NC State

It's different at night. Doak Campbell is special after dark and this week was no exception. When Osceola's spear was lit in the corner of the end zone 4 minutes before the kickoff, it was like a beacon calling and the students in that corner roared. Listen, this was all there was before ESPN6 TV dollars dictated other stupid kick times; like starting at 11:30 a-f'n-m a few years back, and noon in August this year. Seminole Saturday nights were the norm and 7:30 was always the time that the spear ripped through the night and pierced the logo. Back in college, I thought it was a good idea to get up at 6:30 am, listen to the Chiefs practice behind my frat house and pound bloody mary's until switching to beer at noon, then ate enough to not embarrass myself in front of my future in-laws while tailgating. Moved back to booze snuck into the stadium, and then partied post-game until the speakers turned off at some point Sunday morning. Back then, I could get up, have 3 Egg McMuffins and not feel a thing the next day. I have a theory that every 10 years you have been imbibing adds 3 hours to your hangover. Thus, now a late Saturday night means misery until my third shower after dinner on Sunday. Youth is wonderful huh? My point - before I digressed into personal idiocy, was that our place was lit Saturday night. It made a difference. The players felt it, asked for feedback with the bright lights shimmering off their gold helmets and got it. Fun stuff.

I get the quarterback conundrum. you can just watch warmups - which essentially mimics practice - and you can see the arm talent disparity. James throws a much crisper ball. It has no wobble and gets there is a hurry. But if ability was the only answer, Ryan Leaf would be in Canton. Somehow, Alex wobbles, lobs and generally lofts waterfowl that somehow are always in the right spot at the right time. I especially loved the one play in the first half where with half the Wolfpack front draped on him, he yelled "pull" and found a crossing Keith Gavin for a big first down. The last toss to Terry looked like the ball was suddenly 15 pounds and was pushed more than passed. Result. Touchdown. That is the key. Just watch his eyes kids. He quickly gets through all his reads. Our current offensive tackle duo is honestly struggling to hit anything in the other team colors. I mean they have more whiffs than a tee ball team facing Roger Clemens.  Who would have thought we would miss Jujuan Williams this much? I heard some comments after the game that Hornibrook held the ball too long. Ummm, if it was old school touch football, he would get the snap - "One Mississ" ...and he was crushed.

All of which leads me to again give praise to our young OC and what he is putting together with this ragtag bunch up front. My favorite moment of the game was when the black and white morons impersonating officials took 2 yards off an obvious first down play and instead made it 4th and 1 late. Kendall immediately called a tempo quick hit where we eschewed our normal blocking scheme, doubled the nose and bam we sprang Cam to the house. All in about 5 seconds. I only saw one Diana Ross Stop sign this week from Briles to the man earning $5 million, so maybe that relationship is improving. Meanwhile, we continue to showcase the talent stockpiled at wideout. When Terry is not putting on NFL moves, his hometown brother Pokey Wilson is running impeccable routes. Helton is magic, Harrison is a greased pig in space and we hardly needed DJ Matthews. We might not be able to block, by bygawd if we can get get rid of the ball, we got some frisbee dogs to take it to the house.

Sorry kids, but after 14 games with Harlon Barnett and the same general disfunction, it is not a coincidence that the first sign of run gap integrity we have seen comes almost immediately after the whirling bundle of insanity called Jim Leavittt shows up in town. With Janarius out next game from a spectacularly bogus targeting call, we have lost 14 stars at one position in 3 weeks (two five stars and a four for you recruiting lovers). Yet, we are playing more sound run fits than ever with kids barely escaped from prom. At this pace, we are a few more analyst hires from walloping Bama. Hell, even Dontavious found himself in the right gap more than once. Gainer is making his papa proud, and has the rest of us wondering why the kid ever leaves the field. Lavonta Taylor had his best game as a Nole, and Asante is so good on one side, I continue to wonder why he is ever challenged when the other corner (no matter who is it) is apparently being coached to never look back at a thrown ball no matter what. The other QB could be throwing beach balls, and the field corner would not have a chance to even deflect it. No trouble. I heard Clemson does not have that strong a passing game.

Apparently in another FSU cost cutting move, we have decided to go with all walkons with our kicking specialists. Ricky - who is barely over 50% with his attempts in Doak in his career - needs to either be motivated or sat. Coach chose the latter for now. Logan Tyler was active but not as we went with Martin again and for the most part he delivered. Helton was a kicker grabbing a shoelace from going coast to coast.

My weekly coaching observation involves our highly compensated headset wearing leader and his apparent inability to even gently question the zebras - even when it is clear we are getting completely jobbed at home. At least two clear poor spots cost us a first down. Crickets from the coach. When #11 for the Pack on 3 different occasions took cheap head shots on our receivers, we went with a silent protest. Then, with the game in doubt in the fourth, and every hard hit flummoxing the refs into a bad targeting call, the head man chose to go full Ghandi on them. There may not be a better Christian walking the earth than Coach Bowden, and he certainly stood behind his kids ripping with gusto the paid help in black and white. Our man literally has almost nothing to do right now but high five the tuba section postgame. Fight for your team once in a while when you see blatant incompetence going on in front of you.

Enjoy the bye week. We will be in the beautiful Upstate of South Carolina in two weeks eating some quality BBQ and hoping for a miracle.