Week 13

[ajoytoy]

last week: 7-2 (+8.82) :mj14:

ytd 59-67-3 (-1.63)

2 Unit Plays: 14-9

3 Unit Plays: 1-1

5 Unit Plays: 1-0

without a doubt my best week yet...all my pool plays hit and 3 of the other 5

almost back to even :s4:

Jumping on this one early:

Pack -2.5 (-110) 3 Unit Play :mj14:

Pack needs it to be Bowl eligible....if they dont show for this game, seasons over...same goes for the Terps...

will post weekly articles

glta

toy

 

[Ratslla]

Thanks and good luck!

 

[INtheBLUE]

Hey Rats, gotta give props to Duke staying in it this weekend! My mouth dropped when I saw they had a chance in the 4th. Congrats to your team buddy.

Hey Joy, good job last weekend. Keep em coming. My system worked well too and it should be even better this week. I cant wait.!! I got your pack winning by 11 with a 6 pt variable, so I will be on them too!

:mj14:

 

[ajoytoy]

Wolfpack is "Bowl Sick"
NC State gearing up for big season finale against Maryland.


Nov. 21, 2005

By Tony Haynes

Raleigh, N.C. - A lot of college football fans around the nation watched last year's bowl games, but don't count Marcus Hudson among them. With NC State posting a 5-6 record in 2004, the Wolfpack cornerback and his teammates missed out on playing in a bowl for the first time in their careers. It's a holiday experience that they don't want to repeat. Although a bid won't necessarily be guaranteed, the only way the Pack (5-5, 2-5) can become bowl eligible is to finish its season with a victory over Maryland (5-5, 3-4) this Saturday (12 noon) at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Needless to say, the Terrapins will be just as desperate for a win. Last weekend's 31-16 home loss to Boston College left them one game shy of the number of wins necessary to qualify for a bowl game.

The only way Hudson will consider watching other bowl games is to know that he'll be playing in one himself.

"I was bowl sick," Hudson responded when asked if he had watched any bowl games last year. "I wasn't in one and I really didn't want to see anybody else having fun. All I could think of was us being in Orlando [for the Tangerine Bowl]. Last year I didn't watch any bowls; it was a sick feeling because I know we should have been in a bowl."

It would be a stretch to say that NC State is in the midst of a bowl drought since the Wolfpack went to bowl games in Chuck Amato's first four years as head coach before missing out last season. To fall short of that goal again would certainly leave a bitter taste, particularly for Hudson and the other 19 Wolfpack senior who will be playing at Carter-Finley Stadium for the last time this weekend.

"What's the saying? You never miss your water until the well runs dry," Hudson said. "That's what happened last year. We were so used to going to a bowl that we didn't think much about it. But sitting out and being without that atmosphere, we had the whole month of December to just sit and watch other teams. We really didn't know what to do with ourselves. It made our off-season extra long. It was a sick feeling and we don't want to feel that way again."


Bowl spots are quickly filling up from the ACC since seven teams are technically bowl eligible. With five overall wins apiece, NC State, Maryland and North Carolina all need one more victory in their last regular season games to qualify for postseason play. While the Wolfpack and Terps will be battling each other, the Tar Heels will be facing off against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg Saturday night at 7:45.

A bowl eligible NC State team will have won four of its last five games, something that would likely impress bowls that will be shopping for teams once the season is over.
"That's an element that I have no control over," Amato said when asked if there might be a bowl out there for the Wolfpack if it wins on Saturday. "All I know is that we'll be bowl eligible. One of these teams that plays in this game will be bowl eligible when the game is over. I'll tell you one thing: when they see a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference, that will be a double star."

Since Amato arrived at NC State and Ralph Friedgen took over at Maryland, the games between the two schools have been particularly dramatic and intense. Although the Terps have won four of the last five in the series, the games have been decided by an average margin of 5.2 points. Last year in College Park, the Wolfpack's top ranked defense held Maryland to just 91 yards of total offense in a 13-3 victory.

"All ACC games are intense because there's a lot of emotion and a lot of competition," said NC State center Leroy Harris. "It's definitely going to be an intense game, especially since we're both going through the same thing right now. That will add fuel to the fire."

With that in mind, Amato doesn't figure he'll have to come up any special fire and brimstone speeches to get the Pack ready for this one. While the winner could play on, the loser will definitely be done for the season and may not be very interested in watching the other play in a bowl game.

