After last week’s 27-24 loss at Maryland, N.C. State stands at 2-6 overall and 0-4 in the ACC with four games to play, so if the Wolfpack wantss to get in any kind of bowl game, every game is a must-win situation. When the Pack face the Duke Blue Devils Saturday, the team knows it has to make a statement.
“I feel that we should prove we are a better team than what our wins and losses have shown,” redshirt junior linebacker Ray Michel said during State’s weekly press conference on Monday.
During the open date, the coaches talked to the defense about its sub-par performance lately.
“[Defensive coordinator Mike Archer] told us we’re at the bottom of the pole right now,” Michel said. “We’re the laughing stock of the ACC.”
Michel went on to say that the team was irate after those comments and was motivated to make a change.
“It made me furious,” he said. “That’s when we finally realized that we’ve got to get together and get in our playbooks.”
Coach Tom O’Brien and offensive coordinator Dana Bible sung a similar tune to the offense.
“There was a point where coach O’Brien and coach Bible challenged us to man up and focus on paying attention to detail so we can start doing some positive things on the offensive side of the ball,” redshirt junior offensive tackle Jeraill McCuller said.
O’Brien said confronting his team was just a matter of being truthful.
“You try to motivate them any way you can, but one thing we don’t do is sugar coat a lot of things,” he said, “We try to be truthful and honest with them, and this is our honest evaluation.”
And when the Pack renews its rivalry with the Blue Devils Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium, the task will not be any easier. Duke has already changed its culture in regards to football in only one year under coach David Cutcliffe. The Devils have wins over respectable opponents, such as Vanderbilt, Navy and Virginia and a three-point loss in overtime to Wake Forest.
“They are very aggressive as a unit… they are a pretty good all-around team right now,” Michel said.
Duke’s defensive play stands out to the team, according to McCuller.
“They are a talented group,” he said. “Their defense is really ferocious. Their front seven wreak a lot of havoc in the middle of the field.”
O’Brien said that the team also needs to improve its run defense if they are going to contain an offense that has put up over 140 yards on the ground in four different games this year.
“[Our rush defense] needs to improve,” he said. “Look at the way that Duke rushed the ball against Wake Forest. Nobody rushes the ball against Wake Forest like that. We better have our chin straps buttoned on and our mouthguards in on Saturday playing this football team.”
But State has improved in recent weeks. Even the previous disappointment against Maryland was a step forward as the Pack put up 24 points against a defense that had shut out Wake Forest the week before.
“[Our coach has] let us know we are getting better, but we have nothing to be satisfied with,” McCuller said. “We are not putting [wins] on the board. We’re not doing our job. We’ve just got to find a way to get that [win] at the end of the game.”
