NC State held its annual Red-White spring game on Saturday afternoon, and the house was packed with fans eager to see new head man Tom O’Brien and see the progress in the three-headed quarterback battle between incumbent Daniel Evans, Nebraska transfer Harrison Beck and highly regarded redshirt freshman Justin Burke. Nearly 15,000 diehard Wolfpack fans were on hand during an occasionally gusty day, and they came away thinking that Evans is more than up to the challenge of retaining his starting job.
Evans brought the White team back from a 10-point deficit with a pair of late touchdown tosses to senior wideout Darrell Blackman, the last coming with just 16 seconds left to lift the White squad to a 35-31 victory. Here are some observations from the day:
• Evans hit 20 of 34 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns, losing a fumble on a vicious hit. He moved well outside the pocket, threw the ball away when he had to, fitted the ball into small windows, and generally looked bigger and stronger than last year. His calm demeanor surfaced on the game-winning drive, and the offense appeared to run more confidently when he was at the helm.
• On the flip side, Beck and Burke struggled mightily. Beck has a very strong arm, which he apparently likes to show off. When in doubt, he would uncork the ball as far as he could, doing so on about five occasions during the day. He connected on just seven of 26 passes for 116 yards, with an interception. Burke was more accurate, drilling 13 of 24 passes for 121 yards -- but he tossed three picks on the afternoon. He got off to a jittery start, but popped up quickly each time he was hit by the pass rush and appeared to get into a rhythm later in the afternoon. However, both have to be considered a distant second to Evans following spring ball.
• The Toting Trio of Toney Baker, Andre Brown and Jamelle Eugene ran wild, combining for 449 yards and four touchdowns on 49 carries, averaging 9.2 yards per rush. Eugene had a 55-yard run among his many cutback rushes, but did cough the ball up twice. Baker punished defenders for 163 yards and two touchdowns, while Brown added 112 yards and two more scores. Suffice it to say that offensive coordinator Dana Bible is licking his chops at the prospect of having three starting-caliber tailbacks to move around like chess pieces within his offense.
• Blackman led the way in the receiving corps, reeling in six passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns, including a 50-yard perfect strike from Evans. However, he proceeded to rip off his helmet and receive an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after his game-winning touchdown, bringing up bad memories of the Chuck Amato era. However, the referee pulled him aside afterward, and it appeared as if Blackman was explaining that he only did it because it was a scrimmage for the fans. No matter the reason, it’s the kind of crap that will earn you a spot in the dark back corner of Tommy O’Irish’s doghouse.
• Elsewhere in the receiving corps, another senior, John Dunlap, had six catches for 70 yards, including a 19-yard touchdowns, while sophomore Donald Bowens had six grabs for 69 yards and a score.
• God love ‘im, but even after being shifted from quarterback, Marcus Stone found a way to nearly throw an interception on a tight end option play. He tossed a pick on a similar play against EZU in last year’s season finale, so methinks it’s time to shred that particular page of the playbook.
• The revamped offensive line looked good, though the absence of injured senior defensive tackle DeMario Pressley certainly helped their cause. Behemoths Curtis Crouch and Jeraill McCuller were eager to pound someone, and most of the younger linemen did a good job of sustaining their blocks, something that has been missing the past couple of years.
• State did a great job of promoting and marketing the first annual Alumni Weekend, with 300 former football players attending a Friday night social gathering. They announced these players by decade at halftime of the spring game, highlighted by perennial Pro Bowler Torry Holt and Jets wideout Jerricho Cotchery. The first overall pick of the 2006 draft, the Texans’ Mario Williams, was sitting in one of the end zones in a tank top. He was Greg Oden before Greg Oden – looking roughly 32 when he was 18 years old – and he looked like he was sizing up the possibility of bench-pressing the Murphy Center. Great effort by O’Brien to make the alumni a big part of his program and making sure all ex-players feel welcome and included. There was a hole in the programs of both Amato and basketball coach Herb Sendek in this area, and O’Brien and Sidney Lowe have acted quickly and efficiently in correcting those errors.
• State is always going to be good on the defensive line. The names change, but the standouts emerge, and that appears to be the case again in 2007. Even a coupla walk-ons made some big plays in the scrimmage, and if the son of defensive line coach Keith Willis becomes immediately eligible to play, this unit becomes that much stronger.
• The linebacker play is a huge cause for concern, as many of the long running plays came on loss of containment following admittedly good cuts from the Pack tailbacks. Redshirt freshman Nate Irving stood out, looking quick to the ball and sneaky fast on blitzes, and Ray Michel is very promising as well. However, this unit has to be considered the weak link on defense, and the Red-White game did nothing to change that perception.
• The good news is senior corner Jimmie Sutton III was in position to interception three different passes. The bad news is he dropped every one. Levin Neal looked to have a leg up on locking down the other corner spot.
• Two promising young safeties emerged in true freshman Jimmaul Simmons and redshirt freshman Javon Walker. Simmons has been tabbed as a future outside linebacker after enrolling this spring, but to quote Lee Corse, “Not so fast, my friend.” His coast-to-coast 100-yard interception return for a touchdown, along with a handful of other plays, showed that he could be ready to stick at safety. Walker hauled in two picks of his own, displaying good range in the secondary. Considering the upperclassmen NC State has at safety in DaJuan Morgan and Miguel Scott, the play of Simmons and Walker was a good sign.
• Josh Czajkowski was perfect on extra points and drilled a 40-yard field goal into the wind, and later barely missed from about 55 yards or so. However, the fact that the Pack couldn’t even field a punter is cause for concern, placing a lot of pressure on Jeff Ruiz assuming the role immediately in the fall after he arrives from junior college.
• Telling quote from O’Brien at the end: “We take care of [penalties], and we compete the way we competed at the end, we’re going to win some football games here.”
• Nineteen potential recruiting targets were on hand for the spring game, plus nine of the Class of 2007 signees.
Editor’s Note: The pictures are courtesy of Pack Pride photo editor Jason Cole. Check out PackPride.com for more photos and coverage of the Red-White game.
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