{"id":436,"date":"2010-11-27T18:02:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-28T01:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/capitalsports.us\/?p=436"},"modified":"2010-11-27T18:02:00","modified_gmt":"2010-11-28T01:02:00","slug":"pass-defense-lets-n-c-state-down-in-tough-loss-at-maryland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/?p=436","title":{"rendered":"Pass defense lets N.C. State down in tough loss at Maryland"},"content":{"rendered":"
Well, let\u2019s be honest \u2013 there\u2019s no way Maryland really gained that critical first down with 48 seconds left in its 38-31 win over N.C. State in College Park, Md.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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<\/a><\/span><\/span>But State was lucky the game even got to that. After all, the Wolfpack\u2019s inability to defend the pass finally crushed it Saturday in a bitter loss at Byrd Stadium.<\/span><\/div>\n

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<\/span>The Wolfpack came into this season with a young secondary, but a creative defense that featured different blitzes masked that much of the season. That wasn\u2019t the case Saturday as Maryland receiver Torrey Smith destroyed State throughout the contest.<\/span><\/div>\n

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<\/span>State deserved credit for getting so much out of this team. Tom O\u2019Brien and his coaching staff coaxed maximum effort from this team. Russell Wilson is the ACC\u2019s best quarterback, and the offensive line and receivers are two units that a first-rate. The defense has a superb set of linebackers, but is otherwise unremarkable.<\/span><\/div>\n

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<\/span>The  secondary just wasn\u2019t up to snuff Saturday, which perhaps was no surprise. State came into the game tied for last in the ACC in interceptions (eight) and ninth in touchdown passes allowed (16). The Pack was also in the bottom of the league in completion percentage allowed, total passing yards allowed \u2026 well, you get the drift.<\/span>

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Basically, State\u2019s pass defense just hasn\u2019t been great.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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<\/span><\/span>And it was terrible Saturday. Maryland quarterback Dan O\u2019Brien made some great throws, especially on the one where he rolled left and threaded a touchdown past two defenders. His target \u2013 Smith, of course. Smith had 14 catches for 224 yards and four scores, about as amazing a performance as any receiver has had against the Wolfpack.<\/span><\/div>\n

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“They just ran ‘take-offs,'” coach Tom O’Brien said in his postgame interview<\/a>. “It was one on one. He ran by us.”<\/span>

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<\/span>State now drops to 8-4 overall and 5-3 and is still in line for a nice bowl. Atlanta\u2019s Chick-Fil-A has the No. 2 pick among ACC teams, and the Champs Sports is No. 3. Not bad, but not the Orange \u2013 and after a tough day at Maryland, State\u2019s dreams of a big season are over.<\/span>

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No wonder coach Tom O’Brien said of the mood in the locker room, <\/span>“They’re really crushed. I don’t think they fully comprehend what a great year they’ve really had, when you look at eight wins, the history of our school and how many times it’s been done.”<\/span>

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Well, let\u2019s be honest \u2013 there\u2019s no way Maryland really gained that critical first down with 48 seconds left in its 38-31 win over N.C….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalsportsnc.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}