Is Glennon The Answer?

The 2008 North Carolina State football team held their first scrimmage Wednesday night, and as could be expected, the coaches were not exactly thrilled.

Ball control and penalties were problems, but Coach Tom O'Brien seems confident that the players can fix the issues. He pointed out that the team was still early in preseason camp, and stressed that a review of the scrimmage on videotape would tell more of a story about the team's performance than any available statistics.

"Statistics are statistics, and when you play yourself you don't know who's in there doing what," he said.

The most interesting (and important) position battle for the Wolfpack this season is the ongoing struggle to determine who will start at quarterback. In last night's scrimmage, Harrison Beck was the most productive, passing for 111 yards, with 5 completions in 6 attempts. Daniel Evans was 4 of 7 for 40 yards, Russell Wilson was 3 of 6 for 20 yards (with an interception), and Justin Burke was 3 of 6 for 52 yards.

The most interesting stat line of the night, however, belonged to true freshman Mike Glennon. He was 9 of 13 for 101 yards, and he also threw an interception. This is interesting because he threw twice as many passes as any other quarterback. Future scrimmages will determine if this was just a quirk in the playcalling, or if the coaches are giving Glennon a chance to prove himself capable of being the starter on opening night.

No matter who is chosen, the opening night starter will face the tough task of handling a road game in Columbia, SC against the Gamecocks of South Carolina...on ESPN...on Thursday night. Definitely not an easy task for any QB...but it will give the guy who starts the game a chance to cement himself as "the guy" to lead the team this season.

Who will it be? Stay tuned...