NC State Football

Robert Crisp is an offensive tackle of out Chapel Hill, N.C. He is 6'7", 302 lbs. and he currently attends Chapel Hill High School.

Crisp is a talented offensive lineman that will probably start out as a right tackle at N.C. State.

He has incredible height and athleticism, and his weight gives him a huge advantage especially in pass protection, where he is very consistent at leading with the hands and striking the defender first.

He possesses upper body strength and is impossible to power rush in drop back protection. And his huge wingspan keeps defenders from getting to his frame.

Crisp does a good job of locking out the pass rusher that comes straight ahead and setting back with quickness from both the three and two-point stance.

Though he anchors down in good leverage position, he sometimes still gets beat on the edge by speed rushers.

He gets caught flat footed and can't recover, and needs to narrow his base once anchored in order to shuffle and change direction.

Currently more consistent in quick set than deep drop protection, he demonstrates good foot agility in the run game.

He gets good knock-back off the line of scrimmage when pads stay down and is powerful enough to drive defenders to the second level.

He is still inconsistent at finishing blocks but, at times, completely dominates the opponent.

His athleticism shows in pulls and traps, and he displays good knee bend when delivering a blow at the second level or downfield.

Crisp has the potential to be an outstanding offensive lineman once he gets more consistent in the passing game.

He has very sound fundamentals and good quickness for such a large man.

Last Saturday afternoon the Inaugural Kay Yow Spring football game was the end of spring practice for the NC State Wolfpack.

They showed their respect for Kay Yow by wearing pink along with hats by the coaches, pink pompoms by the cheerleaders, and pink tape around players' ankles and wrists. There was also a pink ribbon painted on the 50-yard line.

There was a total of 21,075 Wolfpack fans, the largest in recent memory, if not the history of Wolfpack Football.

Tom O'Brien asked all the attending fans to contribute a dollar to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.

Prior to the game a brief moment of silence was observed for Kay Yow and Corey Smith.

The main attraction was on the the performances of starting quarterback Russell Wilson along with backup Mike Glennon.

Wilson put on a passing and running exhibition for the Red Squad going 10 for 14 for 195 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown pass to Owen Spencer.

Glennon is a red-shirt freshman and seemed to be just as sharp. He begin for the White team completing 15 out of 24 for 170 yards, including a 40-yard completion and a touchdown pass to sophomore Steven Howard.

In the second half he competed for both teams for certain part of the second half. On the afternoon Mike Glennon was 23 of 38 for 272 yards, and one touchdown.

Coach O'Brien wanted to make sure that Russell Wilson went into spring looking for the No. 2 receiver, not just the primary receiver like most young and inexperienced quarterbacks have a tendency to do.

They are still encouraging him to buy time with his feet, instead of taking off with the ball, and passing it to the No. receiver.

Glennon was a highly recruited player from Centrevill, Va. who was red-shirted last season and this was his Wolfpack debut and a very memorable one at that. With Glennon and Russell we will have a very good one-two punch.

Of course their are more than just a QB on a team and the offensive line is still going through development and the progress of the defensive secondary is a bit concerning.

The defense was strong throughout the day with Clem Johnson and Audi Augustion recording game-high seven tackles for the Red team. The White team was lead by Robert Bell's six tackles and Nate Irving's five tackles. Eight different players recorded touch-only sacks of the quarterback including Augustin, JR Sweezy, Wille Young, Shea McKeen, and Sterling Lucas each having two..

Overall the team looked good and the turn out of fans was impressive. It is obvious the team is a tougher along with more experience.

Anthony Hill is a 6'5", 262 lbs. Tight End.

Anthony Hill went to North Carolina State University for 4 years.

He had a promising career at NC State to only be cut sort by injuries. His freshman year he had 15 catches and 140 yards with 1 touchdown.

His Sophomore year he was specular catching 45 passes for 478 yards averaging 10.6 yards per catch.

He suffered a torn ACL in 2007 and missed every game.

This past year he caught 19 passes for 234 yards and 4 touchdowns a career high.

He is tall with some strength and long arms.

Presents a nice target to his quarterback on bootlegs and in zones.

Physical blocking for the run and pass. Finds his target in space, can latch on and push him down field.

