At this point, the ‘I’ve been posterized by Griffin’ list probably reads more like a medium-length novel. It’s become a nightly thing, and amazingly, it’s no longer surprising or even that impressive. People expect Griffin to make people trying to block his shot look like tiny men. He rarely disappoints.

On Wednesday night, Pau Gasol was targeted twice in the battle of Los Angeles. The Lakers won the game, in large part due to 67 combined points from Andrew Bynum and Kobe Bryant, but Griffin and the Clippers won the highlight contest. Neither is surprising.

Anyway, to the video!

The first dunk came just two minutes in when Griffin swooped in from the 3-point line to put back a missed Randy Foye three.

The second, and much more controversial dunk — HE USED HIS FOREARM! — came in the third quarter on a more standard pick-and-roll situation. Note to self, and anyone else thinking about trying to stop Griffin on a play like that: just don’t. You’ll save your neck from being in pain and your ego from being damaged. And don’t give me the offensive foul argument. Do you honestly expect that to be called?

It's going to be OK Jeff...promise.

Yes, I do still blog. You mean y’all haven’t noticed all my recent posts?

To say it’s been a busy six months would be an understatement. That said, I have no excuse for not filling up this space on the Interwebs with angry posts about ACC football, basketball and other sports topics. I’ll try to do better. Notice I didn’t say “I will do better.” Anyway, on to Wake Forest vs. NC State, a Saturday showdown in the RBC Center that should really get the blood flowing. Given the back-and-forth game the two played in January (wait, what?), I fully expect another barn burner in Raleigh this weekend.

Many thanks to Martin Rickman, owner and site manager of the fine Wake Forest site Blogger So Dear, for contacting me about doing a Q&A preview of tomorrow’s game. My questions are in bold. To find my answers to his questions, go here.

1. A lot went wrong for the Deacons when NC State came to Winston-Salem last month, but in your opinion, what were the one or two things Wake did or didn’t do that kept it from being a competitive 8-15 point game? How did it become the atrocity it did early in the second half? Essentially, what the heck did Wake do wrong? It can’t be just a bad matchup.

Aside from being a bad offensive team that doesn’t rebound, Wake rebounded even less and shot especially poorly in this one. Usually if you do neither of those things you’re going to lose, especially if you were facing a matchup nightmare on paper as Wake was with State. N.C. State is more physical, more athletic and much more efficient offensively than the Demon Deacons. With that said, State was able to get easy buckets in transition, have balanced scoring and hit a solid amount of outside shots – as Wake continued time and again to miss shots and waste possessions. The deficit ballooned, and once Travis McKie was ejected, it just got uglier.

2. Not to keep bringing up the game in Winston-Salem, but what happened on the Travis McKie elbow and ejection? What was his or Bzdelik’s explanation?

It just looks like McKie was in the wrong place in the wrong time, honestly. He has no history of a temper. He just plays hard. On this one, he had the ball stripped and it looked like he flailed his arms when he lost the ball, inadvertently knocking Scott Wood (albeit rather solidly) in the face. Elbow to face leads to a flagrant a lot of the time, and it’s a tough call to make. Dan Collins broke down the play pretty well in his blog, including this quote from McKie:

“When people look up to you to lead this team and carry the load of this team and you don’t do it and on top of that you get ejected it’s so sad,’’ McKie said. “So this is probably the worst game of my college career. This is a bad loss for us but I think this is a turning point for me individually. I think I need to do a lot more things off the court and on the court to help myself and my team get better. So I have to change.”

3. Are you surprised with how things have gone for the Deacons this season? Expectations were certainly tempered because of the somewhat rocky offseason, but I’m not sure many saw this type of situation playing out.

Surprised? No. Disappointed? Yes. Although they’ll still finish with around the same amount of wins as I predicted (between 12-15), I was really hoping for more improvement out of this team. I was really hoping they’d prove me wrong, play over their heads, and that removing the undesirable elements of the team (which were also largely the most talented players) would lead to more cohesion and a more efficient offense that would be competitive, but lose late due to a lack of depth. That would show that the team is not merely playing poorly with their personnel, but that they were being “coached up.”

