first three years with the Wolfpack program, Devin has played under three different offensive coordinators and three different quarterback coaches. Makes you wonder how well he plays with others if he ever plays for the same returning, Staff? As he went six straight games without an interception and threw for over 3oo yards in six contests and at least 4-TD’s in five ’21 games. i.e., this is a hot Qb1 when he gets it going early on. And recall, he had a bit of a ‘wild-thang’ tag affixed early on down in Raleigh to boot. Devin actually writes left-handed, he learned to throw with his right because he used his right-handed brother’s baseball glove as a kid. And there were those that said he shoulda been a D-1 Pitcher out on the diamond circuit. Finally, when I reviewed his testing results, they result in a modest look at, best; at, most. Some listed him as a 5-flat 4o. With an even mo’ modest Power Throw (32′) and Vertical Leap (25.5″). This is C— territory if that. That being objectively struck— others say Dev’ is a pure passer. His mechanics are textbook spot on. His Qb-rating has soared by 5o-points-n-change since he D-1 P5 broke in. He is reasonably accurate; he works his progressions (so the brain/eye game is 20-20) and he is said to be a competitor. The physical side says he is running outta passing headroom. The rest says do not worry so much about the physical side. Which ain’t ½-bad for a kid with a ‘late bloomer’ tag. Now, Dev’ can be better on the road (–8% less accurate) he will have taken the next headroom, step. Finally, Leary enjoys some very lofty N.f.l. scouting services grades— and they ain’t paid to be real ‘rong real often.
  (UPDATE: whispers say shoulder and/or pectoral damage here, possibly done for a while— St.Christooper and St.Victoria bless!)
  CUE: Qb2, one #14, Jack Chambers by way of grad’-transfer Charleston Southern fame. Where Jack be quick and he did stick some pretty nimble work up the candlestick down in Charleston, Sc. itself. Jack is a dual-threat guy… ex-Team Captain at C.South. 2nd-string All-Big South love as a Pivot last year as well. Literally finished 39th or better in all less one D1-aa National passing metric. So, that seems to check out. As a said dual-threat guy… Jack only put up: 5,000 yards passing and 40 touchdowns while adding 2,500 yards rushing and 27 scores in three High School years as a Qb1; baseball hurler to boot. Comes from a golfing family, and that would hint at a good background homesteading-wise mo’ often than not. Said to be ‘efficient’ as a Qb1. Kinda reminded me of a mini-me, Bryan Randall, a bit at times on film; before he caught senior year fire. 5′ 10″, 180 lbs., not the biggest tree in the woods. Tends to hover in the mid-50s completion percentage-wise. Will get northward, at times on keepers. Just not electrifying at the same, (again; the B.Randall look is en vogue here). Is a streaky Qb1, as he tallied 36% up to 76% passing markers per game his last year as a Qb1 for Charlie South. And the cooler version of him would possibly give us an upsetting shot.
  As this Qb2 is the 1st-place running Qb for State, tho’ noticeably further back than that in airwaves terms.