OK lateral movement to stay in front of defensive ends on the line. Lines up in the slot and with his hand down.

Uses his length and height to stretch the field.

Reliable, soft hands and physical enough to push off defenders and gain yardage after the catch.

He is built like a receiver. He is a long strider who lacks quickness out of his stance or the speed to separate, although his height is an advantage down field, he does not have suddenness in and out of routes, and will round them off.

He fails to sustain blocks against quicker defenders in space because he does not bend his knees, has slow footwork and stiff hips. Waist-bender when blocking defensive ends on the edge.

Durability is concerning with ACL and chest injuries keeping him out over the past two seasons.

The NC State Wolfpack had a very up and down 2008 season. They finished the year 6-7 with a bowl loss to Rutgers.

It may not seem like much but it was a very successful season for the Wolfpack. There were many questions at the beginning of the season.

The main one was who will be the quarterback for the Wolfpack in 2008. Then the decision was made to start red-shirt Russell Wilson.

This was a major success for the Wolfpack.  Russell Wilson was very efficient passer completing 150 of his 250 attempts and totaling up 1,995 yards with a passer rating of 133.93. He threw an amazing 17 touchdowns with only 1 Interception.

Another Question for the Wolfpack team was who was going to come out as the number one receiver.

Then sophomore Owen Spencer emerged as the main go to guy for a young and inexperienced offense.

He caught 31 passes for 691 yards and 5 touchdowns.

The leading rusher for the team was Andre Brown, but he was a senior and will not return.

The next leading rusher for the team was Jamelle Eugene.

He complied 442 yards on 95 rushes with 2 touchdowns.

Now the 2009 NC State Wolfpack Schedule looks to be very interesting:

Thu, Sep 03  South Carolina Raleigh, N.C.     Sat, Sep 12  Murray State Raleigh, N.C.      Sat, Sep 19  Gardner Webb Raleigh, N.C.     Sat, Sep 26  Pittsburgh Raleigh, N.C.     Sat, Oct 03  Wake Forest  at Winston-Salem, N.C.       Sat, Oct 10  Duke Raleigh, N.C.   Sat, Oct 17  Boston College  at Chestnut Hill, Mass.        Sat, Oct 31  Florida State at Tallahassee, Fla.        Sat, Nov 07  Maryland Raleigh, N.C.      Sat, Nov 14  Clemson Raleigh, N.C.      Sat, Nov 21  Virginia Tech  at Blacksburg, Va.        Sat, Nov 28  North Carolina Raleigh, N.C.

In my next article I will break down each and every team

While every Saturday during the season I open my video by saying "It's my favorite day of the week during my favorite time of year," bowl season may be my favorite part of my favorite time of the year.

While we're starting to get into that constant flow of college football every day of the week and at several times a day, it couldn't agree with me any more.

While I had some poorly timed technical problems, my site, The College Football Place, is back up and back to normal. It's good to get back in the forum and chat room and hear what everyone else has to say about these final matchups of the year.

Well even after the games on Dec. 29, we still won't be halfway done with the bowls. Most of the games have been solid match ups and pretty competitive.

After all of the negative things we say about the bowl system and how much I personally complain about several teams getting their bowl-qualifying win against a non D-1 team, we've seen some pretty good football games which at the end of the day is a good thing.

While I still want to see a playoff and a real champion, it's tough not to like the closeness of the match ups and the scores of so many games.

While we have two games on Dec. 29, one of them, The PapaJohns.com Bowl, is my third game I am doing in conjunction with several of the writers at Bleacher Report.

While he doesn't write at Bleacher (yet?), Jordan has posted his picks for these games already as well.

Here are my picks for these games.

The PapaJohns.com Bowl     Legion Field    Birmingham, Ala.

Rutgers (7-5) vs. NC State (6-6)

Monday, Dec. 29,  2008   3 EST    The Line: NC State + 6 1/2

Overview:

When Trey was handing out the game assignments and I drew this one, I was pretty excited. OK, who am I kidding, the first thing that came into my head was "what do they mean PapaJohns.com, is that like a pizza you read about getting delivered?"

