2011 Belk Bowl, Louisville Vs. N.C. State: Wolfpack Holds Off Cardinals

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3: Successful surprise onside kicks in yesterday’s two games. Bowl games, especially minor ones, have an added degree of watchability because of what we’ll call the Eff It Factor. While coaches definitely want to win bowl games, a good portion of the reward is simply getting to play in a bowl at all, and quite a few coaches decide to unleash hell in the form of trick plays and general special teams silliness. The Eff It Factor was off the charts yesterday, and what a happy turn of events that was. Purdue attempted two surprise onside kicks and got them both. Louisville attempted a fake punt and surprise onside kick within three minutes of each other. N.C. State sold out on some blitzes even more than usual. Western Michigan unleashed an early flea flicker (which, naturally, resulted in a touchdown). You can let it all hang out in bowl games, and quite a few teams do just that. And it’s exactly why I will be crestfallen if bowls are ever taken away from me. (They won’t, but that’s beside the point.)

3.5: N.C. State’s turnover points margin (as defined here). Each team had three turnovers, but Louisville’s were more costly, mostly because of Amerson’s touchdown. In a seven-point game, half of State’s margin was created in the turnovers department, which was kind of the name of the game for the Wolfpack in 2011.

For more college football, stay tuned to SB Nation’s college football news coverage. And visit our many college football blogs. For more on the NC State Wolfpack visit SB Nation’s NC State blog On Backing The Pack. For more on the Louisville Cardinals visit SB Nation’s Louisville blog Cards Chronicle.

For more college football, stay tuned to SB Nation’s college football news coverage. And visit our many college football blogs. For more on the NC State Wolfpack visit SB Nation’sNC State blog On Backing The Pack. For more on the Louisville Cardinals visit SB Nation’s Louisville blog Cards Chronicle.

For more college football, stay tuned to SB Nation’s college football news coverage. And visit our many college football blogs. For more on the NC State Wolfpack visit SB Nation’sNC State blog On Backing The Pack. For more on the Louisville Cardinals visit SB Nation’s Louisville blog Cards Chronicle.

That sequence would wake up any team, as Teddy Bridgewater had a gutty touchdown run to tie up the game, completing the momentum swing and ensuring a clean slate for the start of the second quarter. Bridgewater hasn’t been at his best — he completed just one pass in the quarter — but he’s been fun to watch, and took a huge hit as he crossed the pylon for his score.

Glennon is the Wolfpack’s best offensive player, and he’s acted like it thus far, going 7-11 for 67 yards and that touchdown. It’s shaping up to be a good one in Charlotte.

NOTE: Confused? See the quick glossary at the bottom.

A 7-5 record can mean so many different things. It could mean setbacks (Auburn), underachievement (Texas), breakthroughs (Western Kentucky) or what-ifs (Utah State). It could mean strong starts (Washington) or fine finishes (Missouri). For Louisville, it meant a rebuilding effort that was a bit more successful than expected. For N.C. State, it meant a late charge to save Tom O’Brien’s job in unlikely fashion.

The NC State Wolfpack on the other hand are making their third bowl appearance of the last five seasons. Last year, N.C. State surprised the West Virginia Mountaineers 23-7 in the Champs Sports Bowl. “Anytime you get to a situation we were in you’re either going to cash your chips in or you’re going to make a move,” head coach Tom O’Brien said. “We made a move.” Quarterback Mike Glennon stepped up for Russell Wilson, who transferred to Wisconsin. Glennon threw at least three touchdowns in three games this season, but will be taking on a Louisville defense that doesn’t even give up 20 points per game. The Wolfpack offense brings a balanced attack that can run the football and throw the football equally as effectively.

The game can be streamed live online on ESPN3.com.

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↵Lot going on here. This may be of some assistance. There’s always “That School Just Off I-40,” if this needs to be clarified at some point.

Game date, time: 8:00 p.m. ET, Tuesday, December 27th

Location: Bank of America, Charlotte, NC

Scruggs was arrested days earlier on DUI charges. Louisville Cardinals blog Card Chronicle calls him the biggest loss, while also assuming more personnel setbacks are on the way:

Harris had 35 catches for 438 yards this year. Holton finished fifth among defensive backs in tackles, while Scruggs was third on the team in both sacks and tackles for loss.

After their 2-4 start, head coach Charlie Strong fired offensive coordinator Mike Stanford and promoted Shawn Watson to offensive coordinator. After the switch, the Cardinals changed to a pistol/wild-cat style offense that was more fitting to quarterback Tyler Bridgewater.

The Wolfpack defense is going to have to play disciplined in order to slow down the Louisville offense and has spent much of the prep work for the bowl game on stopping the pistol/wild-cat that they will see. “No. 1, you have to recognize the formation,” Wolfpack head coach Tom O’Brien told the News Observer. “You have to recognize who’s in the game and you have to find the eligible receivers and you have to do all of that quickly. Our defense worked a lot these past two days on Louisville and we’ll do it again tomorrow. The focus is to get lined up right. If you don’t do that, you’ve got problems.”

According to the Charlotte Business Journal, the Belk Bowl has now sold more than 55,000 tickets to this year’s game.

Retail giant Belk is the new sponsor, taking over for Meineke, and they’ve been credited with promoting the bowl aggressively.