• Rb1: Zon’ Knight is a NY.Jet now. Ricky Person Jr. is a B’more Raven now. Now, do you see a trend here? In return State courts: Jordan Houston Rb3 in ’21, and no other last year Rb who recorded anything north of a handful of carries. So, the experience curve is left wanting here. Third-year Jordan Houston is a pure slasher. As the Pac’ Rb cadre is downright versatile or heterogeneous in a great way. Because they have some measure of the Gift of Grab as the catch-game goes too. Blocking, and not so much. As coming outta springball it looked like Jordan Houston and Rb2-Rb3-Rb-4 via committee behind him. ‘Scare’ Jordan is a 5′1o″, 191 lb., true-Jr. He has a pretty handsome special-teams player rep’, where he won several ‘Pack awards. So, clearly, he is willing to do what it takes for the Together Everyone Achieves Mo’ (T.E.A.M.) concept. In H.S. terms, Jordan was a 2-way-star, at Rb1 and at OLb1 alike. So, he’s not contact or hitting shy via positional definition. Nearly 5.5K rushing and 70 majors (TD’s) in his final back-to-back Maryland Private School state titles does not suck. Jordan did break his fibula as a scholastic sophomore. (St.Culbreth bless). And if he did not (thereby only playing two Soph. season games); you have to wonder where his rushing total(s) woulda been? Prior to all of dat… you ask? Well, at the mere age of 10, Jordan posted the second-fasted time in the country in the USA Track and Field 100m! That is all, he sucks, cut him now! However, last year and nine of the mere 11 touchdown runs came in three easy games for the ‘Pack. They have got to pack ’em in better vs. better teams in ’22 down in the dirt to be sure. Sophomore Rb2 Demie Sumo-Karngbaye earned consistent praise from the coaches and his teammates throughout the spring. Now only 6-yards behind Houston in ’22 and you see why. Seems the mo’ explosive of the Rb1’s, and both do gain passing yards in their throw-fits.
• Wr(s) and Te1: Emeka Emezie was back; though so are Thayer Thomas and Devin Carter are all back. As State does throw to its Rb(s), its Safeties (no joke), and to its oLinemen (Tackle eligibles). Regarding its Te’s (5 catches in 2o21 collectively) and not so much. Emeka Emezie went late to the Carolina Panthers. So, there is some yin here and there is some yang. The key is just how much do Thayer and Devin give a dang. If they put out this is a decent catch-crew, maybe more? Thomas is nearly a possession kinda guy; not epic, tho’ solid. DeeCee is a bit more downfield, tho’ less consistent as well. Wr3, Keyon Lesane has been a present surprise and emerged a bit this year. State’s top Te1 has 2-snags and ranks 12th best for it team-wide, so that’s not much of a look here. Tho’ to me this looks like a truncated passing set or at least one that does not have many pure vertical launchers or stretches if you will. Lotta guys who contact hit for singles and doubles if you post-season cross-sport will. Thomas has been the ’22 alpha target almost via some manner of default; as nobody has really balled out here. Kinda surprisingly in fact. Mixed grab-gang in terms of their testable/metrics works here. They do have some experience, however.
• oLine: All-world Ot1, Ikem Ekwonu. The new Carolina Panther franchise tackle isn’t going to be replaced talent-wise; tru dat. However, the line that was second-best in the ’21 A.c.c. in fewest sacks and tackles for loss allowed returns enough experience to be more than fine. All-Conference caliber Bryson Speas will likely flip from his right-Ot2 spot to the left or odd side. Although Speas is a utility guy who can handle either G spot if another Ot were to emerge. Grant Gibson is one of the Ac.c.’s best centers, some say he is the A.c.c. C1; and there’s good size and depth across the board upfront for Nc.State. As they are a credible 8 maybe even 9-deep on blockers here. Redshirt sophomore Anthony Belton, who is 6′6″ and 33o pounds, got the start at left tackle in the spring game… if he is blindside legit? This is a very very good oLine. One that will flirt with be: “great”.
• ∑ (summary): returning O production=75% (37th most). All of Beck’s O’s have been Top-15 in Explosiveness! They do hit for power here. Tho’, kinda the Reggie Jackson of offenses as they do not hit for contact and lack efficiency in exchange for explosion itself. They hit some SportsCenter poster plays and then leave several seemingly makable smaller to medium things out on the field. Go fig’ on that?
  (Film-study): State’s retooled in-year base O seems shorter or mo’ truncated on its throw-points to me sans its pretty fair-to-middling Qb1. Screeny like an Indian Summer day. Again, this is a far more vertically limited O with no Qb1 in tow. Even saw some sit-down routing for it to boot. State works a ‘gun with a halfback and 3-wide or 2 plus an H or Te look. State will Lead or Wham with the Rb1 in front of this Qb2 on scripted runs and frankly the Qb2 is a real hard-charging rushing one here. Not bad at all once they get it rolling downhill. Odd or left seems stronger as well. Qb2 did seem better ad-libbing in the backyard or sandlot mode on the E-W stretching move. Gotta stop him rushing early and bottle him pocketed up. Do not let him be dual-threat, him. Rb’s are not big, tho’ not as bad as I had expected straight ahead either. State is kinda decent in northing or pushing you backward at times. That said, a real sticky or adhesive Spy on this Qb2 would not be the worst look. You wanna make him read longer field(s) not single-shot quickie looks. Pretty good sized oLine and pretty well-experienced size at that.