Instead, the team gets blasted around the 15-minute mark in the second half, teams are letting off the gas, and Wake is getting backdoor covers, if they cover the spread at all. We were fed this line over and over about how terrific an Xs and Os coach Jeff Bzdelik is, and if he had the players he wanted, he’d be fine. So, he removed the ones that didn’t “fit,” and the offense is still struggling to get to 60 points every game.

There are a couple pleasant surprises – the road win against Nebraska, the close loss to Dayton, the VT win, etc. – but for every one of those essentially “overachieving” performances, there has been a clunker (State, Arizona State, Duke, UNC, Florida State, Wofford, only beating Yale by a point, almost losing to High Point, et al), and right now, the team is on a real skid, losing six of seven by an average of 18 points with the lone win coming against epically bad Boston College.

4. What young players have impressed you during a tough season?

C.J. Harris and Travis McKie for their ability to keep their heads held high, play hard every game and become leaders. These two players deserve so much better. Harris came in a class with 4* Ari Stewart right after the AT&T (Aminu, Woods, Walker) class and McKie was recruited in a balanced five player class that, although overrated, was still supposed to be a solid class. A lot went wrong after that. I really feel for them.

Aside from those two, I like how Ty Walker has matured as a senior. He was a question mark coming into this year and was suspended from the team for the first semester. If the Deacs don’t have the effort out of Ty that they’ve been getting, the losses would be even worse.

I also have seen nice spurts (but would like to see more) from freshman Chase Fischer. The kid just needs more confidence. This team is awful, so taking an ill-advised shot or making a bad decision isn’t going to end up costing them games. He has a blank slate. He just needs to play within himself and start having fun. He is thinking too much. I wish I could trust Bzdelik to get through to him on that.

5. What’s the feeling regarding Jeff Bzdelik at this point? From afar, it almost feels like sympathy combined with an understanding that he’s in an extremely tough situation. What’ the mood like in Winston-Salem? Are people as understanding as they probably should be?

It is sympathy, almost to a fault. Some people want Ron Wellman to be right so badly, and don’t want to admit that Wake’s coach is bad that they’re going to great lengths to make excuses for the guy. Others never gave him a chance to begin with because he was an unsexy hire, he has zero NCAA Tournament wins, he has a horrific record in February/March, and he’s 59 years old.

The mood in the ACC at large about Wake Forest, and in Winston-Salem, is apathy. You could see it in spades at the Joel against UNC this week. The place was almost 60 percent baby blue. Many media members and analysts mentioned the sad, pathetic state that the place was in. This in the same venue that was rocking and ended in a court-storming over the Heels just three years ago.

The hiring was underwhelming and rushed. Dino was fired on Wednesday, and Jeff Goodman reported on Friday that Bzdelik was hired. Fans were angry and confused. They saw Gaudio’s firing as the Wake Forest athletic department taking a shot at a big gun and taking the team to the next level, then were left with a coach many casual fans had never even heard of.

And then the spin cycle started: the “culture change” line was thrown in, there was an “article” of quotes detailing all of Bzdelik’s friends and his achievements. All while Bzdelik kept the Wake assistants to hold onto a top ten recruiting class that brought the team eight total wins, had legal/academic problems and all of a sudden, the scorched earth policy was in full effect as a bevy of players walked out (or were shown) the door.

Sympathy is a good word for it because no one truly wanted to see this happen to a once-proud and storied program. There have been good moments, but it has been largely tragedy since that fateful day when Skip Prosser decided to go for a run in July of 2007. Fans have a ton of emotional baggage they are still working through. It manifests itself in a variety of ways – self-deprecation, dark humor, anger, delusional thoughts – but at the end of the day it’s mostly sadness and the idea of what could have been. We lost a great one in Skip, and coaches (as well as human beings) like him don’t come around very often.

6. What player will be responsible for making the second meeting of the season closer than the first?

McKie. He has a lot to make up for from the last meeting in which he scored just two points and was ejected. He’s been struggling a bit lately; his shot is off and he is forcing things. He needs to be focused and have a solid night against State’s talented wings.

