University of North Carolina Athletics
NC State Game Guide
November 8, 2007 | Football
Nov. 8, 2007
By Lauren Brownlow
Every Thursday, check TarHeelBlue.com for the latest edition of the Game Guide, which provides all the information you need to get ready for gameday.
The Basics
Carolina (3-6, 2-3) looks to win for the first time outside of Kenan Stadium this season as it travels to Raleigh to face cross-town rival NC State (4-5, 2-3) on Saturday. Carolina is coming off of a 16-13 win on Homecoming against Maryland and NC State is coming off of a 19-16 overtime victory at Miami. Both teams are on a roll of sorts, as NC State started the season 1-5 and has won its last three games. Carolina began the season 1-4 and is 2-2 in its last four games. This will be the first meeting since 2002 that both teams are coming off of wins and the first meeting since 1934 when both teams had first-year head coaches. Butch Davis and Tom O'Brien have faced each other in the Big East four times with Davis winning all four. Carolina leads the all-time series 63-27-6 and has won the last three meetings and 11 of the last 14. Carolina has also won five of the last six in Raleigh.
Game Time: North Carolina at NC State, 12:00 PM, Raycom/Lincoln Financial Sports.
Carolina's game notes can be found here and NC State's official football site is here.
Last Time: Carolina beat NC State 23-9 at home on November 18, 2006. The game was closer than the final score for most of the game. Carolina led just 10-6 going into the third quarter, but two Connor Barth field goals stretched the margin to 16-6. An NC State field goal made the score 16-9 with ten minutes to go. NC State had the ball with 3:24 left, but two seniors combined for a huge play - Melik Brown forced a Daniel Evans fumble at the NC State two-yard line that Brian Rackley recovered in the end zone for a touchdown, giving Carolina a 23-9 lead. NC State still had a chance, getting the ball again with 2:23 to go, but Carolina senior Kareen Taylor got his second interception of the day with 52 seconds left to seal the game.
Ronnie McGill led Carolina with 101 yards rushing and the game's only touchdown in the final home game of his career. Joe Dailey completed 8-of-15 passes for 137 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. Connor Barth made three field goals, including a career-long of 54 yards. Kareen Taylor led Carolina defensively with two interceptions and three passes defended in his final home game. Daniel Evans completed 22-of-41 passes for 261 yards, but also threw three interceptions, lost a fumble and was sacked three times. Toney Baker led the Wolfpack in rushing with 68 yards on 15 attempts. NC State kicker John Deraney scored all nine Wolfpack points on three field goals, including a long of 44 yards.
Gameday Weather: Check the local weather forecast before heading for the game.
Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 11:00 AM. The radio broadcast is also available on XM Channel 190 at 12:00 PM. Since it's an away game, the NC State broadcasters will be heard instead of the Tar Heel Sports Network crew.
TV Coverage: The game will be shown on Raycom/Lincoln Financial Sports.
Game week TV/radio coverage: The Butch Davis Radio Show will be broadcast live from the Top of the Hill restaurant on Franklin Street every Thursday at 7:00. Inside the Huddle with Butch Davis airs Saturday morning at 9 a.m. on FOX Sports, 10 a.m. on MASN and 11 a.m. on WTVD in the Triangle. The Tar Heel Rewind show featuring highlights of the previous week's games will air Tuesday's at 7 p.m. and Thursday's at 8 p.m. in the Triangle and Fayetteville.
Storylines
Avoiding negative plays and converting third downs: In the last two games, Carolina has had 113 yards of negative plays, including -76 on offense and -37 on offensive penalties. The offense accounted for just seven penalty yards against Maryland after racking up 30 against Wake Forest, but the Maryland defense pushed Carolina's offense back 36 yards on eight plays. Two of those plays were kneel-downs for a total loss of five yards, but three of the plays were sacks for a total loss of 23 yards. Without the kneel-downs, Carolina had seven negative plays and of those, four came on first down or second down. The problem then becomes that the Carolina offense has to change what it wants to do offensively in order to make up for the lost yardage, and it's putting it behind early.
"It's first and ten, you run a play, it's second down and eight and then you take a ten-yard sack. Now all of a sudden, you're way behind schedule. You have hardly any opportunity to make a first down. We've got to avoid some of the negative plays. Those things have really put us behind schedule because it just makes it so difficult to convert - 2nd and 18, if you cut it in half it's still 3rd and 12, so you're still behind the eight-ball a little bit," Davis said.