  

• 5o% run:pass 5o% mix. Only 4 extra rushes separated them here. Even-Stevens as you can get. Either Rb (Demie Sumo-Karngbaye or Jordan Houston) is your secret sauce offender here. Both catch well and are 2nd and 3rd in ypc on average. Wr2 Devin Carter is your uno sorta deep threat here, however.
  IF, (the middle word in, Life; Coach Dennis Hopper, Apocalypse Now) IF< there was any credible nitpicking to be done with the 2o21 offense. It was not balanced… and that’s not a totally unfair knock. As the Pack’s ground game didn’t do enough, and overall, it should’ve been better on third downs. And yet last season’s passing attack averaged over 288 yards per game, it was the second-most efficient offense in the A.c.c. behind Pitt’s awesome airwave attack. That’s all. However, the ’22 O is missing its ’21 Rb1, Rb1a, and Wr1; that is all times two. Then we see that For all of Leary’s hype, he still ranked only 3oth in Total QBR -good tho’ not elite- and the Wolfpack’s nibbling offense ranked only 8oth in passing success rate. The Pack has found themselves in too many third-and-longs historically and their coaching sewing circle buzzword of “nibbling” has to bite down a bit mo’ in 2o22. So, with so much skill position and star power short-circuiting via so many departing… it leaves one wondering if the Pack could again be one-dimensional. as only Carter has proven explosiveness. i.e., what if they only really go as far as Leary can could have winged them? Because the challenge of finding someone who can move the ball on the ground might be the biggest obstacle between Nc.State and a historic 2o22 season. (READERS note: letter grades are now, or with their Qb2 only; not seasonally inclusive).

Offensive letter-grade:

Wolfpac Special Teams: (1 return)

State in 9oth overall in Net Punting; and so is Mr. s.McDonough. The vibes say that: P1 Shane McDonough, Sr., is (possibly) the best portal pick-up by State this off-season. He started his career at Marshall and moved over to Towson, where he turned into a two-year all-star averaging over 42+ yards per punt with a huge leg that flipped the field on the reg’. Now he has to try to take over for Trenton Gill, who was great on kickoffs and averaged 45.1 yards per kick with 31 put inside the 20 for the A.c.c.’s second-best punting game. That is all. Tho’ six blasts of 50+ from McDonough is a good start. No blocks, no fakes, and 42 ypp on average with no real coverage efforting in front of him might just hint Shane is better than you think.

• 17th in Punt Returns | 1o8th in KO returns.
• 1o2nd in punt coverage | and in 36th suicide squad.
• State has blocked 1 kick and allowed o kicks to be blocked.
• State has blocked 1 punt and allowed o punts to be blocked.

