NCST Q&A w/ Ken Tysiac

Ken Tysiac covers North Carolina State football for the Charlotte Observer.

His work can be found at: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/college_football/

He is also on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/kentysiac

Baltimore Sports and Life appreciates Mr. Tysiac for answering a few questions about the Wolfpack prior to the MD vs. NCST game this Saturday.

Baltimore Sports and Life: “After having had a lot of success at Boston College, Coach Tom O’Brien took over the NCST program prior to the 2007 season. In his first 3 seasons with the Wolfpack, he had losing records each season. Was there a sense heading into 2010 that O’Brien had to show tangible improvement this year to keep his job?”

Ken Tysiac: “I don’t think there is any doubt that O’Brien’s jbo status was at least in question. He said he expected N.C. State to improve and get to a bowl game. Athletic Director Debbie Yow, who’s no stranger in your area, said she wanted the team to get to a bowl game and win it. Suffice to say though, O’Brien is in pretty good shape now. He has contended all along that injuries have been one of the main problems for his team the first three seasons. This season, they’ve been realtively healthy, and you see the difference.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “It has been a nice year for NCST. 8-3 overall. 5-2 in the ACC, 3-1 in the Atlantic Division. Out-of-Conference wins over Cincinnati (Big East), and the University of Central Florida (Currently 6-1 in Conference USA). The one game that sticks out is the 33-27 loss at East Carolina also from CUSA. Playing on the road, the Wolfpack fell behind 21-0 and allowed 496 yards (including 376 in the air). Was that just a matter of looking past an opponent?”

Ken Tysiac: “N.C. State didn’t look past East Carolina. That’s a big rivalry game here, and the Wolfpack had an open date the next week. O’Brien said he thought the Wolfpack loked like a weary team that week and the week before, when N.C. State actually won easily at home over Boston College. But I’m still shocked that the Wolfpack didn’t put up more points against a defense that’s just been awful many times this season.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “This weekend’s matching between NCST and Maryland pits the two Universities that spent the least on their football programs during the 2008-09 season within the Atlantic Coast Conference. During that time-period MD spent $11.72 Million on the football team, while NCST spent $11M. Miami led the conference in-spending at $20.97M, and Boston College was second at $19.40M. Maryland’s Athletic Director at the time was the aforementioned Dr. Yow who has since moved on to the Wolfpack. Do you anticipate an increasing investment into the program?”

Ken Tysiac: “One of Yow’s goals is to be able to increase the per-sport expenditure at N.C. State to be at the median of the public schools in the ACC. The problem is, raising the extra revenue. The new ACC TV contract will pus the per-sport expenditure upward, but it also is likely to raise per-sport expenditure at N.C. State’s peer schools in the ACC.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “6’3 Senior WR Owen Spencer had a fair amount of drops in 2009, but also led the ACC with 22.3 Yards Per Catch. In 2010 he leads the Wolfpack with 52 catches for 799 yards. In addition to Spencer, I see NCST has 6 other receivers with at-least 17 receptions. What can you tell me about the NCST receivers?”

Ken Tysiac: “Spencer and Jarvis Williams are two seniors who are completing solid careers at N.C. State. Spencer is a sneaky-fast deep threat and doesn’t drop many balls the way he did in the past. Williams is a big, tough receiver who can go up and get the ball over smaller defensive backs. T.J. Graham is a former track star who can burn you deep but has suspect hands, and Darrell Davis is another big, tough receiver. The tight end, George Bryan, also is a solid pass catcher, and Russell Wilson throws a lot to backs Mustafa Greene and James Washington, too.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Everyone is aware of Wilson’s throwing ability (2,977 yards, 24 TD’s, 13 INT’s), but he is also the second-leading rusher for the Wolfpack with 341 yards. Is he actively running on designed plays, or just taking off when pressured?”