6. Let’s hear a prediction. Final score? Maybe leading scorers for both teams?

State should be able to handle this one again, although I don’t see Wake falling as flat as in the first meeting in Winston-Salem. The Deacs have had a really difficult time scoring of late, and need to at least shoot 40 percent to keep this thing under double-digits against athletic players like Williams, Leslie, Brown and Howell. A solid performance out of Wood would really tip the scales in N.C. State’s favor as well. I think Leslie gets 20 and C.J. Harris leads the Deacs with 18.

As for a prediction, let’s say, Pack wins 76-58.

Now, on to the meat of this long overdue post (overdue in the sense that I haven’t posted in months and because of the topic being discussed) that I’ve been angrily writing in my head since the first time I saw a set of antlers on a minivan.

Who came up with this idea? What person had enough free time to say to themselves, ‘you know, I think my station wagon needs a nice set of stuffed antlers coming out of the windows and a Rudolph nose hanging off the front bumper?’  Was it a grandmother who was too darn sweet to confront? Maybe an innocent child who would have been crushed if his wimp of a father had said ‘no son, we can’t put antlers on my Tahoe.’

It’s hard to say when, how and why it started, but at this point it’s crystal clear: people love putting Christmas decorations that should never see the light of day on their cars, arguably the most public pieces of property they own. It’s appalling, sickening and it must be stopped (or at the very least, made fun of).

I’ve talked junk about everything that’s wrong with Christmas before. Several times, actually (Here, here and here). But this latest craze, which defies logic more than ‘ol Timmy Tebow, takes the cake. My initial paragraph-long rant about car decorations last year has now morphed into a full-fledged rant.

Throughout the last couple of days, I’ve solicited my Twitter followers for pictures of some of the more ridiculous Christmas cars they’ve seen to use as an example. I’ve compiled them for your viewing (dis)pleasure. When you see these cars in parking lots, feel free to remove the antlers, wreaths, lights or whatever else and place them in the closest trashcan. If you see folks driving, try to do the ‘you have a flat tire’ motion and when they pull over, make your move. They may think you’re a carjacker, so act quickly and get on your way.

Whatever you do, don’t condone people you know who have decorations on their cars.

Thanks to everyone who contributed photos.

#NoChristmasDecorationsOnCars

This person actually drove through downtown Raleigh with this on his car. Sad.

Photo courtesy @mirdot.

A part of me wants to let this slide because of the American flag, but I just can't.

Photo courtesy @Lon_Petrini.

Multi-colored lights intertwined in the bike rack of a mid 90s Honda Accord. Yeah, they look as dumb as that sentence reads.

Photo courtesy @firstdownpack.

More lights on a rack, this time on a Highlander. Kudos to Mr. Smith for taking this while going 70 mph.

Photo courtesy @RCorySmith.

The car is bad enough. The wreath doesn't help.

Photo courtesy @EmilyLHurst.

This is the worst, and it's not even close.

Photo courtesy @TrickyVick.

I was going to try and write a closing paragraph, but I just looked at the Smart Car photo again. I’m speechless.

If you havent’ followed this blog at all, last year I had a weekly installment called the “Wednesday Whine” where I’d pick a topic that bothered me and essentially talk junk about it. Seeing as how this is a blog on the Internets, I feel like calling people out is just how it works. I feel really tough behind this keyboard. I talked about the N.C. State Fair, things I despise about Christmas and, most famously, spandex. Thanks to the beauty of search engines, that spandex rant still gets a good number of hits each week.

I’ve been looking for an excuse to bring it back, and on Tuesday, Steve Spurrier delivered. Thanks HBC, I really do appreciate it.

If you’ve missed it, Steve Spurrier lost his mind before his weekly press conference, essentially disassociating himself from The State columnist Ron Morris because of some “negative” articles Morris has written in the last six months. Spurrier threw a little tantrum and ended with “well I’m not going to talk if he’s in here.”

I’ll let you watch it for yourself and then, for my whine, I’m going to break it down play-by-play style.