Carolina's offensive line has allowed 17 sacks for a loss of 111 yards in five ACC games, tied for ninth-worst in the league. NC State's defense has 10 sacks for a loss of 60 yards in five ACC games, 10th in the league. Though NC State did not have a sack against Miami, it has a combined 12 sacks in the two games before Miami and forced seven fumbles in those games as well. The NC State defense has 63 tackles for loss on the season and 27 of those have come in its past three games. Carolina has allowed 28 sacks total on the season, which is tied for ninth in the league. Carolina allowed just 11 sacks in four non-conference games. NC State's defense has 20 sacks on the season which ranks eighth in the league.
But one of the biggest problems Carolina has had this season that is obviously related to negative plays is converting on third down to sustain drives.
"If you take a look at the games where we've moved the ball reasonably well and we've had good, successful drives - 8-11 play drives that culminated in either a field goal or a touchdown - we were pretty efficient on third down," Davis said. "We didn't make it on third and less than two I think twice in the ballgame. Once we had a third down and five and we didn't make it. We converted one third down and 12, which you assume you're going to be about 25% on those and you should be at 60-70% on the ones that are under 6-7 yards, and we didn't. When you don't convert on third downs, it's difficult to maintain any kind of consistency."
Carolina has converted 40 out of 124 third-down tries this season (32.3%), good for 10th in the ACC. NC State has allowed its opponents to convert 54 of 156 third-down tries (34.6%), making it the fourth-best third-down defense in the league overall. In ACC games only, Carolina ranks 10th in the league in third-down conversions (22-of-67 for 35.1%). NC State's defense has also had trouble on third down in ACC games, holding its league opponents to a 39.8% conversion rate (35-of-88).
Negative plays obviously include penalties, and that has been a problem plaguing the Carolina offense that has made it considerably more difficult to convert on third downs - pre-snap penalties before the Tar Heels are able to execute an attempt to convert third down. In the last two games, Carolina has had 37 offensive penalty yards on eight total penalties and six of those have come pre-snap. Five of those have come on third down and have turned third and manageable into third and long or third and long into third and really long. Against Wake Forest, three of Carolina's six offensive penalties were pre-snap on third down situations and turned a 3rd and 5 into 3rd and 10, a 3rd and 2 into a 3rd and 7 and a 3rd and 18 into a 3rd and 23. Against Maryland, Carolina had two offensive penalties pre-snap turning a 3rd and 11 into a 3rd and 16 and a 3rd and 23 at Carolina's four-yard line into 3rd and 25 at Carolina's two-yard line.
An unintended consequence of moving backwards has been that Carolina has not been able to execute the big plays that it was able to get in the beginning of the season. Certainly, part of that is the fact that teams have been watching tape on Carolina and are trying to shut the big plays down. But the other aspect of it is that when you're facing long yardage to convert a first down, defenses drop back to prevent the big play.
"We've tried to generate some big plays. We've missed some opportunities. We tried two of them the other day (against Maryland) and we threw two interceptions on two big-play opportunities. I think sometimes some of those big plays - when you're always from behind, if you're 2nd and 14, 1st and 15, long-yardage situations, people are playing for big plays and they're setting on things," Davis said. "I would venture to say that probably a lot of the big plays that we had earlier in the year when we were getting big plays, I'll bet the down and distance was probably 2nd and 4, 2nd down and 7. When you're on track and you're having some success and they've got to defend run and pass, it gives you a chance for bigger plays."
The running game: The running game is certainly much improved as the Tar Heels had just one 100-yard rushing game in its first four games and has had four in its past five games. Carolina is 3-2 this season when it breaks the 100-yard mark and its two losses were by a combined 13 points (Virginia Tech and South Carolina). Carolina's running game has had trouble this season getting going early and has generally been successful later in games against worn-down defenses. However, the running game got it going against Maryland as Johnny White had a career-high 92 yards on 18 carries and Anthony Elzy added 37 yards.
The problem was that the running game stalled out after the first quarter. Johnny White had 67 yards in the on ten carries in the first quarter and added just seven yards on three carries in the second quarter. He had four carries for just six yards in the third quarter, but with Elzy's eight carries for 37 yards in the fourth quarter, White got a little rest and managed 12 yards on one carry in the fourth. Carolina's best bet at maintaining a consistent running game is to continue rotating the three running backs - White, Elzy and the bruiser Ryan Houston - and wearing down opposing defenses.
"It seems as though every situation kind of calls for something a little bit different. Each one of those guys - whether it's Ryan (Houston), Anthony (Elzy) or Johnny (White) - they all bring a little tiny different element to what we're trying to get accomplished. At least for the time being, for the next three weeks, each guy, get them fresh, get them rested, and stick them in the ball game. They're all playing hard. They're trying to make things happen. They're running hard," Davis said. "Anthony, his performance in the fourth quarter was as significant as Johnny's was in the first half. Johnny had 94 yards, but the runs that Anthony had to help ice the game and to make some first downs when we needed to keep our defense off the field and kind of slow the momentum down, he did a nice job as well."
