Pack's starters need to thaw a frigid offense
Jan 14, 2009
Things are getting cold in West Raleigh, and it has nothing to do with the weather. N.C. State's offense is buried in a deep-freeze.
After 18-turnover efforts against Clemson and Florida, the Pack continued to work in self-destruct mode against Florida State, coughing up 16 more turnovers..
A higher-scoring team might be able to absorb 16 turnovers, but the Wolfpack offense isn’t nearly efficient enough. State has been scoring in the sixties during the Pack’s three-game losing streak. There just aren’t enough possessions in a 60-point game to make up for all of those giveaways.
But that might not be the most disturbing thing to come out of State's loss to Florida State.
The Pack actually played better with their starters on the bench.
Brandon Costner, Ben McCauley, Trevor Ferguson and Farnold Degand – all four of them starters -- combined to score a grand total of five points in the second half.
Five.
We’ll giveFerguson a pass for his one minute of second-half PT, as it was injury-related. But the other three guys rode the pine because their coach didn’t think they were helping the cause.
And clearly, they didn’t. When McCauley and Costner checked back into the game, State was still "in it" with five minutes left. Florida State went on to outscore the Wolfpack 19-2.
Maybe it’s chemistry. Maybe it’s just a slump. Or maybe this team has a lot of work to do
But right now the guys who are supposed to be NC State’s best players aren’t getting it done.