Christopher Dunn PK1 is back for State and back as well are his stellar 88% and 89% back-to-back FG-Kicking seasons so far. Chris is a sparky or sprite looking 5′8″ (aim kick-block low here) 180 lb. third-season K by way of Lexington, Nc. As Chris only already ranks fifth in school history in career field goals (44) and only fourth in FGA percentage (.88%). Dang, as this K is surely a Lou Groza Award A-lister or short-lister; already. And once Dunn gets it going from downtown, he only typically connects on high ‘teens in a row as consecutive FGA-makes go. (His collegiate make streak max’ is 19-in-a-row). Dunn enjoys a good+++ leg that is just a few transistors shy of a bionic load. Tho’ Dunn can bang that weaponizing FGK drum out to very high 40’s to very low 50’s comfortably enough. As Coach Do’ has every possible kicking (go for 3-points or go for defensive field position) option at his tippy-toes here. As Dunn was only the 18th ranked K nationally coming outta High School where he was only the NYFO National punt and field goal champion and CSK national champion and was only named Team Captain (which is unusual raised to the specialists unheard of power) for his final scholastic season. (FYI: Dunn’s career long=54-yards at any level | with NO career PAT, misses at any level!) And oh yes… Dunn has yet to miss in ’22! 2o fo’ 2o on P.A.T.’s and 14 of 14 on FGA’s is as perfect as it can get. All-A.c.c. unanimous 1st-string K1 perfect at that.

Thomas averaged 9.5 yards on 17 punt returns last year and had a touchdown in 2o19. State will need to replace Zonovan Knight on kick returns.

State Special Teams letter grade: Not bad, not epic, if they just cleaned up punt coverage and KO-returns a mite they might really score all right. B+++ just ’cause of c.Dunn all by his ownself. And anything else at all and they is an A—.

Unit Rankings:

1. State D.
2. VT D.
3. (Qb2 beta) State O.
4. VT O.

X-factor(s):

• motive: …tough one… State may not have less to play for. I’ll put it that way. Though an upset here would do O&M V.P.I. wonders as well. EDGE=push.
• weather: really ripe late autumn nite— which favors a full playbook. Or, the better passer which is prolly our g.Wells if only via (Coach God bless) injury default EDGE=VeeTee.
• health/off-field: …both are dinged up. Tho’ the Qb1 dent (Godspeed) to State leaves them as a pivotal municipal hole. EDGE=VeeTee (on skill position severity alone).
• penalties: this is typically a very yellow-laundry-prone set of Packers. They take so many risks and desire so much explosion; that such penalizing is prolly at least a bit inherent in a high thermostat approach. And they are typically laundry prone in ’22 again. Tho’ VeeTee is (now) too. EDGE=ChapStick.
• intangibles: Coach Do’ teams routinely win: 2Q and 4Q metrics alike (A.K.A. in-game coaching the, verb); T.O.P. (time of possession) and 3rd-downs (by nearly 10-15% every year). There is a lot to like here as State does an XL job at getting a lotta little things right. 21st in Turnover Margin and 20th in TOP would agry. Both beat us/VeeTee. EDGE=State.
• fatigue: N/A. Both should have fresh shooting legs from 3-point-land this time out. EDGE=nobody.

 

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of Wolfs who could Stark @Tech=14

the takeaway:

The takeaway here is…

…a fair-to-middling amount of pre-season prognosticinti are fairly taken with State; the N.c. version thereof.

In point of fact, a handful of National Previews and/or National College football writers tabbed State as Top-10 in their 2o22 preview magazines and/or publications.

---

That is pretty lofty company men, and/or pretty close to wanting a word or two with the college football playoff’s Top-4.

Though there Eye go again, always putting the cart before the… horse.

When in fact… “Winter is Coming“.

***

xxx‘s & ooo‘s
Tough one to know… tho’ will we see anything adjusted or O&M new here?
State=static on coaching the verb. Solid on D, splotchy on everything else.
EDGE=prolly is theirs… tho’ the OPEN week curiosity tweaking is both.

Game Ball or mag·num o·pus:

…almost tempted to say it will be a backup or a breakout guy from one side or the other that some extra reps/looks dug up over the OPEN week break.

WWI: “The Great War”…

The Techman dLine is reasonably snappy in run-fits.
The pass rush however is recently trending on sluggishness itself.

This one will be run-block modest strength (State) vs. an even stronger set of run-block fills (V.Tech).