Carolina's running game issues have also been contributing to the decline of the passing game. One reason that T.J. Yates has been getting sacked more is that teams have been sniffing out Carolina's play-action plays for a variety of reasons. Offensive lineman Garrett Reynolds and his fellow linemen don't mind pass-blocking, but nothing gets them pumped up like a good run block. Certainly in a rivalry game like this one, pumping up the offensive linemen couldn't hurt. "When you run the ball and you're just running over a team, that gets guys more hyped up than just throwing the ball, as much as big plays get you going. As offensive linemen, we love running the ball and seeing the guys click and watching the running backs running downfield and breaking tackles. We love that," Reynolds said.
In the rivalry against NC State, the team that has won the rushing battle has won 14 of the last 15 games. The exception is the 2004 contest when NC State out-rushed Carolina 304-164 but Carolina won, 30-24. This season, Carolina and NC State have the 10th and 11th-ranked rushing offenses in the ACC and average 102.8 and 93 yards per game, respectively. Carolina's rushing defense is ninth (135.6 yards per game allowed) and NC State's is 12th, allowing 204.3 yards per game. In ACC games only, Carolina's rushing defense is eighth, allowing 140.4 yards per game and NC State's rushing defense is still last, allowing 220.6 yards per game. Carolina's rushing offense ranks ninth in league games at 110.8 yards per game and NC State's is 11th with 80.2 yards per game.
Carolina's game is running back by committee while NC State has lost its top two running backs this season and is down to the third-strong back, Jamelle Eugene. Eugene rushed for 89 yards on 27 carries last week against Miami and was NC State's leading receiver with six catches for 42 yards. But NC State allowed Miami to rush for 314 yards on 60 carries. The NC State rushing defense has allowed two 300-yard or more rushing totals this season and six of 200 yards or more. The Wolfpack is 2-1 this season when it holds opponents to 200 yards rushing or less.
The rivalry factor: It sounds cliché, but when Carolina and NC State meet, you might as well throw the records out the door. Carolina has had what many considered to be the less talented team in recent years, yet it has dominated the recent history of the rivalry. Former head coaches John Bunting and Chuck Amato were both alumni of their respective schools and took the rivalry personally. Now, both schools have made high-profile national hires that don't have a direct link to the rivalry and its history. Both teams desperately need this win to stay alive in bowl-game contention; Carolina actually needs to win the remainder of its games in order to get to a bowl. But fourth-year seniors on Carolina have never lost to NC State; conversely, seniors on NC State's team have never beaten Carolina.
"We take a lot of pride in that. That's something that we would love to continue. I'm going to bust my butt this week to make sure it happens. We don't want to lose that - since I've been here, we haven't lost to them and I don't plan on it," junior Garrett Reynolds said. "We do it for each other, but we've got to win for the fans. This area, there is a lot of tension around here with these three teams. So we take a lot of pride and we've got to win this game. We're really excited about this weekend. There is a lot of energy and focus that goes into it, so I'm pumped about it and I can't wait."
But when Butch Davis was asked about the recent streak for his players, he pointed out that not a huge fraction of the team had ever even played in the game. Carolina's roster still has 42 true or redshirt freshmen and 11 true freshmen that have seen action, and the streak hardly applies to them. So it will be up to older players like Reynolds to explain the rivalry to the younger players. Certainly, Carolina's young players have experienced loud environments like South Florida and Virginia Tech, but NC State is different.
"I guess you can't really explain it; you've just go to be there. You've just got to go and live it. It's an away game, but it's just a little bit crazier. It's a little bit more hostile. Once you're out on the field, usually everything kind of just blurs, for me anyways. All I really see is the field," Reynolds said. "The noise, it's going to be loud but nothing louder than we've already been through. It's a little bit more hostile. My freshman year, we got some stuff thrown at us, but that happens. It's nothing to worry about. Just keep your helmet on and you'll be all right."
At The Game
Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: The in-stadium frequency for the Tar Heel Sports Network will be 90.3 FM.
Tickets: The game is sold out.
How to get to the game: For directions to Carter-Finley Stadium, click here. Make sure to check out the parking map before you go. Check the frequently asked questions and the <="" href=" http://www.gopack.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=9200&ATCLID=537114"> before heading to Carter-Finley.
