If there was ever a good time for a "Get Right Game", it appears this is the week for NC State Football. If there was ever a team to face for a "Get Right Game"? State might just have that lined up as well. The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs come to Raleigh on Saturday, and it's time to right some wrongs.
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It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs will join us this Saturday in Raleigh, but this week it's the NC State Wolfpack that needs that bulldog mentality. You are a Lockdown Wolfpack, your daily podcast on the NC State Wolfpack, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up Wolfpack Nation, it's time to get locked in with Lockdown. Thanks for making Lockdown Wolfpack your first listen each and every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Our Thursday sponsor is FanDuel, right now through September 22nd. All FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Head on over to FanDuel.com in order to get started. Happy Thursday to all, as always I'm Grayson Boone, joined by former Wolfpack defensive tackle Kenton Gibbs. We turn the page from Tennessee, we are now focusing on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. They will join us in Raleigh for week three, right back at Carter Finley. Little bit of insight on Louisiana Tech before we cover their offense and their defense later in the show. They are the Bulldogs hailing out of Rustin, Louisiana. They are a member of Conference USA. Their head coach is Sonny Combe, he's in his third year in this program and it's been an uphill battle for them. 2022, they were three and nine, 2023, they were also three and nine. However, they got off to a 1-0 start here in 2024 with an eight-point win over Nichols State, not last week, but two weeks ago. They actually had the rare week two by, so they've been studying us for an entire week. Returning very few starters on both sides of the ball, which we will get into, but Kenton, this is a team that's relying on a lot of inexperience. Not only are they relying on a lot of inexperience, they're relying on guys who have not played a lot together. Their former starting quarterback Hank Brockett-Meyer will likely be seeing NC State just in the Wake Forest uniform. That's just what you've got on the docket there. When you look at what's going on here in terms of how this team should shake out or what they are, you're absolutely right. There is a ton of turnover, there's a ton of change, but that's to be expected when you're three and nine because the question becomes, when you hit that rock bottom, where else can you go but where else can you, what else can you do? You can stay down, sure, but this team should be improved from three and nine, and I'm not saying that based on, oh, hey, I know that they've gotten a ton of great, a ton of infusions of really great players, not like this stuff, not going to lie to you and say that, but what I will say is, again, this team is not on your three other air culture. If you ain't bought any year, one of your two, you should be going by now. The portal exists. It should be his guys in there, and last time they had a coach named Sonny, they were all right. Sonny Dikes did right, Bob, this one, it looked tough, they stinking up the joint. There's a relative uneasiness coming into this season, bulldogs, you talk about that year three, a lot of times, that's when coaches really start to be judged in terms of their programs tenure. They're a team that's going to have to have a lot of improvement in a very short amount of time, and just looking at both sides of the roster, I'm not quite sure that they're going to have the ability to do so in 2024, it leads me into NC State's involvement here. I was listening to some comments made by Coach Dave Dorn kind of post Tennessee, but free Louisiana Tech, he was talking about how they felt they had a good game plan against Tennessee until that pick six, and then after that, it basically all went out the window as we all saw. I have a game plan for NC State in this one. It's two words, and the first word starts with kick. The second word begins with A. That needs to be all that happens this coming Saturday, no doubt, no pressure, no worry. That's all having an asterisk on it, because we said very similar things about Western Carolina. It took us about one quarter to regret saying those things, but Louisiana Tech, just to be frank with you, they're just not a very good football team. They really struggled last year in run defense. I'll cover more on that in a couple minutes as well. They're a team that doesn't really have star power again. They are relying on a lot of young, inexperienced on both sides of the ball. You look great on paper, a recipe for a get right week for the Wolfpack. Yes, but on paper and how the game's actually plowed us two different things. I know some people have said, Kenton seems very doom and gloom after the Tennessee game, but that's because, again, procedural things, little things that cannot, if anybody lined up in a legal formation because it was in the backfield, how many times, fumble snaps, how many times does that happen? You cannot have those against Western. You cannot have those against Tennessee. You cannot have those against a lot. You cannot have those period. So Grayson is much more optimistic than myself in terms of saying, hey, the game plan is go books behind. I still need to see a game plan of established something as this is who we are. This is who we're going to be. Show us that those first two games were the exception and not the rule because I'm a firm believer and believe what somebody shows. Believe what somebody shows. If you show me that you're struggling against an FCS team and then you get your doors blown off against an FBS team. I know something about you. I know something about you. You went to Cranbrook. That's a no. That's that's neither here nor there. I know that you you may not be the team that everybody believes you are. And so you need to show up. You need to be in a headspace to prove something in this game because if this game is not dominant. If this game is a you got to squeak by and fight and survive. There's going to be a very, very large contingent that offense or I'm sorry of the fan base that clears out Carter Finley and I'm not just talking about halftime to get some drinking it. I mean they they're they're going though. Now believe me, I'm not picking NC State to win by 50 points and I'm not picking this to be just an all out blowout. However, there's a lot of should's when you're looking at bad teams and teams that you think that are good. There's a lot of well, they should do this. They should do that on game day. Those all get thrown out the window, but really speaking here, this is a game where NC State should dominate, but taking it a step further, they need to dominate. I told you this Kenton before you jumped on here, I think if this game is ugly and it's a lot closer than it needs to be. This game will tell me even more than both Tennessee and Western told me because then I think you have very glaring issues even more so than just the first two weeks. The first two weeks is a lot about finding out about who you are as a team. And last week kind of that pregame speech, I was challenging this team. Nobody believes that you can go beat Tennessee. Next week, it's more of a challenge of what kind of team do you want to be? What type of team are you going to show to the world that you are against in week three against a relatively inferior opponent? If you can't handle business in a game like that, yeah, you got massive problems on your hand because, and again, not to look forward, you do have Clemson looming after this one. If you come out of Louisiana Tech and you're unsure of yourself still, I got real bad news for you once you go down to that Tiger town. This week is all about getting right, doing the fundamentals right, executing at a very high level, increasing that communication because that's been a common word thrown around by the coaching staff this week. The communication and the timing has not been there through week one and week two. I need to see that executed at a damn near perfect level against a team like Louisiana Tech. This is the game it needs to be over very quickly into the beginning. And again, not making you any assurances, not making you any promises, but realistically speaking, if empty state wants to be taken seriously, you go out and you stomp the Bulldog. That's about as clear as I can get. Absolutely, absolutely. And you know, it's tough for me to imagine them stomping anybody right now because they stomp themselves in both of these past two games. Don't get me wrong. I talked about during lockdown a week from game one, Western's DB took a hell of a gamble and they paid off absolute, but there are still times where you just dump yourself where it's like, man, what are you doing? What's happened? And if those moments are present in this room, it's going to be a long game and all that. Hey, play the young guys who you're going to register anyways, it might go off the window. Coming up next, we're going to get into Louisiana Tech's offense and detailing what they will be bringing with them from the Bayou. This comes after a quick word from our sponsors. Our first sponsor of the day is Factor Meals. Make sure that you're fueling up with factors, no prep, no mess meals. 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Middle portion of our Thursday show, now time to get into detail about Louisiana Tech's offense for this coming Saturday. Louisiana Tech's quarterback is Jack Turner. He's a red shirt junior actually had to leave their season opener against nickel state with a reported knee injury. Now head coach Sonny Combe this week stated that he expects Turner to play on Saturday, but with a little bit of mystery, empty state in a sense has to plan for not one quarterback, but two points. The red shirt freshman quarterback Blake Baker came into the game and ultimately led the Bulldogs to victory. Now Jack Turner before he was injured, he had a line of four for eight passing, 70 yards, one touchdown, one interception, the backup quarterback Blake Baker, 12 of 24 for 207, one touchdown and two interceptions. So the main thing about Louisiana Tech, they love to spread the field and fling the ball around the yard. They're past happy offense, which provides opportunity for NC State secondary to prove themselves yet again. Not only are they past happy, but they're very big utilize of the quick game in Louisville rough. They're very okay with going deep and dark on bubble screen, bubble screen, bubble screen, they're fine. This is not an offense that feels like they can go bro taking a win. And so that's the difficulty. That's what you look at and you're like, oh, you look at this game and at the end of the day, if Louisiana wants to pass the ball around, you have to ask yourself a few questions. We have the defensive back for the keep up. I'd say yes. Do you have the pass rush to keep up? I say yes again. And the last thing about their offense that I'll say is this, a running back, making a lateral transfer, basically to come to Louisiana Tech is quite interesting and there must be more play than what we could possibly know because that's not really conducive to winning a national championship. Yeah, that running back that Kenton just mentioned is scenario Davenport, he's a transfer from Texas State. He's expected to compete for that RV one job. He will be in competition with Marquis Crosby. They split carries in that week one win against nickel State. Now again, yes, it is a little bit interesting, a very lateral move in every sense of the imagination. For sure. He is a talented back, but I don't think that he's anything that NC State's run defense can't handle. Now, NC State's run defense certainly has something to prove of themselves. They've struggled in week one against Western containing the quarterback and at times they're running back and certainly got their doors blown off last week with Tennessee switch to their run offense late there in the second half. The main sense of confidence in Louisiana Tech's offense comes from their experience on the offensive line. Now I told you they're only returning two of their starters. Both of those are on the offensive line to the left guard and the right guard. So they're depending heavily on those two to lead the charge. But if they cannot, NC State's defensive line should be able to get into the backfield quite often. Oh, absolutely. There were plays every game this year where the defensive line has not only kind of, or not, let me not say plays. There have been entire series, you know, in recent memory where we can directly point to an NC State defensive line and take it over despite the fact there are only three of them on the field. So you're absolutely vibration, vitally important that we get this done. And last thing I'll tell you about Louisiana Tech's offense, turnover struggles were a massive problem, even though they won their first game, they turned the ball over five total times. They threw three picks and they lost two bumbles. Turnover margin in this game, if NC State has the opportunity to take them out with momentum in that first quarter, this Saturday could be a situation where NC State's defensive intensity can force them into many mistakes very early on this game. Like I mentioned, their starting quarterback is somewhat nursing, some type of knee injury. And if he's kind of unstable back there, that could be a turnover fest. And then if you get to that red shirt freshman backup quarterback, he's shown that he too will make very poor decisions under pressure. So again, not to sit here and beat our chests and claim that we're the bigger and better team. But NC State's defense in this game, they should dominate a very inexperienced Louisiana Tech offense. You're supposed to be the bigger and better team. Let's see if they actually go out there and prove it because you were supposed to be the bigger and better team since the East State and that didn't work out. So we'll be one time shame on you. Ken to kind of mention that that pass happy quick offense for Louisiana Tech. Who does that remind you of Western Carolina? We saw just two weeks ago using the short pass game to kind of supplement a run game. I wouldn't be surprised if Louisiana Tech tries to go very similarly in that sense, keeping the NC State defense kind of back on their heels, playing soft instead of pressing. So that's something I will definitely keep my eye on here once we get going on Saturday. Coming up next, we're going to switch gears and talk about the Louisiana Tech defense after a quick word from our sponsors. Our third sponsor of the day is LinkedIn Jobs. When you're hiring for your small business, you want to find quality professionals that are just right for that role. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs has the tools to help find the right professionals for your team faster and for free. LinkedIn isn't just another job board. They help you hire professionals that you simply cannot find anywhere else, even those who are not actively searching for a new job, but may be open to just the right role. In any given month, over 70% of LinkedIn users don't even visit other leading job sites. So quite frankly, if you're not looking on LinkedIn, you're looking in the wrong place. LinkedIn knows that small businesses are wearing so many hats, they simply might not have the time or resources to hire effectively. LinkedIn is constantly finding ways to make these processes streamline. They've even just launched a feature that helps you write job descriptions, making your life much, much easier. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LachthonCollege that's LinkedIn.com/LachthonCollege to post your job for free terms and conditions apply. Last couple minutes of our Thursday show, now time to detail Louisiana Tech's defense. Now they do have a new defensive coordinator here for 2024. He is Jeremiah Johnson and he has a very tall task to try and reinstate a very rough bull dog defense from 2023. Louisiana Tech ranked dead last in conference USA last year in run defense, allowing 232 yards per game on the ground. Their weakness is their defensive line and their line backing core. Their strength is in their secondary. Cornerback Cedric Woods and safety Michael Richard are seen as two of the better DBs in conference USA. I also thought it was very interesting. Louisiana Tech also runs a 335. Do you think that NC State's familiarity with this in practice gives them a leg up on Saturday? Hypothetically yes, hypothetically if you see something all the time, it should get you ready. It should get you prepared. The only thing I will warn about is when you get into the season time, you don't get as many reps once versus once as you do once versus scout team. That is something to look at in terms of it matters. It may not be the biggest thing in the world. And the other part of this thing, the other part of this thing is very simple. You're looking at a team that was got off against the run last year. If you are talking about establishing an identity and you want it to be being physical, if that's what you want it to be, guess what you have the opportunity to do. We call ourselves a hand in the dirt, act school, it's act day. That's what you got a chance to do, you know, I'm just going to leave that there. If you can't read between the tea leaves, I'll translate for you, whoop there behind on the ground. We've talked all week about the struggles and run blocking and producing really anything on the ground through two games. This is the team to get right. This is the team to get your swagger back against. They could not stop a cold last year on the ground in 2023. This year, they have a brand new defensive coordinator. That means they're still dealing with growing pains. Make them feel every single one of those all day on Saturday. This needs to be a game where our offensive line gets a ton of confidence, Jordan Waters gets a ton of confidence, Hollywood Smothers, Kendrick Raphael, whoever is running the ball in this game feels like they don't have a player on the field that can keep me out of this end zone. That's the kind of swagger I need to see on the offensive side of the ball. And it doesn't stop with the run game either. Grayson McCall, if there's anyone else on the team that is in need of a get right game, it is our quarterback, Grayson McCall. I want to see him let that thing rip on Saturday. It's good to do it against Tennessee, did it in some senses, week one against Western Carolina, air this thing out against Louisiana Tech. They don't have the defense to hold you. You need to build confidence. Now's your time. You want to connect with your wide receivers? Now's your time. You want to unleash Justin Jolie? Now's your time. What the time is now, now friends, do it now. They run that 335. You see a 335 in practice, and I'm sure you see tons of other variations based on who we're playing. But the defense that they play is the defense that we run. If there's anyone that should be as well versed against a 335, it should be NC State. You feel like you already have a leg up on this defense, go out there and show it. Prove us that this offense is not spinning their tires in the mud. You've heard all off season, but how many points we're going to score and if the offense could potentially outweigh the defense, if the defense struggles, show us right now. This is the week to show us what you can do and put points on that scoreboard. Yeah, without a doubt, I mean, you talk about a get right game, you talk about a bounce back game. I don't give a damn about none of that. This is a game you need to win, period. You need to show up with the right confidence and do what you need to do in this game. Because if you don't, it'll be a repeat of Western or worse. But here's what I also want to say. If this game is close, if this game is, you know, hanging in the balance late, if the Tennessee game didn't do enough to deject fans, I feel like that would, that would create some widespread empathy around, uh, rally. We kind of also hinted at potentially spreading out our offense. Again, this feels like the week to do. You talk about what Robert and I was able to do in the back half of last season, scheme all of his playmakers into open space and by all of them, I mean, Casey, Concepcion. But scheming his best players into open space and then letting them rack up the yak and get into the big house. That's the type of things we also need to see in a game like this spread out your wide receivers, spread out your tight end, let them cook in the open space. This is a game we talk about this a lot where you have the better athletes. You have the better scheme. You have the better offense, the better everything that needs to be proven on the field. All of this is talk. Nothing is won in the week leading up. The game is won once you put that ball down, but this is the game where the offense need to show up and flex their muscles. If they got them, if you got them, flaunt them. Now is the time. Absolutely. Absolutely. I couldn't have worried about myself. That'll do it for us here on Thursday. As always, thank you all so much for joining us. Be sure to hit that like button, drop your comments in the comment box. Tell us what you think about Louisiana Tech coming into Raleigh this Saturday. Should they give us a close game? Will it be a blowout? Let us know what you think down in the comments. Anything else you have on your mind, drop that down in the comment box as well. We'll see you right back here tomorrow on Friday to finish out the week. Until then, go pack. Go pack. A prime member. You can listen to this lock-down podcast ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. [MUSIC PLAYING]
