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O'Brien wants more from line
N.C. State coach says his team needs to provide better protection for QB
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Published: September 8, 2009
RALEIGH
Coach Tom O'Brien said he is pleased with his starting offensive linemen at N.C. State, but he was not happy with their performance in last week's opening game.
O'Brien isn't going to make any changes in jobs, unless dictated by injury, but will push the linemen in practice this week to improve their play for a game against Murray State on Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium.
"We will continue to try to get better up front," O'Brien said. We have to get better up front if we're going to be a good football team. Certainly we have to protect our quarterback much better. We can't be allowing six sacks."
O'Brien thought that the line struggled until late in the game in 7-3 loss to South Carolina at home last Thursday night, but its play was one of at least three concerns he had after assessing his team's performance.
N.C. State receivers dropped five passes by O'Brien's count. He also said that the defense played strong most of the night, often in poor field position, but had too many missed assignments.
Alan-Michael Cash, a defensive tackle, said that the defensive coaches counted 21 missed tackles against South Carolina, despite the defense allowing 256 yards and surrendering the game's lone touchdown after a turnover at the N.C. State 15-yard line.
Jeraill McCuller, the right offensive tackle, said that he meant no disrespect to South Carolina but thought that N.C. State's mistakes on the line were significant factors in the loss.
"It's just unacceptable," McCuller said. "Three points in any game against anybody is unacceptable. We're a better line than that. We're a better offense than that.
"Coach Bible (Dana, the offensive coordinator) hit it on the head the other day. We didn't go out there and execute. The opportunity was there and we didn't execute."
The line suffered from the loss of Jake Vermiglio, a junior left tackle who suffered a left-calf injury in the first quarter. Vermiglio's lower leg was wrapped by team trainers and he walked on the sideline using crutches for the rest of the game.
His playing status will not be known until later this week. The depth chart released yesterday still lists him as the starter. O'Brien thought that shuffling players in because of Vermiglio's absence hurt the line's rhythm until late in the game.
One of the reserve linemen who was forced to play more in Vermiglio's absence, Andrew Wallace, a redshirt freshman, struggled in his first college game.
On N.C. State's first possession of the second quarter he moved too far downfield on a pass play before the ball was thrown and drew a penalty for being an ineligible receiver, which wiped out a 38-yard gain to the N.C. State 43. He was called for a false start on the next play.
O'Brien said that the emphasis this week for the linemen will be on sharpening their fundamental play.
"I think as the game wore on, we blocked the run pretty good in the second half," O'Brien said. "You look at the second half and we put some drives together and controlled the ball much better.
"Certainly the thing that was glaring was the lack of protection for Russell. He made three good throws in the last four plays. We had the ball go off the hands in the end zone, we had the ball go off the hands for a first down, and another pass where he put the ball in the end zone and we didn't catch it.
"Those were all three really good throws. We have to give him a chance to make those throws."
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com
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