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Wolfpack to shake up its defense
Several new starters expected Saturday
AP Photo
Justin Byers (28) and Bobby Floyd of N.C. State bring down Josh Adams of Wake Forest.
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Published: October 6, 2009
RALEIGH - N.C. State will change at least three positions in its secondary this week because of lingering shortcomings.
One linebacker position will also have a new starter also for Saturday's game against Duke at Carter-Finley Stadium at 4 p.m. Coach Tom O'Brien and his defensive coaching staff agreed on the changes Sunday, one day after a 30-24 loss at Wake Forest in which pass defense was a crucial factor.
Thaddeus Lewis, Duke's quarterback, is a four-year starter, as is Riley Skinner of Wake Forest. Duke has the No. 1 pass offense in the ACC, averaging 285.6 yards a game.
O'Brien said that he is still trying to find the right players for the secondary, which is among the least experienced in the ACC.
"I think the freshmen were overwhelmed a little bit by the scope of the game on Saturday," O'Brien said. "Even though they're very athletic and probably are good prospects down the road, we better settle down and we're going to go with a little more experience."
Two seniors, Bobby Floyd and Clem Johnson, will move into starters' jobs from backup positions. Floyd will play the boundary-safety position and Johnson will play the field-safety position.
The other new starter will be Justin Byers, a sophomore who will start at boundary cornerback. He was recruited as a cornerback but was forced to play safety last season because his athletic ability was needed to ease depth concerns at the position.
The players who occupied the positions last week were a senior who walked onto the team as a receiver and didn't play in the secondary until last season, a redshirt freshman and a freshman.
The fourth secondary position might also have a new starter. DeAndre Morgan, a junior who was the starter last week, was listed as the probable starter yesterday but O'Brien left open the door for C.J. Wilson, a redshirt freshman, to start.
O'Brien hopes that the moves will strengthen a secondary that allowed Skinner to pass for 361 yards and three touchdowns, while completing 31 of 45 passes.
"We've made blows (blown assignments) the last couple of weeks back there that I don't think we can afford anymore," O'Brien said. "Hopefully we'll get it settled down, but until they step up or someone steps up and grabs the job and takes a hold of it, we'll keep working until we find the right combination."
Terrell Manning, a redshirt freshman, will start at the weakside linebacker position. O'Brien was impressed by at least two plays that he made two games ago late in a 38-31 win against Pittsburgh.
"He has natural recognition skills in there," O'Brien said. "I think he's starting to play a lot faster and he's starting to play a little more comfortable.
"In our terminology, he plays ‘downhill.' He attacks the line of scrimmage. We're going to give him the opportunity to start a football game and see how he does."
The breakdowns in the secondary offset an extraordinary effort by the defensive line against Wake Forest. Skinner was sacked six times, a career high, and was forced into two interceptions.
Willie Young, a defensive end, said that the linemen will have to apply constant pressure on Lewis to help the defensive backs play tighter coverage.
"We've got a lot of young guys (back there)," Young said. "I know people are going to be coming at us now. It's in the open right now.
"It's a challenge for the young guys in the secondary as a unit to clean up the mistakes that they made. The guys that were open and the (defensive backs) that weren't quite where they were supposed to be, a quarterback like Riley Skinner can make plays like that.
"If I was a quarterback, I would have done the same thing. I would have went right at the young guys."
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