^^^this^^^ is your lifeline or hidden shot at stealing this one here.

💡 🦃 💡

Trench Warfare favors… the Stately squadron; by a little, tho’ not what I had expected.
If they only had a pass-pressure from their dLine… wow!

The tough part is we/Rudolph/VeeTee tally: 110th or worse in everything less standard downs sack rate.
This looks like a very dicey match-up on the old I.B.M. dot-matrix printer paper.

permutations:

1. Δ1=74% chance that State is just the better team with the better D @Home. (Even with a now lesser O in tow).
2. Δ2=26% chance that with that being squarely struck, surely, we are catching the wounded throw-game Wolf-O at just the right time. As we four have viewed da Wolfpac’ as, overstated for several weeks. And possibly (best-case) not beyond our depth. That being said, our very own D has to get back to nearly full strength for us to muddy this one and lift an ugly one, late.

#ChallangeA.c.c.epted… there are 1,440 minutes in a day and same ole same ole, it will take the full play sixty to sport much of anything here.

streakin‘ 1o1…
…Virginia Tech (2-5, 1-3) also needed time to regroup and enters the game on a four-game schneid of an L streak. Thus, matching its longest wrong-way run in three decades. The Hokies have failed to reach the 2o-point mark in four of their seven games.

…also… Virginia Tech is 5-1 against NC State since joining the A.c.c., with four consecutive victories by double-digit margins. This is the Hokies’ first visit to Raleigh for a Thursday night game, though they have performed well with a 23-11 mark on Thursday nights since 1994.

the optics…

…last year a pretty dang thriving Nc.State football squad got beat twice in two of its three L’s out on the A.c.c. road— by a total of four points.

 Although, …this one is @home.
threechè!

the skinny…

…200 yards; or a bicentennial rushing game, that’s your in-game Statehood barometer or MB’s of mercury here. As the Wolfpack are 14-1 the last 15 times, they’ve been able to post north of that on the ground.

Lo.FM (Long-field Management©)

• Nc.State is a reasonable 5oth best in 1st down O inflicted | whereas V.P.I. is 78th in 1st down D allowed.
• V.P.I. is a suspect 83rd best in 1st down O inflicted | whereas Nc.State is a nearly salty 25th best in 1st down D allowed!
• Nc.State is just below average at 74th best in 3rd down O inflicted |  whereas V.P.I. is a downright sparky looking 19th best in 3rd down D allowed!
• V.P.I. is a paltry looking 119th best in 3rd down O inflicted | whereas Nc.State is a thrifty 26th best in 3rd down D allowed!
• Lo.FM analysis:
  Well, State’s correlation is not 1:1 perfect, tho’ it is pretty close. And it tilts mo’ in States favor on later downs in a given series to boot. EDGE=da Wolfpac’. As they sure look poised to make the good guys chase the chain gang.

TTT (Time To Throw©)

• The ‘pack is a pure centrist 64th best in TFL (tackles for a loss) allowed O | whilst the Gobblers are a hard-charging 15th best in TFL inflicted D!
• the Gobblers are a barely above average 57th best in TFL allowed O | whilst the ‘pack is a middleocore 69th best in TFL inflicted D.
• The ‘pack is a barely above average 58th best in Qb sacks allowed O | whilst the Gobblers are a below average 80th best in opposing Qbs sacked D.
• The Gobblers are even further below average at 85th best in Qb sacks allowed O | whilst the ‘pack is a nearly non-rushing 122nd best in Qb sacks inflicted D!
• TTT analysis:
  Well, this one does not grade so easily. As the VeeTee dLine push northward is the only manifest destiny here. Everything else is not much or worse. EDGE=push. (Or, the Hokies if you just had to pick).

Fu’rther…

…do observe, most of our metrics are trending away from us of late.
A couple of slight-bright spots are being hit by a WWII-era’ dim-out’.