Personally, it's been many years since I've had a Papa John's pizza, as here in Chicago, I don't even think they have them, but I do plan on watching this game and it should be a lot better than Googling pizza.

NC State looked to be dead in the water after a 2-6 record. Then they reeled off four consecutive wins to close out the season and made themselves eligible for this bowl game.

While four of NC State's wins and all of their losses came against bowl teams, it's the one win against 1-AA William and Mary that I feel makes NC State another undeserving team going to a bowl game.

While playing 10 bowl teams makes for one of the tougher schedules in the country, I just find it tough to forgive the the fact that they only beat five D-1 teams.

While either this rule will change in the near future or we are going to see some majorly soft scheduling all over the country, the Wolfpack are certainly the beneficiary of what I see as a loophole.

Rutgers was another team that turned it around and were playing as well as any team in the country by the time the season ended.  Rutgers started the season 1-5 and since then have won six games in a row.

Perhaps what is even more impressive isn't just that Rutgers went on that run, it's how they did it; Rutgers blew out each of their last five opponents in games that were essentially over at halftime.

As bad as QB Mike Teel was early in the season when he felt he needed to single-handedly make plays to win, he was equally as smooth when he was just called on to manage the game.

Some Stats:

NC State:

Offensive Averages:

Points 23.5 (81st/7th)

Overall Yds 326.3 (88th/5th)

Passing Yds 200.8 (71st/4th)

Rushing Yds 125.5 (86th/7th)

Defensive Averages:

Points 26.1 (65th/12th)

Overall Yds 387.1 (82nd/12th)

Passing Yds 242.8 (95th/12th)

Rushing Yds 144.3 (67th/8th)

* In parenthesis are National and Conference Rank, respectively

Rutgers:

Offensive Averages:

Points 29.0 (41st/2nd)

Overall Yds 395.2 (41st/2nd)

Passing Yds 266.3 (22nd/1st)

Rushing Yds 128.8 (82nd/7th)

Defensive Averages:

Points 18.5 (18th/2nd)

Overall Yds 323.9 (32nd/5th)

Passing Yds 184.9 (29th/2nd)

Rushing Yds 139.0 (54th/7th)

* In parenthesis are National and Conference Rank, respectively

*from statsheet.com

Statistically, this game is a mismatch. Rutgers appears to have just about every advantage and the differences are pretty large for teams that are just separated by one win and one loss in the record department. Rutgers will probably use the tried and true formula of using the run to set up the pass. NC will try and pound it right at the Rutgers D.

The Trends:

ATS Trends

Rutgers

Scarlet Knights are 7-0 ATS in their last 7 games on turf. Scarlet Knights are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games following a S.U. win. Scarlet Knights are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games in December. Scarlet Knights are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game. Scarlet Knights are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games overall. Scarlet Knights are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games following a ATS win. Scarlet Knights are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games after accumulating more than 280 yards passing in their previous game. Scarlet Knights are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games after accumulating more than 450 total yards in their previous game. Scarlet Knights are 11-4-1 ATS in their last 16 non-conference games. Scarlet Knights are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games following a SU win of more than 20 points. Scarlet Knights are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games as a favorite of 3.5-10.0.

The Picks:

I think this has a chance to be a pretty low scoring game, but I don't see the teams being close enough that I would rather take the points then stick with the better team.

I think we have a disparity that is big enough that warrants laying nearly a touchdown, which is what is called for if we want to take the Scarlet Knights.

While I wouldn't be overly surprised if the Wolfpack were able to grind out a close win, I would be even less surprised if Rutgers forced turnovers and controlled this game.

Bleacher Creatures' Picks:

Rutgers: Trey Bradley and Brian Scott

NC State: Michael Cline, Lisa Horne, David Wunderlich, GeorgiaDawg, and Justin Goar

MITCH'S PICK: RUTGERS - 6 1/2

See Mitch's Alamo Bowl: Northwestern vs. Missouri Pick

Papajohns.com Bowl
NC State vs. Rutgers
Monday, Dec. 29 3PM ESPN
Birmingham, AL
Line: Rutgers -7

Overview

Outside of the BCS Championship Game, this bowl game arguably has the two hottest teams in the nation right now. NC State won their last four games to become bowl eligible, while Rutgers has won their last six contests.