The Entrance

Because of when the GamecockAnthem camera operator hit record, we don’t see Spurrier walk through the door, but as soon as the video starts you can tell Spurrier just isn’t happy. Steve’s rocking the green golf shirt and pleated pants, and if I was a betting man I’d say he probably had on brown loafers (no laces) with no socks. Hands in his pockets, Spurrier just kind of paces for a second, as if he’s thinking of how to start. He doesn’t sit down, which is abnormal as well. Then, the throat clear, which can be translated as “y’all shut up now, I’m about to start talking.” It should have been clear after the first 10 seconds that something was about to go down.

The Intro

After Spurrier’s done with his “I’m a golf pro on the side” entrance, he jumps right into the intro, or the “getting this off my chest” portion of the 2-minute rant. He does that with a history lesson, which let everyone know that he was upset with columnist Ron Morris for writing what Spurrier called a “completely fabricated” story nearly six months ago. That raises my first serious question. Why in the heck did this take so long? If Spurriers was so upset, why not take Morris to town in the spring, or better yet, why not take him aside, one on one, and tell him how you felt? No, no. Steve waits until mid-season, after Morris has written several more pieces criticizing Spurrier’s ability to run the South Carolina offense to blow up. Sorry coach, but that’s not how it works.

Anyway, Spurrier  goes on for 45 seconds or so giving background for why he’s angry and even bringing up Larry Guest, the other writer he’s “disassociated” himself with in his 26-year career. He continues to pace during this portion of his speech, as if he’s addressing a class of children who didn’t stay in single-file line.

The Meat

Finally, after more than 90 seconds of getting to the point, Spurrier arrives at the conclusion that he will no longer be talking to Ron Morris. Fine, great, do what you have to do. But the way he begins this part of the presser is a bit weird. Spurrier says “and then I’ve learned that he sits in on all these meetings,” referring to Morris, essentially allowing Morris the chance to contributing writing all this negative stuff. STEVE, Morris has covered the team all year. You’ve learned? Come on man.

Anyway, Spurrier moves on to the real reason for his entire two minutes of car crash public relations: to say that Morris isn’t welcome at press conferences or around his football team.

“I’m not going to talk while he’s in here, that’s my right as a head coach” Spurrier said, pointing to his chest.  ”I don’t have to talk to him, and I don’t have to talk to him when he’s in here.”

Just so we’re clear, Steve doesn’t have to talk to him, whether he’s in the room, not in the room, or whatever. He just doesn’t have to. That’s his right and that’s all that matters. It almost feels like Spurrier is sticking his tongue out at Morris like a 2-year-old. “Na-na-na-na-na, I don’t have to talk to you.”

And I’m right there with Spurrier in the sense that he doesn’t have to talk to Morris. He’s right, he doesn’t. It wouldn’t be the first time a coach tried to freeze out the media. Spurrier just chose to do it in the least flattering way ever, making himself look like a complete idiot. During my stint with NC State’s Technician, the volleyball coach tried the same thing. It lasted a few weeks, until she got fired for never winning matches. Worked out well for her though, yep.

The Conclusion

This is when the ‘ol ball coach makes an appearance. He claps his hands, as if to say “alright, let’s go team” and offers one-on-one interviews to all the television crews in attendance. The speed of his pacing picks up, almost in attempt to get everyone in the room excited and behind him. He even asks “everyone alright with that?” What are they going to say, Steve? He speaks to who I would assume is his media relations director (poor man) to find out what room to go to, and then he kind of rushes out, hoping a group of Columbia, S.C. television reporters are following him to victory.

Spurrier’s Tuesday rank is not even close to as good as some of the other classic coach-to-media moments, but it might be the dumbest I’ve ever seen. Airing dirty laundry with a columnist who hurt your feelings isn’t a good look, even if the story was fabricated (which no one really knows, to my knowledge). I would expect a coach with 26 years of experience (thanks for pointing that out, Coach) to know better. Oh well, it’s not like it was the best PR day for South Carolina football. The Gamecocks dismissed Stephen Garcia from the team right after Spurrier’s press conference.

I’ll leave you with some of my favorite coach-to-media rants. Mike Gundy will live forever.

There was a football team in Winston-Salem Saturday, and somewhat surprisingly (not to me), it wasn’t Florida State. Until the Seminoles can figure out what’s going with their quarterback situation, expect inconsistent performances.