3-game splits,

…in these two last three contests… V.Tech’s O has shrunk by a 1st-down-n-change (all passing). However, the Nc.State O has truly diminished by a whopping –75 ypg. About 30 ypg on the ground the other 45 via the airwaves. Or, an astounding –30 ypg worse, yes; ‘worse’ than the stunted V.Tech O over the same timeframe! This would leave this distempered Wolfpac’ O at a lowly 126th-best National Ranking in the same! (Or, 5th from last if you are keeping score @home). (With the ‘stunted’ Hokie O all the way up at 118th-best for the same trifecta of games nationally). i.e., this one may not be what the Bristol suits want— as this one may not be easy on the… Eye.

Over on D in the last three… State’s halt-unit has become mo’ user-friendly by an additional 65 ypg allowed. Nearly all of this was in rush defense itself. That said, it could be worse… it could be the VeeTee D getting totally steamrolled for a bonus 165 ypg given up! Bad down in the dirt and just a little worse aerially. Oddly, this stop-unit mutual hemorrhaging has only cost State 7 ppg and VeeTee right at 10 ppg. Both have been bad; tho’ neither has totally belly-up failed and gone totally worse.

H/A, splits...

So, here we see that the Hokie rushes for about +20 mo’ ypg out on the road. Not a big betterment, tho; at least not a detriment either. The ‘paker O however leaps by right at +45 ypg when sleeping in their own beds. All less than 1o-yards of that was down on the turf. Just a little better in throw-fits than in run-fills tho’ noticeably better vs. each in Raleigh.

Over on D however these Staters tighten up by a sharp looking near 50 ypg vicing in their own backyard. The F’n Gobbler D is just over 60 ypg worse when balling out on the road. All less than 10-yards of which was due to a turnstile-like approach to run defense itself. Or in other words, the defensive Δ (delta for: change) Home/Away favors North Carolina State by a near hurtful looking 110 ypg of a stop-unit swing vote or what historically (should) work out to a bonus ≅10-points of scoring D delta itself.

Our handy dandy friend, the so-called: Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is merely calling for a non-divisional ask back next week vs. Gah.Tech. As there were no overlapping round-robin eggs to A.c.c. sample here.

the call…

…NC.State has the second-most wins of any A.c.c. program over the last eight seasons.

…Eye repeat, they are the silver medalist, penultimate, or old-school Elementary School (not everyone participates) Field Day ribbon runner-up to multi-National Champion Klempson in-conference, house.

^^^That^^^ does not suck and neither does Nc.State. As tweleveteen other A.c.c. schools wish they had the puppy-packs Vet’ School problems.

…and here is the Chris Kinzer, Kicker; a lotta pre-season coaching sewing circles were alive with: ‘this might just be the best team yet under Doeren.’

the sportlight…

…here in the sportlight… we have been Eye(s) Wide Shut or on lockdown of writing much in the former ways of cutting edge for the VT football media pool in terms of getting fresh, being sprite, or even a bit downright flinty.

Expect that to continue up through the Gah.Tech Eye in the Sky when the real dissection of this clinical reboot can Coach Mary Shelley slice and dice and leave lesser matters to whoever deigns them…

…as getting beat here would R.A.T.T. tell us what?
Like proving a negative in objective science fact terms.

And same as playing Pt.Guard in hoops— Eye’ll pass on dat.

Streakyness 1o1:

Nc.State has won 14 straight home games since a 2020 loss to Miami. That streak is the sixth-longest active run in the country. It is also two shy of tying the program record; wow. That is impressive.

Vah.Tech hasn’t hit 30 points in a game this year and managed just 34 combined points in L’s to West Virginia, North Carolina, and Miami.

To Qb or not to Qb?

Virginia Tech: Qb1: Grant Wells. The Marshall transfer leads the Hokies in rushing touchdowns (three). N.C. State: Qb2: Chambers. The Charleston Southern graduate transfer has had his best success with his legs, running for 97 yards in the five-plus quarters since taking over for Leary.