"They know what's going on," Amato said. "Our players don't have to look at the internet or read a newspaper or listen to a sports talk show. They know exactly what's at stake. So do the players at the University of Maryland. You've got two teams that had gone to four straight bowls. Last year, neither team went to a bowl and here we are, both 5-5, playing to become bowl eligible in the last game of the year."

More Pack Points: Twenty seniors will be honored in pregame festivities on Saturday...Junior defensive end Mario Williams set the Wolfpack career tackle for loss record against Middle Tennessee State. He now has 46.5 for his career. Chuck Amato's weekly radio show, normally heard on Wednesday night, will air on Tuesday night of this week at 8:00 p.m. Next Monday, Amato's final radio show of the season will be on the air from 8-9 p.m. That will be followed by the first Herb Sendek Show from 9-10. All shows are produced live from the showroom at Bobby Murray Chevrolet in Raleigh

 

[Irish]

like your boys this weekend. Hope the come to play. Nice week last week. Good luck
Cheers
Irish

 

[ajoytoy]

Trestman: This Game Is 'Critically' Important

By James Henderson
Pack Pride
Date: Nov 22, 2005

NC State offensive coordinator Marc Trestman fielded questions today during his weekly teleconference and here is a sampler of what he had to say.


What has it been like for you in terms of tweaking the offense from a pass-oriented offense to run-oriented?
Ever since we started we have always been working at the running game as hard as we were on the passing game. We were giving it equal time in our practices early on, and we continue to do that throughout the season... trying not only to develop our passing game but also to develop our running game. And some of our very good players are running backs, as everybody knows.

Going into the season we had a senior quarterback playing who had a legitimate amount of time playing in the previous year, and we were probably a little bit more multiple in the things we were doing both in our formations and in our shifts. We were going no huddle, doing a lot more things.

As the season progressed, we got into this discussion... we just felt we hit a wall so to speak. Whether it was intentionally or by virtue of the teams we were playing, we just weren't doing anything offensively and making anything happen. At the same time, Andre Brown was getting work during practice and continuing to get a better understanding of what we were trying to accomplish offensively. At the same time, our line was continuing to get work together and developing. When Marcus took over the offense, we realized with his inexperience, we needed to do some things to help complement him and help him. We found that Andre was ready to go, and I think you can see what has transpired since then.

If someone had told you in the beginning of the season that you would have had won two games where you passed for under 100 yards, what would you have thought?
Well when you run for less than a hundred or pass for less than a hundred, you wouldn't expect to have enough productivity to win a game. The bottomline has always been to protect the football and you are going to win most of your games. In the last four games, we have turned the ball over twice, and one of them was in a critical situation at the end of the half, but other than that we have done a pretty good job of protecting the football and keeping it off the ground. That has kept us in the games. The bottomline is we've been able to win the games where we have protected the football.

Thoughts on Maryland's defense and linebacker D'Qwell Jackson:
They are a pretty multiple defense like most of the defenses that we have seen in the ACC. You got a guy who can do a lot of things very well both against the run and the pass. He's around the ball all the time. At the same time, they've got a scheme where they move people around and get people in different places, and present challenges in terms of attacking our schemes.

How would you access your return to college football?
I can say that I have just loved every minute of it. It goes far beyond the wins and losses. The impact that you can have on a day-to-day basis with these kids both relative to their athletic lives, and academic life is dramatic. I've enjoyed that. It's allowed me also to balance that with my family obligations that are important. As I've looked at it, we are in our 11th game, and in the NFL you are talking five more weeks at a minimum 100 hours a week. That's going to be dramatically different.

Right now if you were 5-5 in the National Football League, you would feel you were in a great position to make the playoffs and get into a January game. It's kind of similar to that and relative to that this week, as it was last week.

I've really enjoyed it. I'm disappointed that we have not been as productive as I would have liked us to be and as we would have liked to be. I am not discouraged at all. I'm very, very optimistic about the direction we are going, and I see real good things in our future. Hopefully we can have some of those things in our future happen to us on Saturday.

Were there things that were more difficult or easier than you expected?
That's a good question. The hardest part of the adjustment was recognizing that you don't get your time with the players relative to teaching them football. That's been the hardest part about it, and trying to learn how to coach offense in college football, an offense you truly believe in. Yet you don't have the time to do it exactly the way you would have liked it because your meeting time is limited, and as I've watched football I see that. I am starting to understand how coaches and successful offenses, not withstanding a player or two, they get it done. How they define and scheme their offense so they teach the things that are necessary.