What to do in Raleigh: Check out NC State's visiting team guide for information on local attractions.
Watching At Home
Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.
A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.
Raycom/Lincoln Financial coverage: The game will be shown regionally on Raycom/Lincoln Financial Sports. Check this coverage map to see if the game will be shown in your area.
Names To Know
Hakeem Nicks: Hakeem Nicks is just a sophomore. Sometimes, it's hard to remember that. With a breakout freshmen season, pundits wondered aloud if teams would be onto him this year and focus defensively on shutting him down. Having complementary wide receivers has helped this season, but teams are still keying on Nicks defensively and it hasn't seemed to matter. Nicks was targeted 23 times in the last two games, including a season-high 13 targets against Maryland. Nicks hauled in eight passes, including five in the second half out of just seven total pass attempts. Nicks had eight catches for 88 yards and a touchdown, and four of Nicks' catches were for first downs (out of six total passing first downs).
Since ACC play began against Virginia, T.J. Yates has targeted Nicks 66 times (at least eight times in each game), and Nicks has caught 48 of them. On the season, Nicks has 56 catches for 702 yards but had just eight catches for 98 yards in his first two games. Since then, he has 48 catches (6.9 a game) for 604 yards (86.3 yards per game). Of Nicks' eight catches in the first two games, three were for first downs and one was for a touchdown. Nicks had accounted for only three of Carolina's 19 passing first downs. But since then, 27 of Nicks' 48 catches have been for first downs and have accounted for 39.7% of Carolina's 68 passing first downs in the past seven games.
Nicks ranks third in the ACC in receptions per game with 6.2 and is averaging 12.5 yards per catch. Nicks also ranks third in receiving yards per game with 78. Nicks also has four receiving touchdowns, which ranks fifth in the league among the top receivers in yards per game. In league games only, Nicks leads the league in receptions per game with 7.4 and ranks second in receiving yards per game with 91.6. Nicks just has a will to not only catch the ball, but to score (as evidenced by his impressive touchdown run against Virginia. Nicks comes up big in big situations and this weekend's game will certainly be that. Nicks' 56 catches this season are third in Carolina single-season history and are 17 away from the single-season record (71).
Trimane Goddard: Junior strong safety Trimane Goddard is the team's third-leading tackler with 47 (35 solo, 12 assisted) and leads the team in passes defended with four. He has two interceptions on the season and one sack. In league games only, Goddard is tied for first in forced fumbles with two in just five games (his only two of the season, second on the team). In Carolina's last three games, Goddard has 22 tackles (16 solo), 0.5 tackles for loss, three passes defended and one interception.
Goddard had an excellent game against Maryland with a season-high 10 tackles (eight solo), one interception and one pass breakup. Goddard's first-quarter interception led to a Carolina field goal to bring its lead to 9-3. He also chased Maryland quarterback Chris Turner out of bounds on 3rd and 6 at the end of the third quarter and forced a Maryland punt. Goddard is leading a young and inexperienced secondary that has not been tested in quite some time against a team that will no doubt look to go downfield.
Richie Rich: Richie Rich began the season at running back and made the switch to cornerback during Carolina's bye week, but he has filled in more than admirably. Davis and his staff are undermanned in the secondary when injuries and a suspension decimated the ranks, and they value speed on defense. So Rich became an option at nickel back when Charles Brown moved into the starting cornerback spot opposite Kendric Burney. Since then, Rich has filled in admirably and looks no different than the other redshirt freshmen or freshmen that have not played in the secondary up to this point. He had two tackles against Wake Forest (one solo) and against Maryland, he had three solo tackles. Rich did not get credited for a pass breakup, but it was an astute play on the third-and-2 at the end of the game that set up the failed conversion on 4th-and-2 that sealed Carolina's victory.
"One of the interesting plays on 3rd-and-2, they kind of went after Richie on that little short hitch route into the boundary. I think without his quickness and ability to jump back in there and put his hand in there, they might have converted on 3rd-and-2 and we would have never had the 4th-and-2 incompletion. And who knows, with a minute left to go, you don't want to face the other team throwing it into the end zone like we were doing against South Carolina," Davis said.
The most important thing Rich can do is not necessarily make interceptions or break up passes, but just not be a liability. This is a secondary that was not tested as much in the past two weeks as perhaps it will be this week against a team in NC State that is looking to stretch the field, and Rich's play will be important. Teams are looking to pick on any weak link on the team, and as Maryland showed, teams view Rich as that right now because of his inexperience. But according to his coaches and teammates, Rich has been working very hard to make up for that and learn the concepts in the secondary so that his natural athleticism and quickness can translate into solid cornerback play.
