After the game Saturday, Harrison Beck came out of the locker room with a bandage around his left forearm. The redshirt junior quarterback declined to comment on the extent or nature of his injury.
With Russell Wilson out for N.C. State, Beck held the reins for the Wolfpack, but the South Florida defense forced him to throw deep even in soggy conditions as the team fell behind early on. Beck would finish the night 9-for-32 with 239 yards and three interceptions while enduring several big hits from the USF defense.
“I don’t want to make excuses, but it’s always easier to throw in a better environment,” Beck said.
Many players felt frustrated with the conditions and circumstances surrounding the game.
“It’s a wet game, he doesn’t wear gloves, and he’s trying to throw the ball,” freshman wide receiver T.J. Graham said. “I could never play quarterback like that. There are too many things to factor in. You can’t really hold the ball if you wanted to.”
In addition to Wilson, the Wolfpack was without star linebacker and former ACC Player of the Week Nate Irving. The redshirt sophomore linebacker, who is recovering from an ankle injury, was replaced by freshman Dwayne Maddox.
“I think we played hard, but our inexperience hurt us,” O’Brien said. “They worked the boundary and worked against Dwayne [Maddox]. I’m not saying it is his fault, because Dwayne is in there playing as hard as he can.”
Maddox, who logged his first collegiate playing time in last week’s 30-24 overtime win against ECU, tallied six tackles against the South Florida Bulls.
“We tried to make adjustments and help him out, but he just needs to see the speed and the things that are going on,” O’Brien said.
In addition to injuries, the weather complications caused sloppy production for the Wolfpack in their 41-10 loss to the Bulls. Throughout the soggy evening, the Wolfpack were muffing snaps, fumbling the ball, dropping passes and slipping all around the field.
“When I’m running that fast I stick in the ground like I’m 300 pounds, so when I cut on a route my foot would get stuck pretty far in the ground,” Graham said.
With USF up 21-3 in the second quarter, on a bad wet snap to punter Bradley Pierson, the ball sailed through the rain into the Wolfpack’s own end zone forcing Pierson to dive on the ball for a safety.
“It’s not tough until it gets under your eyelids, but other than that you’re expected to make plays,” freshman T.J. Graham said. “There’s no excuses, they’re seeing the same thing we are.”
The deluge of rain would once again prove hazardous for the Pack. On second and 20 at State’s own 17 yard line, a bad snap flew over Beck’s right shoulder, forcing him to kick the ball back through the end zone away from the two pursuing defenders. The move resulted in yet another safety for the Pack.
“I didn’t want the USF defensive guy to have a cheap touchdown off of a fumble recovery,” Beck said. “I know it’s a penalty to kick it out, but it was rainy out there. If I didn’t get it by falling on it, it’s pushed even further and turns into a touchdown. So, I just kicked the dang thing out of bounds, took the two points, and said “let’s move on.'”
In addition to the torrential weather, injuries continued to plague the already depleted Wolfpack lineup. Adding to the Pack’s injury woes include the loss of left tackle Julian Williams who went down in the second quarter with a shoulder injury.
“I was running a deep route and looked back and Julian was on the ground,” Graham said. “That was the last I saw of him because they took him up to figure out what was wrong with him.”
O’Brien is expected to announce the latest on injuries during his Monday afternoon press conference.