You have to rely on the players to watch more tape on their own.
We all hope that happens, but also in putting practices together and meeting time, and the more detailed things like: how many protections can you truly run, how many patterns can you have in a gameplan, how many formations can you really build in and have enough time to teach these kids. When they come in during the day they haven't been thinking at all about football. They may have just taken an exam. They have class preparation. Plus they are younger and they are maturing kids more than they are grown men. So there are all these kinds of variables that come into play that you don't even think about when you are coaching in the National Football League, and they do have an impact with what you see on Saturday. It has been an unbelievable learning experience for me in terms of trying to understand how this all comes together so you can put a group on the field that can get the job done on Saturday. The change is dramatic, there is no question about it.

In your first year, would you say that the ACC has been more difficult than you would have thought?
My idea of it is as I've watched teams in the ACC, it's very much like the National Football League. The teams are very, very even. We didn't see Miami. We did see Virginia Tech. We did see Florida State. We've seen how on any Saturday you can beat a team. We've seen that, and you can lose to a team that you expected to beat. The thing is No. 1 I think the coaching is really outstanding in the ACC. The player talent is pretty equally distributed. There is always a player or two on each team, but for the most part the differences in talent is minimal, I think. Anything can happen on game day.

Do you get a feel for how critical this game is for the program?
I think that there is a genuine feeling that it is critically important. We win this football game, and we get back into a bowl after last year. That has been the number one goal. You could feel that as early as yesterday when the players came back.

 

[ajoytoy]

Last chance comes in Raleigh, N.C.
Terps in must-win game to secure a bowl bid
By David Selig Senior staff writer

November 23, 2005

The Gator Bowl baseball cap Terrapin quarterback Sam Hollenbach chose to wear at yesterday?s weekly media luncheon left no doubt about the team?s focus this week. The fading color toward the brim of the navy blue hat showed it?s been almost two years since the Terps have been to a bowl game.

?I?ve been wearing it ever since we went, because I?m waiting for the next bowl hat,? Hollenbach said. ?If we get one, I?ll wear one.?

To get a new ballcap ? and show improved results from a losing season last year ? Hollenbach and the Terps (5-5, 3-4 ACC) must win their final game Saturday against N.C. State (5-5, 2-5) in Raleigh, N.C.

?It doesn?t really get more on the line than this,? Hollenbach said. ?Without a doubt this season hasn?t really gone as we?ve planned, or hoped, but we do have a chance to get to a bowl and to be able to win Saturday will be huge.?

With the ACC reaching an agreement to send one of its bowl-eligible teams to the Music City Bowl (played Dec. 30 in Nashville, Tenn.) and the possibility they will do the same with The Emerald Bowl (Dec. 29, San Francisco), the stage is set for the Terps and Wolfpack to battle for the conference?s eighth postseason spot.

?We looked at it like it was a three-game playoff,? offensive guard Donnie Woods said. ?We got the first win against North Carolina and we lost this one [against Boston College], so we?re 1-1 in the playoffs right now. We need this one to get into the postseason, so it?s going to be a huge game for us.?

From the start of spring practice, coach Ralph Friedgen spoke about the difference between this team and the previous one that finished 5-6. This team didn?t have one player late for winter workouts, he said, and they vowed in individual meetings with the coach that they wouldn?t be spending the holidays at home again.

But Friedgen said it won?t take a win at Carter-Finley Stadium for him to realize the team improved. Watching film of this past Saturday?s loss to Boston College, Friedgen said he couldn?t be angry with the players because of their effort throughout the game.

?I think this team is very deserving of a winning record,? Friedgen said. ?Whether we win or lose Saturday, that?s not going to affect my feeling on this team. I?m pleased with how they?ve worked, and I?d love for them to win Saturday for them, because I think they?re deserving of that. I think that would give us tremendous momentum for next year.

?I?d like for it to happen for our players because they put so much into this season. This was one of the major goals that they had. As far as our program is concerned, I think this team will continue its momentum. It?s a young team. The program?s not going to stop because of that. We?re going to have a good football team here.?

Hollenbach said the players continue to talk about the bowl possibilities and the locations they could be headed with a win Saturday.

But as far as this weekend, the Terps know they?ll be headed to a stadium that probably won?t offer much Thanksgiving cheer. Several players remembered details of their last trip to Raleigh, when they were pelted with bottles and debris after completing an improbable fourth-quarter comeback.

