N.C. State will play at home today against Murray State, a Football Championship Subdivision program, but Coach Tom O'Brien isn't sure that either factor will give his team a decisive advantage.
"There are no free Saturdays," O'Brien said. "You better show up and be ready to play, no matter who you play."
Kickoff will be at 6 p.m. at Carter-Finley Stadium.
N.C. State has had eight days to prepare after its season-opening 7-3 loss to South Carolina on Sept. 3. O'Brien was largely disappointed in his team's play, but he said that one game hasn't given him adequate time to determine how good the Wolfpack might be by the end of November.
"There's so many moving parts involved with a football team," he said. "Some (players) are younger and get better. Some get hurt. You've got to put the pieces to the puzzle together. We're still working on pieces to our puzzle."
Murray State, from the Ohio Valley Conference, defeated Kentucky Wesleyan 66-10 in its opener. Tonight's game will be the first between N.C. State and Murray State.
Offensive tackle Jeraill McCuller is confident that the Wolfpack will be better in all phases, especially the offensive line, which struggled against quicker South Carolina until late in the game.
"You can only bounce back," McCuller said. "I know for me, it's been really painful. When you win, you try not to get too high. You want to keep that focus. And when you lose, you can't get too low. You've got to keep your eyes on the big prize."
O'Brien said that quarterback Russell Wilson needs better protection, and the running backs need bigger holes. N.C. State rushed for just 59 yards on 31 carries against South Carolina.
McCuller said that the linemen are determined to give Wilson more time to choose receivers and pass, which could help cut down on the five dropped passes last week.
"The man was sacked six times, and that's unacceptable," McCuller said. "And that will be corrected."
The offensive line will be without left tackle Jake Vermiglio, who suffered a calf injury against South Carolina. His absence has forced O'Brien to shuffle players. Julian Williams, normally the left guard, will start at Vermiglio's position. Andy Barbee, the backup right guard and backup center, will start at left guard.
The backfield has also had a slight shift because of a knee injury to Jamelle Eugene, the No. 2 running back who is out for the game. Freshman James Washington will back up Toney Baker tonight.
"As an offense we really need to finetune our techniques," McCuller said. "Like blocking assignments; you can't be out there guessing, especially against a defense that has guys the size of offensive linemen and run like gazelles.
"We just dropped the ball. We didn't do what we were coached to do. It's simple. If 10 guys are doing it right, and one guy does it wrong, the play's not going to work. And we had too many times where one guy was doing it wrong."
Wilson increased his streak of passes without an interception to 272, the third-longest in NCAA history. He's 13 completions away from second place and 54 away from the record. He did not have a touchdown passes against South Carolina, his first time without one in 10 games.
O'Brien was at least somewhat perplexed by his team last week.
"Who knows where either of us is going," O'Brien said, including South Carolina in his assessment. "Maybe both of us are good. Maybe both of us are bad. First games, it's hard to tell. It gives you an indication of what you've got to do because you've been playing against yourself all the time.
"So now the big thing is can we get better? Maybe we can score a touchdown. I don't know. We've got to score a touchdown."
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.
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