Ken Tysiac: “N.C. State doesn’t run a lot of designed runs for Wilson. I’d say there are about five or six read-option plays a game where he has the choice of handing to a back or facking the handoff and running himself. Coordinator Dana Bible likes to call those plays on the goal line in particular. The rest of the time, Wilson usually is scrambling.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “You mentioned Mustafa Greene when discussing Wilson’s receiving options. The Freshman RB is also the leading rusher for NCST, averaging 52.4 yards a game. How would you describe the running style of the former 4 star recruit?”

Ken Tysiac: “Greene is a tough runner with good vision and the ability to make people miss. He’s not really a “speed guy,” but he hits the hole hard, keeps his shoulders square and gets a lot of yards after contact.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “A hallmark for many of O’Brien’s teams have been his offensive-line. Going into 2010 NCST was facing the loss of 4 starters. Who has stepped-up, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of the line? I see the Wolfpack have not had a 100 yard rusher in any game, how much of that falls on the line?”

Ken Tysiac: “N.C. State hasn’t had a 100-yard rusher in part because it uses a lot of backs and partly because Dana Bible likes to throw the ball a lot. The offensive line is decent, but not spectacular – there are four sophomore starters who will continue to improve over the next two years. At times, particularly at Clemson, the line has been overwhelmed. But the line also opened a lot of holes in the second half against a good Florida State defense.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Last week the NCST defense allowed 411 yards in the air to TJ Yates and North Carolina, but limited the Tar Heels to negative 7 yards on the ground. For the year the Wolfpack is allowing a respectable 124 yards on the ground. Is that more of a credit to the run-defense, or perhaps a better illustration of issues with pass defense?”

Ken Tysiac: “Last week N.C. State sacked Yates seven times, so a lot of the negative rushing yardage is due to sack yardage. The Wolfpack is decent against the run, but at times has been overwhelmed, particularly by Florida State. The structure of the pass defens is such that N.C. State puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback with blitzes but also plays a deep, cautious umbrella with its defensive backs to prevent long passes and big plays. That leaves a lot of intermediate routes open, so opponents sometimes gets lots of passing yards but not a ton of points.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “The Wolfpack Defensive Coordinator is Mike Archer, who previously was a LB coach for the Steelers. Is his defensive scheme built around pressure?”

Ken Tysiac: “N.C. State has pressured more this season than in past years. Archer obviously is familiar with zone blitz schemes from his days with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and first-year linebackers coach Jon Tenuta has added to those schemes. Having three linebackers who are capable of pressuring in Nate Irving, Audie Cole and Terrell Manning makes it all work.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “I see that NCST has a lot of experience on the DLine and you mentioned the pressure capabilities of the LB’s. Can you give some additional thoughts on the Front-7 players to watch?”

Ken Tysiac: “Irving is a Senior and leads the nation’s linebackers with 18 tackles for loss and had an NCAA-record eight tackles for loss against Wake Forest. He’s the top player on the defense. Tackle J.R. Sweezy also has emerged as a dominating presence in opposing backfields in recent weeks.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Maryland fans are excited about the production of their Safety Kenny Tate, but I know NCST fans have been talking about the play of their Safety Earl Wolff. Tell me about Wolff and the rest of the Wolfpack Secondary.”

Ken Tysiac: “N.C. State’s secondary is young. Wolff has emerged as the Wolfpack’s top tackler, and he’s one of three sophomores in the defensive backfield along with safety Brandan Bishop and cornerback C.J. Wilson. Freshman cornerback David Amerson has the highest potential of anybody in the group, but Wolff is making a lot of plays now both in pass coverage and against the run. He’s a good athlete who has benefited from experience playing last season as a redshirt freshman.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Predictions on the game? Will NCST leave College Park with the Atlantic Division title?”

Ken Tysiac: “N.C. State has a lot at stake. I think it’s going to be a great game, but ultimately I have a hard time picking a very good redshirt freshman quarterback, Danny O’Brien, to beat a very good junior quarterback, Russell Wilson. I think the Wolfpack wins by a field goal.”