Thoughts about the game

[PackFan]

Congrats on a game well played. To be honest, I feel that NC State was very fortunate to escape Dallas with the win.
I wasn't able to watch the game, but listened on the radio and caught the highlights.

A few thoughts:

-NC State QB Philip Rivers may have come into the game with all the press, etc but he was thoroughly outplayed by Luker.
-The two TD's that Luker threw had to be two of the best passes I've seen all year. I thought the coverage was pretty good... Didn't matter, he was elusive and delievered strikes. Very impressive throws.
-The Pony running game was just awesome. Kincaid and Briggs were equally effective. This is backed up by the quotes from Levar Fisher (last seasons ACC defensive player of the year) - "...But we didn't think they would smash us in the mouth like that."

One last note, the State fans that attended the game have posted on our message boards about your stadium improvements (along with the comments from our radio broadcast). By all accounts the stadium really looks good. Just thought I'd pass that along.

I'm done rambling. Hope this one got you on track for the rest of the season.

[graypony]

Thanks, Packfan. I went to Raleigh last year. I thought the atmosphere was fantastic. I loved how the Wolfpack came onto the field through the fireworks. In last year's game, we were so overmatched that I thought that this year would be worse than 41-0.
I think that we saw the problem at SMU last night. C0NFIDENCE, or in our case, lack there of. I do not think that we will face a better team than we played last night. I don't think that Fresno has any better talent and with the exception of Peppers, I don't think UNC does either. I hope that y'all run the table against the ACC. We are still young in that we start only 3 or 4 srs. but, hopefully, our players can see what they can do when they play hard and we can win 6 or 7 of the next 8. Good luck.

[PonyFan]

Congratulations to you, PackFan. Your team and fans were great guests (except for the final score, of course!) I agree, I think for most of the game, Luker outplayed Rivers. But there was a stretch in the second half where Rivers was scorching, and we were reeling.

A few N.C. State players stood out as someone we might see on Sundays.
Rivers
Defensive end named Chapman, I think (#11)
Safety Terrance Holt
That big tight end, Wright
And LB Fisher

Any others being touted as pro prospects?

Nice collection of talent over there. Best of luck the rest of the way.

[ponystudent]

what about Robinson?

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Go Ponies!

[PonyFan]

Don't see Robinson going pro. He's not bad, but he's not NFL material, in my opinion. If he does make it, I see him like Brian Mitchell -- a third-down back who showed us last night he has good hands, and might be of value on special teams. But will he be a prime RB in the league? DOn't see it.

[PK]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by graypony:
<B>We are still young in that we start only 3 or 4 srs</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry graypony, nothing personal here, but I'm very tired of this "we are still young..." BS. We can't be a young team four years in a row. Why are we only starting 3 or 4 seniors??? Aren't the coaches developing these players as they mature? With this coach (Cavan) we will always have a "young" team. Evidently, instead of developing our players, he just throws in his newest freshman stars in hope that they will be great without the effort of development. Enough already!!!

[graypony]

You are right, we are not young. We are not old, either. We will have 19 or so starters back next year, plus Pratt, who says that he is working hard and will be back, to fill in for Aldrege, so we will really lose nothing on defense.
The defense, I noticed, plays about 18 people. They are constantly giving regulars a break and subbing to fit in the best players for a particular situation. We could be very deep and experienced next year on defense. We will be very experienced, though not deep in the OL, next year on offense. I thought that the two backs complimented each other well last night.

I certainly did not say that we were young to make excuses. You cannot believe, unless you were there, the difference from one year to the next. They could have beat us 81-0 last year. Really, all NCState lost from last year's team was that sensational WR, Corin Robinson, who was one of the early 1st round draft picks last year.

If we can make as much an improvement from this year to next as we have from the 2000 Wolfpack game to the 2001 Wolfpack game, we will challenge for the WAC title next year. Now, there will be some of you whine about the fact that it is the WAC, not some other conference, that we are challenging for. But...that is where we are right now and to move forward, we have to excel where we are now. We haven't even done that yet, but we will.

I think that it has taken our QB, who has not played much at all since 1999 as a senior in HS, three games to work his way up the learning curve. No one else that I have seen in the last 3 years at SMU could have made that scramble and throw for the 2nd TD last night. Now that he has gotten a little work under his belt he is ready to do some great things for the Mustangs.

[PK]

graypony: I knew you were not trying to make excuses (actually none were really needed last night...the team gave a great effort), I was just worried that you were creating an opening for someone else to make that excuse (and I think you know who I mean). You are right on in your comparison between our performance last night versus last year. I'm really proud of the way the team played last night (except for those damned penalties...cut that out guys!).