NC State looked better in its win over Central Michigan, especially in the second half. Tom O’Brien (SNIFF) is getting things all lined up for a 5-1 finish.

Not sure what happened to Pittsburgh against Rutgers. I’ll blame Big East commissioner John Marinatto.

Going to keep things brief today.

Correct Picks

NC State (-10.5)
Wake Forest (+10.5)
Clemson (-21)
Tulane (+10) against Syracuse

Incorrect Picks

UNC (-14)
Georgia Tech (-14)
Virginia Tech (-7.5)
Pittsburgh (-7)

Season Record: 40-17-1

Maybe the Eagles should just let Kuechly play running back.

With the “let’s prove how good we are nationally” part of the season in the rear view mirror (thankfully), the ACC schedule really starts to heat up in week six with several important conference games. It’s about time. Nothing gets my blood flowing quite like Maryland Georgia Tech at noon in Atlanta.

There are a couple of upset alert games this week, with Florida State visiting Wake Forest and Boston College going to Clemson. Alright, maybe only one upset game (damn you, Spaz).

Sadly, with a bye week Duke can’t go for four straight wins in four straight weeks. The quest will have to wait until next Saturday when Florida State comes to Wallace Wade.

On to the picks…

Louisville @ UNC (12 p.m., ESPN2)
Line: UNC by 14
Pick: UNC

Louisville is not a good football team, and that’s putting it lightly. This is the type of game Carolina should dominate coming off a road win in a, wait for it, rivalry game. Biggest question is will UNC allow the Cardinals to keep it close by turning it over like it did in the Rutgers game. In my view, that’s Louisville’s only hope.

Maryland @ Georgia Tech (12 p.m., ESPNU)
Line: Georgia Tech by 14
Pick: Georgia Tech

Maryland has the second worst rush defense in the ACC (90th nationally) and has looked downright awful at times following the season-opening jersey victory over Miami. Playing Georgia Tech with a bad rush defense usually doesn’t mean good things will happen. Ask NC State, who is 87th against the run. The good thing for the Terps is that with the noon start in Atlanta on ESPNU, not many people will see the beatdown.

Florida State @ Wake Forest (12:30 p.m., ACCN)
Line: Florida State by 10.5
Pick: Wake Forest

Will E.J. Manuel play or won’t he? That’s the biggest question surrounding this game, but maybe it shouldn’t be. Wake Forest is dramatically better than a year ago and playing at home should give Tanner Price and the Deacons a chance to keep this one close. I like FSU to win, but I see this as a one touchdown game.

Boston College @ Clemson (3 p.m., RSN)
Line: Clemson by 21
Pick: Clemson

Three touchdown spreads scare the heck out of me, but I really think Boston College is that bad. Chances are I will regret this pick. Come on Dabo, fire ‘em up.

Central Michigan @ NC State (3:30 p.m., ESPN3)
Line: NC State by 10.5
Pick: NC State

The running game returns for an encore a week after racking up nearly 200 yards against Georgia Tech and the NC State defense is just not bad good enough to give the Wolfpack a two-touchdown win. I struggle to believe any part of that last sentence, but I’m still going with the Wolfpack. Who’s ready for black jerseys?

Miami @ Virginia Tech (3:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN)
Line: Virginia Tech by 7.5
Pick: Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech will be looking to rebound Saturday after being embarrassed by Clemson last week. Expect David Wilson to have a big day against the ACC’s worst rush defense (Miami checks in at a shocking 105th nationally). Also, Miami lost arguably it’s best defensive player in tackle Marcus Forston this week to a knee injury. That won’t help the cause for the Canes.

ACC Futurama Picks

Pittsburgh @ Rutgers (3:30 p.m., ESPNU)
Line: Pitt by 7
Pick: Pitt

Ray Graham may be one of the top two or three players in the ACC, and technically, he’s not even in the ACC.

Syracuse @ Tulane (8 p.m.)
Line: Syracuse by 10
Pick: Tulane

No way I’m picking Syracuse to cover on the road in that wild atmosphere.

Season Record: 36-16

Excuse the jump into nerd territory with this post, but I couldn’t resist mentioning the New York Magazine article I read Tuesday about the past, present and future of the Twitter machine.

The book-length piece, which centers on how the powers that be at Twitter headquarters intend on making the company profitable, did much more than simply talk about Twitter and cash (which it will generate, mind you). Author Joe Hagan talked at length about what Twitter is, what makes it great for those who use it and how it’s constantly changing despite not being fully defined.

For me, that’s the greatest part about Twitter: it has no true definition. It can be whatever each individual user wants at any given time and it can change almost instantly.

If you get a few minutes, read the whole article. If not, here’s a couple of notable excerpts.

“People describe Twitter as a global consciousness,” says Ryan Sarver, a fast-talking engineer who comes out of his third-floor sanctum to meet me in a conference room. Sarver, who is responsible for managing this chaotic flow, the so-called fire hose of tweets, says Twitter has only begun to take shape. “We’re in the early life cycle of what the platform is,” he says. “This is version one.”

In the planning rooms of Twitter, the most prolific and widely followed tweeters are called “influencers,” or “power users,” and they are at the core of its business. If it loses them, it becomes, essentially, MySpace—a digital graveyard where a party used to be. So while they race to retool the tweeting experience for the masses, Costolo and Dorsey are on a parallel campaign to keep Twitter’s star attractions, celebrities and politicians and the media, chattering away on Twitter.

1955-2011

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc., who introduced simple, well-designed computers for people who were more interested in what technology could do rather than how it was done, died Wednesday at age 56.

In a brief statement, Apple announced the death but did not say where he died. Mr. Jobs suffered from a rare form of pancreatic cancer and had a liver transplant in 2009, and he stepped down as Apple’s chief executive on Aug. 24.

Full obituary from Washington Post.

Like a lot of people, I’m at a loss for words. Steve Jobs was a true innovator and someone who changed the way the world uses and appreciates technology. In a lot of ways, he completely changed the way we think about personal technology and what it should do for the person using it.

Fittingly, I learned about his passing on my iPhone. As I continued to refresh Twitter and see how everyone in my Raleigh-based network responded, Jobs’ influence became even more apparent.

A couple of quotes from Jobs.

“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”

Also, if you want a quick look into how Jobs thought about business and life, take a few minutes and watch his commencement address at Stanford in 2005. Really good stuff.

RIP, Steve.

Never thought I'd argue for Sonic to get more touches. Wonders never cease.

NC State is a weird team to cover. I’m not sure there is a group in the country that can leave you with so many different emotions/thoughts/feelings after a game, win or lose.

Take Saturday’s 45-35 magical cover loss against Georgia Tech. The Wolfpack dug a 21-0 hole, pulled to within a touchdown a quarter and a half later before inexplicably allowing 21 points in a 2 1/2 minute stretch to seal their fate. Seriously?

The wild swings in momentum and the level of play can make it hard to even judge how the Wolfpack performed. Again, take Saturday’s game. NC State held a Georgia Tech offense averaging more than 600 yards a game to just over 400 and stopped the Yellow Jackets on 8 of 12 third downs, yet somehow I left the stadium thinking the game was never close. I just don’t get it.

One thing I do get, however, is that NC State starts games horribly. That’s putting it nicely. State has been dumpster fire bad in the first quarter of every game this season, and that includes two games against FCS opponents. The Wolfpack have been outscored 41-10 in the first quarter of games in 2011 and have put themselves in position to fail time and again. In its three losses NC State has been down by double digits after the first 15 minutes (10-0 vs. WF, 14-0 vs. Cincy, 14-0 vs. GT). In its two wins, things weren’t much better for State. The Wolfpack led South Alabama 7-3 and Liberty 3-0. Not exactly inspiring.

The more alarming part of all of the early game struggles, at least to me, is the fact that no one seems to have any idea as to what’s going on. Tom O’Brien hasn’t talked much about it and none of his players seem to have a firm grasp on why the starts have been so slow. Following the game Saturday Mike Glennon basically said “yeah, it’s something we have to work on moving forward.” You think?

I went back and looked at the play-by-play reports from the first five weeks to try and find a trend. I looked at 13 possessions that started and ended in the first quarter. On those 13 possessions NC State had 7 punts, 2 interceptions, 1 fumble, a missed field goal, a made field goal and one (yes, one) touchdown. Efficient football at its finest.

After that I looked a little closer at run/pass percentages. NC State has run 328 offensive plays in the first five games, 158 of which were runs. That’s good for 48 percent. Pretty good balance, right?

If you do the same simple math on the 71 first quarter plays I pulled out, however, the number falls to 38 percent (27 runs, 44 passes). It may seem like a small difference, but over the course of a season 10 percent differences can be absolutely huge. Ask the NC State defense that can’t get off the field on third down if 10 percent matters.

If you take out the two games against FCS opponents, NC State ran the ball just 28 percent of the time in the first quarter against Wake Forest, Cincinnati and Georgia Tech. I’m no rocket scientist, but asking your new starting quarterback who has no real experience to throw it nearly three out of four plays doesn’t sound like a recipe for success. Especially when two of those games are on the road.

It’s a relatively small sample, I know, but the numbers bring up a question that I’ve asked myself constantly all season long: why won’t NC State commit to running the football? Once games are out of hand I get it, you try to throw and get back in the game. But none of these games were completely out of hand in the first quarter and certainly weren’t in settings where NC State could not run the ball if it tried. And that’s the key word — try.

You won’t run the ball with any consistency unless you commit to it 100 percent. Running painfully predictable draws on 2nd and 10 does not count. Neither does running the same draw on 3rd and long after two incomplete passes.

Committing to the run means lining up on first down, maybe even in the I-Formation (heaven forbid) and hitting people in the mouth. The Wolfpack did it for the first time Saturday and James Washington ran for 131 yards, the best total for an NC State back since Jamelle Eugene ran for 149 almost four years ago.

I’m not sure if NC State can win many of the games left on its schedule, but I do know, with some certainty, that there isn’t a run defense in the final seven games that NC State should be afraid of. Four of NC State’s final seven opponents are 67th or worse in run defense nationally. Only Florida State (12) and Virginia (39) are in the top 40. Translation: There will be opportunities to run the ball if NC State will do it. More specifically, there will be chances for State to establish the line of scrimmage early in games and build from there as games evolve. It’s amazing what that can do for a quarterback’s efficiency and the success of a team. (Yes, that was a Russell Wilson reference.)

There are plenty of problems NC State has to fix before it can become a consistently successful football team, but committing to the run is an easy one. And given all the other issues — injuries, drops, interceptions, missed field goals, missed tackles, etc. — easy fixes are few and far between right now.

Couldn't just take a knee, could you Paul?

How ’bout them Blue Devils?!

Duke rallied from a 10-point deficit on the road and won its third straight game Saturday against FIU. Don’t give me the “yeah, well it’s FIU argument.” That crap is impressive, especially for the Devils.

Clemson won on the road against a less-than-impressive Virginia Tech team, further proving that the Tigers are the team to beat in the league and the squad that the ACC should latch onto for national attention. Tajh Boyd, Sammy Watkins and my main man Dabo Swinney are rolling and won’t really be tested again until UNC visits Death Valley in a couple of weeks. But based on how things usually work in this conference, Boston College will beat the Tigers Saturday and ruin everyone’s year. Thanks a lot, Spaz.

Georgia Tech did what everyone thought they would by winning in Carter-Finley, but inexplicably the Yellow Jackets ran a play up 17 with less than a minute to go and gave NC State the most back door cover in history. My roommate was not pleased. Seeing as how I picked the Wolfpack +10, I just chuckled.

As for the rest of the league, yawn. I’ll never pick Virginia to cover again. Ever.

Correct Picks

Wake Forest (+1)
Miami
Maryland
Clemson (+7)
Duke (+3.5)
UNC (-6.5)

Incorrect Picks

Syracuse (-1.5)
Virginia (-16)

Picks that made me laugh

NC State (+10)

Season record is now 36-13. As for NC State, I’ll be attempting to break down what I saw yesterday later this afternoon. Pray for me.