Circumspect, Inspect, retrospect, suspect, prospect…

• Circumspect, the upcoming circumstances are closer, tho’ not similar. VeeTee faces some rallying and unexpectedly good teams. State faces 2 mo’ good ones, 1 fair one, and 2 south of fair ones. A very mixed bag. So, State might just ever so slightly have the easier (remaining) row to hoe.
• inspect, an honest inspection of these two does recommend nominating the Hokiebird as the underdog to the canine species from Nc.State. Granted. And this just in… “rain is rumored to be, wet”. That said, State did not graph or Excel as far ahead of us as Eye expected them to (statistically) coming into this one here. Again, is there a stray chance to lift this one for the Hokies? Additionally, the early BYE week practice inspection itself, showed them looking a lotta younglings over; (and the O&M vet’s taking a breather or a rest). Could they (somehow) dig up just one guy to free anything up on either side? Including vibes they were checking for Thomas+King on the field at the same time set(s)… time=tell…
• retrospect, not much. Having only played them twice in over 1.2 decades of play. Though State is coming in a bit wobbly at 1-2 in the last month of play… and you gotta sneaking wonder if that left the upsetting door ever so slight… ajar?
• suspect, honestly? Eye just have to clinically suspect that they (deep-down, candidly) wish BYE had fallen after likely falling to Nc.State here. Go @Gah.Tech with every fresh… not on a dang and pretty dang fugly –5 game skid or skid.
• prospect, don’t like this one, not 1ι (one-iota). As 75% of our next four games are out on the dang road. And Coach Melvin Gibson and I are wondering if we will have anything Road Warrior left in us once we get back (for: france)?

State Projected S&P+: 12th!
State Projected S&P wins: 8.75 W’s.

formulae here favors

…I moved this down here from up above because yet again, this is why you run the maths not yo’ moufs!

1. –561. That is the Σ or Total Yardage hole that VeeTee is excavating itself from in the last month of play. Not good, tho’ not super-surprising either, correct?
2. –289! That is the Σ or Total Yardage hole that State is excavating itself from in the last month of play. Not good, tho’ a bit surprising indeed, correct?

…as you’d have to bet that both O’s are prolly experience some real live G.O.P. or conservative circumspection as play-calling goes. And would prefer to let their D’s dot the i’s and cross the t’s.

–oOo–

Or in other words… inspection revealed that State was showing signs of backsliding even with a healthy Qb1 still in tow!

So, is there something of a thready chance here to pinch this one with a “slippy” Nc.State football is rather likely to slip all the mo’ sans its nearly All-A.c.c. caliber Pivot or Qb1?

♥  ♣  ♦ ∪

Now… look here… mea culpa, Eye may have gone k9, luppy… or maybe Eye have finally L my mind?

(Punchline: “Why, have you seen it?”)

Eye author this because the whispers outta Raleigh claim that they have retooled the O a bit to fit the hardspun, not Qb1. Or for Qb2: j.Chambers. In that, they had to redo their offensive scripting to accommodate what Chambers loads best.

That impoverished attempt levity aside… we had not thought as much of State as most {sic: did}, and now we think even less in retrospect with their modest at best Qb2 taking the helm’.

This one is not entirely beyond our depth, and things have actually deepened for State of late.

However, the Wolfpac’ D rankings are nearly real live tiger -esque. All the mo’ so when scrumming in Carter-Finley. They can play some mean (hommie) ball when they want to and we suspect that that makes for and prospects an ugly game here.

Prolly another race to 20 -same as last week- first on there?
Wins.

Is that O&M enuff is the calculus you must OPT, state?

🙏>>>🏈

upset Index=38%

#wimps!

Virginia Tech=16, Nc.State=26

“LETS GO!“

Please support the VT F.C.A.!

“HOKIES!“

bourbonstreet**