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N.C. State's mission is to win last four
AP Photo
Russell Wilson (16) needs better protection from his line.
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Published: November 7, 2009
The rest of the season is all or nothing for N.C. State, which has to win its last four games to become bowl eligible. The bid for a winning streak will start at 1 p.m. today against Maryland at Carter-Finley Stadium.
A week's rest couldn't help N.C. State snap its losing streak last weekend, but a return home and a struggling opponent might. Receiver Jarvis Williams said he's confident that State isn't far from turning the corner.
"We still hope we can get bowl eligible," Williams said. "We're still focused, knowing that these are must-win games. We've got three out of four at home, and we know we've got to come out and play hard and go all out each game."
N.C. State (3-5, 0-4 ACC) has lost four straight. It needs seven wins to qualify for bowl eligibility because it has played two Football Championship Subdivision teams. Maryland (2-6, 1-3) has lost three straight close games (by 10 points to Wake Forest, 11 to Virginia and four to Duke).
Coach Tom O'Brien of State said that his team is in a tough spot, but doesn't believe that having to win out will be an unbearable burden. He admired the fight his team put up last week in a 45-42 loss at Florida State in a game that wasn't decided until the final minute.
"If that was going to happen, it would have happened last week, because there still was no margin of error," O'Brien said. "We fought and played as hard as we could. We just weren't good enough to win at the end of the football game.
"There's no sense not to go out and have fun, to go play the game. We've got four games left. We have been pretty good in November, so let's see what we can get done."
Quarterback Chris Turner of Maryland has 1,833 yards passing and 10 touchdowns, with nine interceptions. Linebacker Alex Wujciak (88 tackles) leads an attacking defense that concerns O'Brien and leads the ACC and ranks seventh in the nation in tackles per game (11).
Don Brown, Maryland's first-year defensive coordinator, wants to pressure the opposing quarterback on every down, and blitzes have led to 20 sacks in the past six games.
N.C. State has one of the quickest and most mobile quarterbacks in the ACC in Russell Wilson, but the offensive line is struggling and will be without right guard R.J. Mattes (out for the season with a knee injury). O'Brien is concerned that Wilson will be on the run for much of the game.
"They've changed their scheme," O'Brien said. "They'll blitz more than any team we've played this year. That's their calling card. It's a tremendous amount of pressure.
"They've actually gotten better on defense in the last two weeks. Now they just had an open week to prepare and it might look like 50 guys are coming at us. That's one of the reasons why you'd like to have continuity on the offensive line right now."
Safety Clem Johnson is confident that N.C. State can win its last four games and said that, despite the pressure of the situation, it's nothing he can't handle.
"I'd say that for the guy next to me," Johnson said. "We've just got to get the job done. I feel like our coaches are putting us in good position to win games, but we're not doing our part. If one guy messes up, it kind of like messes up the whole defense. We got to do our job…."
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