And then there?s the question of whether any significant players will be suspended Saturday for involvement in the Nov. 1 physical altercation at Cornerstone Grill and Loft.

?If there are [any changes to the depth chart], I?m not going to say,? Friedgen said. ?I?m not going to confirm or deny. How?s that??

The players said Friedgen didn?t overly stress the importance of this game, focusing more on N.C. State than the underlying factors.

But the Terps realize what?s at stake. They could continue their season with another game and receive all of the perks of going to a bowl, or they could fly home Saturday with nothing tangible to show for a season of hard work.

?You always want to go out with a winning record,? fifth-year senior center Ryan McDonald said. ?We?ve been playing so hard that you really don?t know if you?re saving your season. You just want to win. You just want to do well because you?ve worked so hard, and we feel like we deserve for some of the breaks to go our way.?

 

[ajoytoy]

weekend plays:

weekend plays:

Pack -2.5 (-110) 3 Unit Play
pool plays
georgia -3.5 (-110)
boise state -6.5 (-108)
fresno state -15 (-105)
utah state -2.5 (-110)

all for a unit

gl everyone and have a great thanksgiving weekend

 

[ajoytoy]

Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: Maryland
Wolfpack, Terps face off Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium.


Nov. 23, 2005

NC STATE (5-5, 2-5) vs. MARYLAND (5-5, 3-4)

DATE: Saturday, November 26, 2005

TIME: Kickoff: 12:00 p.m. (EST) Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NC (57,500)

RADIO: Wolfpack Radio Network: 11:00 a.m. (EST)

TELEVISION: ESPN

OPPONENT----Boston College used both its offensive and defensive units to score and beat Maryland last Saturday at Byrd Stadium 31-16. The No. 23 Eagles needed all the firepower they could muster to overcome a handful of mistakes.

Defensively, Jolonn Dunbar scored on a 94-yard fumble return and Ray Henderson took an interception to the end zone from 35-yards out. Dunbar's school-record score gave Boston College a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. The sophomore linebacker picked up a fumble by Maryland quarterback Sam Hollenbach in stride and sprinted down the right sideline. Henderson's touchdown came with 4:36 left after the Terrapins closed to 24-16.

On the other side of the ball, BC quarterback Matt Ryan completed 16 of 24 passes for 230 yards and Andre Callender had 121 yards rushing for the Eagles, who never trailed in their regular-season finale.

Three of the Terps' four turnovers where charged to Hollenbach who was intercepted twice. The junior went 25-for-45 passing for 230 yards and a touchdown. Boston College also gave the ball away four times, but the Terrapins didn't capitalize as well on those take-a-ways.

Hollenbach's fumble came after Maryland blocked a BC punt. Another mistake by the Eagles' special teams enabled Maryland to close to 14-7. After DeJuan Tribble fumbled a punt at the BC 20, Hollenbach completed a 14-yard pass to Danny Melendez on third-and-10 before Ball ran it in from 6-yards out.

Minutes later, Maryland botched a chance to pull even. Hollenbach moved the Terps to the BC 8 before throwing a pass in the end zone that was picked off by Eagles safety Jamie Silva.

At halftime, BC led 14-10 and after a scoreless third quarter the Eagles took a 21-10 advantage on a 1-yard touchdown run by L.V Whitworth with 10:57 left. Maryland countered with a long drive. A 65-yard run by Lance Ball set up a 7-yard touchdown pass from Hollenbach to Vernon Davis. Following a Boston College field goal, Henderson made his victory-clinching play.


Ball was a big part of an effective Maryland ground game. He ran for 135 yards and a touchdown against a BC defense that leads the ACC in rushing defense. The sophomore is the ACC's No. 3 rusher (84 ypg.) and the Terps average about 145 yards a game on the ground. Ball has rushed for at least 120 yards in three straight games and is averaging 105.6 yards in seven ACC games. His ability to soften up the N.C. State defense could be significant.

Overall, Maryland is No. 2 in the league in total offense (396) and pass offense (251) and averages nearly 26 points a game. However, only one other ACC team (Miami) has fumbled more than the Terps this season. That's been a factor in Maryland's minus-2 turnover margin.

Hollenbach, a first-year starter, has been a big part of the Terps' attack. He's second in the ACC in both passing and total offense and is fourth in the league in passing efficiency. The junior has thrown for 200 or more yards seven times this season.