"We all knew that Richie Rich was an outstanding athlete and a good running back, but it seems like cornerback is his thing. He's coming up, he's hitting, he's making big plays, and he's plastering guys. My hat goes off to him. Being in that situation has got to be tough, because you're so used to juking people and running away from people and now you have to come up and stick your facemask on somebody. My hat goes off to Richie Rich because he deserves to be on the field and he's been working his tail off," Kentwan Balmer said.
Daniel Evans: NC State has faced something of a quarterback carousel in the past few seasons, and this season is no different. Redshirt junior Daniel Evans started the season-opener until Harrison Beck came in and took the job for the next four games. Evans took over the starting job against Florida State, the game before NC State's bye week. He completed 19-of-32 passes for 172 yards (59.4%) and threw for one touchdown and three interceptions. He was also sacked a season-high six times. After the bye week and in the past three games, Evans completed 74-of-130 passes for 889 yards (296 a game), six touchdowns and two interceptions. He has been sacked five times in the last three games. Evans struggled a bit against Miami, completing just 19-of-40 passes for 208 yards, but he did not turn the ball over and was sacked only once. Evans' ability to take care of the football is certainly a big part of the reason that NC State is on a three-game winning streak.
"He's making good decisions with the football. He's throwing the ball well. They're completing a lot of balls to backs out of the backfield. They're getting big plays down the field. They've got two receivers that have got a 16.4 (yard)-average and another one has got 13 (yard average) per reception. That's pretty good. You're pushing the ball down the field; you're not just dinking and dunking and a guy is averaging 7-8 yards per catch," Davis said. "They've got some speed at wide-out and big offensive linemen. To me, that's the biggest difference. They're +3, +1 and even so they're +4 in the turnover ratio in the past three games. That usually makes you tough to beat."
In all games, Evans ranks 10th in the ACC total offense (139.8 yards per game), 10th in passing average (149.7 yards per game), and ninth in passing efficiency with a 121.8 rating (126-of-212 passing for 59.4%, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions). In league games only, Evans ranks 10th in passing efficiency with a 113.4 rating (83-of-147 passing for 56.5%, six touchdowns and five interceptions). Evans also ranks ninth in passing yards per game in league games with 175.8 per game.
Darrell Blackman: Senior return man Darrell Blackman will play in his fourth NC State-Carolina game, and the speedy return man and wide receiver has not beaten Carolina in his career. Blackman ranks second among active ACC players in career non-offensive touchdowns with four - two kick returns and two punt returns. His most recent non-offensive touchdown came on a 99-yard kickoff return against Clemson this season.
Blackman is dangerous every time that he touches the ball. His biggest play so far in the series was probably a 73-yard kickoff return to open the second half of the game in 2004 that set up an NC State touchdown to give the Wolfpack the lead, 17-14. Carolina won the game 30-24. Last season, Carolina had an excellent kickoff coverage unit that held Blackman to two returns for 33 yards. But this season, Carolina has struggled in that area. Carolina ranks 11th in the league in kickoff coverage, netting just 38.3 yards per kick.
"Certainly Blackman is extraordinarily dangerous. He may be of all the opponents that we've faced, from the standpoint of kickoff cover and punt cover, presents one of the biggest challenges that we've got," Davis said.
Blackman ranks fifth in the ACC in kick return average (24.0 yards per return) and second in punt return average (11.9 yards per return). He also ranks third in all-purpose yards with 142.6 yards per game. In league games only, NC State ranks 2nd in kickoff returns and fifth in punt returns, largely due to Blackman. Blackman leads the league in all-purpose yards in ACC games with 159.4 per game in five games. Blackman ranks third in ACC games in kick return yards with 26.4 per game (including one touchdown) and fourth in punt return yards with 9.8 per game.
Dajuan Morgan: The redshirt junior free safety has been a big part of NC State's resurgence in his first season as a starter. Morgan leads the team and ranks 11th in the ACC in tackles with 71 (50 solo, 21 assisted) or 7.9 per game. In NC State's last three games (all wins), Morgan has 25 of his 50 solo tackles. He has two interceptions on the season and both in the last two games (one in each game). In ACC games only, Morgan ranks sixth in passes defended with six - four pass breakups and two interceptions. He also has 42 tackles in ACC games (42 solo, 8 assisted) or 8.4 per game. Last week against Miami, Morgan had 7 solo tackles, an interception and a pass breakup.
The strong safety that started opposite Morgan, Javon Walker, went out with injury during the Miami win last week. Morgan will stay at free safety and a redshirt junior will take over Walker's spot.
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly
