Tom O'Brien: the Herb Sendek of ACC football

[RelativeWays]

If I was a State fan, I'd be pulling my hair out now. O'Brien's conservative play calling has been a detriment in this game. Completely unimaginative, not compensating for SC's defense and not willing to take advantage of Wilson's speed and arm. He may be effective, get his 7-8 wins, minor bowl appearances but he doesn't seem to be the guy that will take NCSU to the next level...kinda like Herb.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

If I was a State fan, I'd be pulling my hair out now. O'Brien's conservative play calling has been a detriment in this game. Completely unimaginative, not compensating for SC's defense and not willing to take advantage of Wilson's speed and arm. He may be effective, get his 7-8 wins, minor bowl appearances but he doesn't seem to be the guy that will take NCSU to the next level...kinda like Herb.

I hope this trend is the SOP for October 10!

[OldPhiKap]

To be (somewhat) fair, that lack of facemasking call was pretty darn blatant and costly at the end. I mean, they just hauled that dude down on the full run and the ref stared at the play -- and ate his whistle.

But good to see The Old (Duke) Ball Coach win that one.

[arnie]

After predicting an undefeated season and heisman for Wilson, the collective State Board is blowing up. I'm always amazed to see this fan base assume their mediocrity will transform into greatness year after year after year.

[wolfpackdevil]

After predicting an undefeated season and heisman for Wilson, the collective State Board is blowing up. I'm always amazed to see this fan base assume their mediocrity will transform into greatness year after year after year.

I really don't think that many people with common sense predicted State to go undefeated. There schedule included Pitt, at FSU, at WF, UNC, and at VT.

The people that picked a 12-0 season for NCSU, pick state to go undefeated every single year.

[gw67]

If Wilson is considered the best quarterback in the ACC, then the QB position on the remaining teams in the league is very weak.

gw67

[whereinthehellami]

I'll take the other road. NCSU struggled on O versus a very good USC/SEC D. i wouldn't put too much into that. TOB is a good coach and is on his way to making the Wolfpack a power in the Atlantic. He is just not a razzle dazzle type of guy and his sucess will therefore take longer to achieve. But he is laying a solid foundation and when he does succeed, expect to see the Wolfpack in contention for the Atlantic on an annual basis. And Wilson looked okay. Again he was up against an SEC D. His recievers had a couple of drops on their last drive and the SEC refs "missed" a very big call. South Eastern Corruption?

[davekay1971]

Good: State's D looked much stouter than last year, even without Nate Irving in the lineup. That D should serve them very well in ACC competition. Wilson stayed healthy (always a plus for that guy!), and if his receivers hadn't dropped a couple, State probably would have won that game.

Bad: Miscues and poor execution on the offensive side the ball shot them in the foot all night long. Running game still isn't reliable. Just a poor showing on the offensive side of the ball all night long.

Upshot: If State plays that kind of defense and the offense improves, they're a 7-8 win team (particularly with 8 home games!). If the offense remains as inept as they looked last night...4 wins and serious questions heading into the offseason.

[Devilsfan]

This comparison is somewhat unfair. From what I heard the only knock on Herb was he didn't have an out going personality and thus didn't go out of his way to keep the Wolfpack Club members happy.

[OldPhiKap]

This comparison is somewhat unfair. From what I heard the only knock on Herb was he didn't have an out going personality and thus didn't go out of his way to keep the Wolfpack Club members happy.

I think the original post was more of a comment on the style of play. Herb's offense was not horribly exciting. I think Herb got a raw deal but is better off in his new digs anyway.

[Devilsfan]

Agreed. Well put.

[davekay1971]

This comparison is somewhat unfair. From what I heard the only knock on Herb was he didn't have an out going personality and thus didn't go out of his way to keep the Wolfpack Club members happy.

That was one problem. The other was that Herb had little to no success (and didn't appear to care that much about it) beating the Pack's chief rivals: UNC and, to a lesser extent, Duke.

O'Brien, on the other hand, clearly takes tremendous pleasure in kicking Carolina around. If he chooses to run a conservative, old-fashioned, run-oriented, grind-it-out offense but takes Carolina behind the woodshed on a regular basis, the Pack fans will be just fine.

[OldPhiKap]

If he chooses to run a conservative, old-fashioned, run-oriented, grind-it-out offense but takes Carolina behind the woodshed on a regular basis, the Pack fans will be just fine.

Oddly enough, I would be fine with that too.