His top targets are two of the ACC's top-10 receivers. Tight end Vernon Davis (6-3, 253, Jr.) has 43 catches and 5 touchdowns. He's caught four or more passes in six straight games. Melendez (6-2, 179, Sr.) is next with 38 receptions. Seniors Jo Jo Walker and Derrick Fenner and junior Drew Weatherly are also very effective receivers.

The Terps pass defense has been decent ( No.5 ACC) and has surrendered only 4 passing touchdowns all season, but Maryland is ranked in the bottom third of the ACC in total defense (10th) and near the bottom against the run (11th). That rushing defense, which is giving up an average of 175 yards a game, will no doubt be challenged by an NC State offense that must run to be successful.

Up front, junior tackle Conrad Bolston (6-3, 285), a second-year starter, anchors a young defensive line, but the linebackers have more experience. Senior middle linebacker D'Quell Jackson leads the ACC and is No.2 nationally in tackles per game (13.8). William Kershaw and David Holloway are both second-year starters.

In the secondary, redshirt senior cornerback, Gerrick McPhearson, is the most experienced. He's a second-year starter with 4.28 speed in the 40-yard dash. The other corner, junior Josh Wilson (4.35 speed) and the safties, Milton Harris and Christian Varner, are all first-year starters.

Maryland has the ACC's No.2 punter in junior Adam Podlesh. He's averaging 43.8 yards a boot and is a weapon in the field position game. Dan Ennis, a junior, has made 17 of 23 field goal attempts, but has not been effective from long range and has missed two extra point kicks. The Terps haven't produced much yardage from punt returns this season and statistically are in the middle of the ACC in kick return yardage.

Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen would not confirm or deny if changes would be made to his starting lineup when he met with reporters on Tuesday. It is believed Maryland could be missing some players because of suspensions in connection with a brawl at a College Park bar earlier this month. Friedgen previously said three players would be suspended for one game for their roles in the fight and another for an unrelated underage drinking offense, but Friedgen has yet to identify any of the players.

NOTES: The Pack has committed only two turnovers in its last three games...State has 18 sacks and 57 tackle for loss in its last 5 games and is allowing opponents an average of 79 rushing yards during that span... State is 11-of-53 on third down in its last 4 games (21%)... Maryland is converting 35 percent of its third down opportunities this season... Pack linebacker Stephen Tulloch is No. 2 in the ACC with an average of 11.4 tackles per game....Mario Williams has recorded 13.5 tackles for loss and 9 sacks in the last 5 games and is tied for No. 4 in the ACC in tackles for loss... Darrell Blackmon leads the ACC in kickoff returns (31.6)...In its last 5 games, State has been flagged for a total 30 penalties, a major improvement from earlier this season... Marcus Stone threw for a career high 247 yards at Boston College, but managed only 85 yards against Middle Tennessee last week. In four career starts Stone has tossed 4 touchdown passes and has been intercepted 4 times...Maryland is near the bottom in the ACC in sacks (17) while State is fourth (29)...Both the Wolfpack and Terps need a win to become bowl eligible...The average margin of victory in the last five NC State-Maryland games has been 5.2 points....Twenty Wolfpack senior will be honored in pregame ceremonies before kickoff on Saturday.

INJURIES--NC State: DT John McCargo (foot)-out; TE John Ritcher (knee sprain)-probable; WR Geron James (shoulder surgery)-out.MarylandNone reported

 

[trolln4walii]

GL on your plays toy. Here's hoping your great week last Saturday carries over to this week :mj14: With you on the Bulldogs

 

[lowell]

good luck today. got a feeling we are in for a close game that will go down to the wire

 

[jdp1152]

good luck...I hope NC state wins, but I wouldn't touch this game with my enemy's money.

 

[Blackman]

Good luck Toy, hope they come alive in the second half

 

[lowell]

great call. congrats

 

[ajoytoy]

Pack got a tough must needed win over the Terps today :mj14:

wasn't pretty but it made them bowl eligible :mj07:

now lets see if they get one :sadwave:

this week: 4-1 (+4.95) damn Fresno St :cursin:


final ytd 63-68-3 (+3.32)

2 Unit Plays: 14-9

3 Unit Plays: 2-1

5 Unit Plays: 1-0

With the regular season basically over, was extremely happy to finish the season strong and get in the black


And Anthony, if you read this, are we doing our 3rd year of the bowl contest?

I'll shoot you an email later if you reply here

see see you guys in the bowls :mj14: