Coming off the first 2-0 start of the O’Brien era, the Wolfpack looks to continue its success as the bearcats from Cincinnati roll in to town Thursday night for a showdown that will be televised nationally by ESPN. Cincinnati, the back-to-back Big East champions, come to Raleigh sporting a 1-1 record after beating FCS opponent Indiana State and losing to Fresno Sate of the Western Athletic Conference.
The Wolfpack will attempt to continue its hot streak after a bigwin over Central Florida. While the team started off strong against the Knights’ traditional drop-back quarterback, midway through the third quarter, the UCF coach decided to put in the true freshman quarterback Jeff Godfrey, who led UCF to its only two touchdowns of the night.
Coach Tom O’Brien called Central Florida’s decision to insert the shifty freshman in to the lineup during the middle of the third quarter a “blessing in disguise.”
“The type of offense that they [Central Florida] ran in the last part of the game is certainly what we are going to have to face against Cincinnati,” O’Brien said. ” He can hurt you passing the ball and he is certainly going to run it. The biggest obstacle we face is the speed of their team.”
A big reason State jumped out to a 21-0 lead against UCF was the stellar play of the defense.
“I thought it was great how the game ended the other night, with the fumble caused by the defense,” O’ Brien said. “They needed that, especially the young guys, to go out there and play with confidence.”
The leaders on the defense are captain Nate Irving and outside linebacker Audie Cole, who recorded 12 tackles, 3.5 for a loss, one sack and an interception in the game Saturday night. The performance won the redshirt junior ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
“The defense picked us up in the end, especially in the second half”, senior right tackle Jake Vermiglio said. “They played phenomenal and we are all ready to go out on Thursday night and take on Cincinnati”.
Vermiglio said the offensive lines early effort against the speedy defensive line of Cincinnati will be crucial.
“Its important for us to come out early and establish ourselves,” Vermiglio said. “We have to be physical early to wear them out by the end of the game.”
Thursday night will be the only time this season an ACC team plays a Thursday night game that is not preceded by a bye-week. O’Brien said he was very upset at the conference for scheduling the game in such a way. The Pack not only faces a short week, it faces it after playing a night game in very humid Florida conditions. They didn’t get back in to Raleigh until about 3:30 AM, making the following practice very sluggish.
“Of course we were sluggish at the practice on Monday,” Vermiglio said. “But I think we picked it up toward the end.”
Thursday’s contest will be a big game for not only the Pack and Bearcats, but for their respective conferences. With weak showings by both the ACC and Big East in non-conference games, the teams are fighting for conference pride and national respect. State is 0-2 in Thursday night games under O’Brien, giving O’Brien’s team a great opportunity to get the Wolfpack a win on one of college football’s brightest stages.
