Raleigh, N.C. ? Not long after N.C. State lost to Maryland to end the regular season, the order went out from Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato to his staff.
There were preparations to be made for the Tangerine Bowl where the Pack would play Kansas.
But Amato also wanted a good chunk of time between the Nov. 22 Maryland game and the Dec. 22 bowl game to be spent on serious analysis of the Pack’s late-season woes that resulted in a 7-5 record.
Why the red-zone breakdowns by State’s offense?
Why the defensive struggles late in the first half and at the end of games?
Where did the Pack come up short in fundamentals?
When a team averages 36.1 points, as the Wolfpack did this season to lead the ACC in scoring, troubles inside the opponent’s 20-yard line usually are minimal. But State came up short in some critical situations, notably in the 50-44 double-overtime loss at Florida State, then the next week against Maryland in the 26-24 defeat at Carter-Finley Stadium.
“One of the things we went back and analyzed was why are we having a tough time scoring touchdowns in the red zone, from the middle of the season on,” Amato said this week. “How many times did we have first-and-goal at the 2, 3, 7 or 8 and come away with three points? Or none?”
Leading Florida State 20-17 early in the second half, the Pack had first-and-goal at the FSU 4 but came away with a field goal. Leading Maryland 14-10 early in the second half, the Pack had first-and-goal at the 8 but came away with nothing after a missed field goal.
In the fourth quarter against the Terps, State led 21-10 and drove to first-and-goal at the 7. A run by tailback T.A. McLendon netted 2 yards, quarterback Philip Rivers was sacked, McLendon was stuffed on a run and the Pack settled for a field goal.
“When you’re doing that, there are many things that come into the picture: penalties, missed assignments, whatever,” Amato said. “I told our coaches, ‘Don’t say you’d call another play.’ You can’t. It’s why? It’s what was the rationale and let’s correct it.”
The offensive strategy was sound, Rivers said.
“We just didn’t execute,” he said. “It’s a matter of doing what we’re supposed to do.
“You look at the points we averaged and if you didn’t look at individual games, you wouldn’t think it was a problem. You try to correct mistakes week to week, but when you have 15 practices [for a bowl], you can touch up your game. We can work and focus on some things we struggled with.”
That includes turnovers. Fumbles by McLendon, late in the first half at FSU and then in the final minutes of the Maryland game, were huge. Wide receiver Brian Clark also lost a fumble late in regulation against the Seminoles.
“We made a lot of mistakes the last two games and it cost us,” senior receiver Jerricho Cotchery said. “It cost us a great season. It ended up being an average season.”
Amato decided on more contact work before the Tangerine Bowl than before the Gator Bowl last season, capped by a scrimmage Saturday that lasted almost three hours. There was added emphasis, Amato said, on being more physical, both blocking and running with the ball.
“I don’t like people running out of bounds,” he said. “I want one more yard. That might be the difference in a score.”
Defensively, the Pack allowed Maryland to score 10 points in the last two minutes of the first half — a touchdown with 1:22 left, then a field goal with five seconds remaining. The Terps then scored 16 points in the last nine minutes of the game, getting the winning field goal from Nick Novak with 23 seconds to play.
“How many times did we give up scores with 7 seconds left, 25 seconds left?” Amato said. “That’s gut check. That’s courage. That’s somebody making a play — somebody on our side of the ball making a play and not somebody on their side of the football.”
Amato will reveal little about any X-and-O changes that may have been made in the Pack’s bowl practices, which also are closed to the media and public. Maybe he has ruled out any more quarterback draws in the red zone against Kansas, maybe not. Maybe fewer defensive blitzes, maybe more.
The Pack left Wednesday afternoon for Orlando, Fla. The weather should be better but the Wolfpack practices could be just as intense before the game Monday against the Jayhawks (6-6).
“We’ll be focused,” Rivers said. “We’ll be cranked up. Coming off two tough losses, there’s no reason not to be excited to play.
“We can’t make up for the losses. But certainly we want to end with a win.”