Keys to the Game

1. Turnovers

Rutgers QB Mike Teel's midseason turnaround also sparked the teams' turnaround. Teel threw for 20 TDs in the Scarlet Knights' six-game winning streak and just three scores in their five losses. But the senior did have trouble with INTs, throwing 12 on the season.

Meanwhile, redshirt freshman Russell Wilson threw just one INT all year for the Wolfpack while tossing 16 passes into the end zone. The Pack is not overly great on offense or defense and has really relied on taking care of the ball and creating turnovers for their wins. Can State force enough turnovers to spring the upset?

2. Style of Play

Both of these offenses have exploded down the stretch, but in different ways. NC State prefers to run the ball and control the clock, while Rutgers is airing it out at 367 ypg in their last three contests.

If NC State can keep the ball away from Teel, then they have a chance with turnovers to win this game. If Rutgers is able to get ahead of State and force the Pack to pass, then the Scarlet Knight defense, allowing just 11 ppg down the stretch, can pin their ears back.

Motivation

When you are left for dead in early October and in December you are playing in a bowl game, there should be no motivation issues. NC State's Tom O'Brien has won his last six bowl games, including many where he was passed over for other teams while at Boston College.

Prediction

Rutgers is one of the bigger favorites in this bowl season, but I think NC State has a real shot here. O'Brien knows how to prepare a team for a bowl game and has a heady QB in Russell Wilson. I think State gets a few turnovers and is able to pressure Teel in the second half to win in an upset. But as you can see from my confidence rating, it is my least confident pick of all the bowl games.

NC State 30, Rutgers 27
NC State Covers +7

Confidence Ranking (of 34): 1
My confidence ranking of the 34 bowl games for a NC State win.

Bowls: 1-0 ATS, 1-0 SU
Season: 32-30-3 ATS, 42-23 SU

My Home Page

The all-important college football bowl schedule has been released for this upcoming postseason in college football. 

Some teams got higher placements than they deserved as usual, and some teams got the short end of the stick, again, as usual. 

Rutgers, though, was treated fairly, and they got into a bowl that they truly deserved. 

The Papajohns.com bowl will pit the team against NC State from Birmingham, Alabama on Dec. 29 at 3:00 pm on ESPN. 

While not being the dream bowl that Rutgers was probably imagining appearing in during training camp, this bowl suits them very well for the work that they put in throughout the entire season. 

We all know that Rutgers started the season off in a way that makes the recent fall of Notre Dame pale in comparison. We also all know that since they woke up and started to actually play football again, that they have been almost unbeatable during the last two months or so. 

Did they get the short end of the stick with their bowl placement? The answer here is: No, they did not. 

The team went 7-5 overall, and 5-2 in conference play. While stellar on both ends, they still did need a miracle streak to even get to this point. 

In addition, the teams ahead of them in the standings, such as Cincinnati, Pittsburgh (who they beat), and West Virginia, all got placed higher. Frankly, they deserved it. 

Cincinnati is in the Orange Bowl based off of winning the conference. West Virginia is off to the Meineke Bowl based off of a season's worth of good play. Finally, Pittsburgh is off to the Sun Bowl. 

The only argument Rutgers could possibly have at all is that they should have been placed over Pittsburgh, and possibly been put into this game, because of their blowout of Pittsburgh earlier during their huge winning streak. 

Let's look at the facts, though.  Rutgers looked as if they were going back to their losing roots of years past the first half of the season. 

Pittsburgh, though, went back and forth from being ranked to not being ranked almost every week of the season, and Rutgers cannot claim that they did this. 

While fighting tooth and nail just to get into the bowl discussion, Pittsburgh was just fighting for placement for most of their season. The placements were right here as a result. 

Yes, if Rutgers beat Cincinnati instead of losing by a heartbreaking three points, they would be going to the Orange Bowl. One cannot turn back the clock, though.  The game was already played, and nothing is based off of "what ifs?".

Since this is the case, Rutgers was placed into a bowl that they were very worthy of. 

Just like NC State, they had to go on a huge run just to get into the bowl picture. Just like NC State, they played their best football later on in the season. As a result, they are now facing each other towards the end of the month. 

This will be a very entertaining game to watch, and only one thing is certain looking at this matchup right now. 

Rutgers does not want to play NC State, and NC State certainly does not want to play Rutgers. Who will win?  Only time will tell. 

Regardless, this will be a very close football game. It may very well be one of the best games to watch during the entire bowl season when all is said and done. 

Yes, the Pack picked up a huge upset win (that's hard for me to say considering it was ECU) on Saturday. However, the injury bug keeps biting—and boy, does it bite hard.

On Monday, Tom O'Brien informed the media that Wolfpack starting quarterback Russell Wilson will be out Saturday against No. 13 (AP Poll) South Florida.

We will not find out until Thursday what the injury actually is.  According to a few posters on PackPride, the rumor is that Wilson suffered a separated shoulder in the second quarter of the ECU game.

If Wilson doesn't play Saturday against the Bulls, this will be his second start missed out of four games. 

On Saturday against ECU, it looked like the injury-plagued Pack had made a step forward, especially at the quarterback position.  Wilson played well, completing 21 of 31 for 210 yards with three touchdown passes.  He looked solid, making good decisions and escaping trouble against the Pirate defenders. 

With Wilson being out, the Wolfpack will have to depend on redshirt junior Harrison Beck to get the job done.  Beck has had an up and down career at NC State after transferring from Nebraska.  He's a strong-armed kid that can put pressure on the Bulls' secondary.  His poor decision-making could cost the Wolfpack.

Another starter was lost in the ECU game.  Nate Irving, the breakout linebacker, suffered an ankle injury.  He left the game and tried to return, but he wasn't the same Nate Irving we Pack fans had become accustomed to over the first three weeks.  Hopefully both Nate and Russell will be back on the field soon.

The Pack and Tom O'Brien have had a tough time with injuries this season.  The Wolfpack have now had injuries to 16 players in this short season and have had several season-ending injuries.  Hopefully the Pack can continue to field a team at this rate.

Clemson (1-1) and N.C. State (1-1) meet for the 77th time in the annual Textile Bowl in Clemson's "Death Valley" this Saturday. It will also be Clemson's Hall of Fame Day.

Clemson holds a 48-27-1 lead in the series with N.C. State that dates to 1899. Clemson won last year's match game by a 42-20 margin.

Last week, N.C. State, coached by Tom O'Brien, evened their record with a 34-24 victory William & Mary. The Wolfpack was led by QB Harrison Beck, who came in for starter Daniel Evans in the second quarter.

Beck went 17-25 for 246 yards and two TDs. Andre Brown led the Pack on the ground  with 43 yards on 17 carries and one TD. N.C. State's defense also forced three turnovers in the victory.

Last week, Clemson, coached by Tommy Bowden, evened their record with a 45-17 win over The Citadel. James Davis and C.J. Spiller combined for 182 yards (Davis 107, Spiller 75), and 4 TD's (Davis 1, Spiller 3).

The Tigers amassed 252 yards rushing and 273 yards passing for the game. QB Cullen Harper led the passing game going 14-18 for 192 yards and one TD to TE Michael Palmer. The Tigers' defense had 3 INTs in the win.

Clemson on Offense

Clemson has playmakers all over the field. They have way too many for a N.C. State defense, which has allowed 34 and 24 points to South Carolina and William & Mary in the first two games of the season. The Tigers' O-Line began to get some confidence last week and will keep on rolling this week.

Clemson on Defense

Clemson's defense was led last week by SS Michael Hamlin who tied the school record with 3 INTs. The Wolfpack will have sophomore QB Russell Wilson returning from a Grade III concussion suffered in the week one loss to South Carolina. But even with Wilson, the Tigers' defense is too fast for N.C. State.

Special Teams

The Tigers and the Wolfpack have gamebreakers returning kicks. In the opening game against Alabama, Spiller had a kickoff return for a TD. Clemson's K Mark Bucholz is perfect so far on the season at 2-2.

Final Decision

Clemson has way too much talent and firepower for N.C. State. In this game last season, the Tigers compiled over 600 yards of total offense.

I don't see them having that much this season, but I do think the offense will move the ball easily in this game on the ground and through the air.

Clemson's defense should and will be able to shut down an already anemic Wolfpack offense. Eight of the last 11 games between Clemson and N.C. State have been decided by eight points or less, but I do not see this one being that close.

The Tigers are tired of everyone saying that they aren't any good, and will come fired up and ready to go. Clemson will manhandle N.C. State offensively and defensively.

Clemson 48, N.C. State 10

Kickoff is at 12 noon on Raycom Sports. For coverage in your area go to http://www.theacc.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/090808aaa.html.

Hello ACC fans! Welcome to Jdogg's ACC Rundown. I am new to this site but a die hard ACC football fan. I am not an expert by any means, but I have grown up and lived in the heart of ACC country (Raleigh, NC; Florida; Charleston, SC) my entire life. Although I do believe the SEC is the most competitive and best conference from top to bottom, my heart is in ACC football.

Each week I will take a look at each of the teams in the ACC and give my thoughts and predictions. I will also use a confidence scale (in parenthesis), with 10 being for sure wins in my mind, and 1 is a toss-up. Any feedback and/or predictions are welcome, especially this first week. Enjoy!

North Carolina @ Rutgers     Thur. 7:30PM ESPN

This should definitely be a game worth watching. UNC beat McNeese St. last week by only 8 points. Rutgers lost to a good Fresno St. team last week 24-7.

There is no reason UNC shouldn't have won by more than 8 against McNeese St. Some said this was the year that Butch Davis would get the program back on track, but I don't see that happening this year. I see them going 6-6 at best even with a mediocre schedule.

Prediction: Rutgers 24  UNC 17  (7) 

California @ Maryland     Sat. 12:00PM ESPN

Blowout. This is the word some will use to describe this game. Cal is coming off a huge win against Wash. St. in which they dropped 66 points. Maryland on the other hand, embarrassed the ACC with a 24-14 loss to Middle Tenn.

Friedgen better get his team on track or this could be another rout by Cal. I have to think that he will have them better prepared than last week. I still gotta go with the favorites in this one.

Prediction: Cal 31  Maryland 9  (9)

Navy @ Duke     Sat. 12:00PM ESPNU

Duke comes in at 1-1 but had a good shot at beating Northwestern last week before they showed the Duke of old. I still think that Duke will go win-less in the ACC but lucky for them they have one more chance at victory before the conference schedule begins. Navy leads the NCAA in rushing but is almost dead last in passing. I gotta go against the ACC again in this one.

Prediction:  Navy 27  Duke 16  (7)

Virginia @ Connecticut     Sat. 7:30PM ESPNU 

After getting blown out by top ranked USC in the opening game, UVA shut out Richmond 16-0 last week. It took UConn OT to edge out Temple 12-6. Look for this one to be a turnover plagued affair as both qb's combine for 0 TD's and 7 INT's so far this season. If UVA can't stop UConn's running game they could be in for a long day.  

Prediction:  UConn 20  Virginia 17  (5)

N.C. State @ Clemson     Sat. 12:00PM Raycom

This is the beginning of a tough 3 weeks ahead for the Wolfpack. After the Tigers they will face (14) East Carolina and (19) S. Florida at home. The good news for the pack is that starting QB Russell Wilson will be back in the lineup. The bad news....both TE's will be out with injuries, along with 2 of the pack's 3 solid RB's. Clemson's O-Line has not played well and neither has their defense. I still think they will take care of the pack in this one at home.

Prediction:  Clemson 31  N.C. State 13  (8)

Georgia Tech @ Virginia Tech (Game of the Week)     Sat. 3:30PM ABC Regional

With the return of Tyrod Taylor for VT, this should be a running showcase between the 2 QB's. I really like the running game of GT with Josh Nesbitt and Jonathan Dwyer. This should be a close game in which the special teams and defense could win it for either team. I'm going to have to give the slight edge to GT because of their solid running game.

Prediction:  Georgia Tech 21  Virginia Tech  16  (2)

Chattanooga @ Florida State     Sat. 3:45PM ESPNU

After blowing out an under matched Western Carolina team 69-0 last week, I see much of the same for FSU.

Prediction:  Florida State 48  Chattanooga 6  (10)

Bye Teams:  (20)Wake Forest, Boston College, Miami