Tom O’Brien is often criticized for his cautious approach, so it was ironic that the catcalls and criticism continued when he played things fast and loose, exchanging Russell Wilson for Mike Glennon after the former failed to heed the line drawn in the sand. To O’Brien, if you recall, Wilson’s place on the team hinged on his availability for spring practice; Wilson, in turn, exchanged 15 practices with the Wolfpack for another shot at minor league baseball within the Colorado Rockies’ organization. When Wilson failed to show up, O’Brien cut him loose — and six months later, Wilson was setting N.C.A.A. records as the quarterback at Wisconsin.
And Glennon was the odd man out, the forgotten starter tasked with replacing one of the best quarterbacks in school history. While separated by hundreds of miles and conference affiliation, it was only natural that Glennon would inevitably be compared not only to Wilson’s past, the three years at N.C. State, but also his present as the Badgers’ starting quarterback.
Wisconsin won its end of the bargain. Wilson stepped in and changed the game, giving the Badgers the added flexibility of a top-flight and dual-threat passer to go with an already-punishing ground game. All Wilson did was lead Wisconsin to another Big Ten title and set a new N.C.A.A. record for passing efficiency, so he had a nice year.
All Glennon did was lead N.C. State back into bowl play for a second straight season, something the program hadn’t done since 2002-3. He also finished second in the A.C.C. in completions and touchdowns and third in passing yards, matching Wilson’s finest statistical season with the Wolfpack, back in 2009.
So who got the better end of the deal? Wisconsin wins for, well, winning: the Badgers went 11-3, nearly beating Oregon in the Rose Bowl, and Wilson deserves the lion’s share of credit for leading the Badgers back into the national title hunt. But weighing N.C. State’s decision based solely on this year’s record doesn’t take the entire picture into account.
Ditching Wilson for Glennon could have been the tipping point for O’Brien at N.C. State, where his tenure had been marked with stumbles prior to a bowl run in 2010. Had the Wolfpack slid back out of bowl play this fall, dropping back to five wins, O’Brien’s standing within the athletic department might have taken a negative turn.
Instead of being a tipping point, N.C. State’s eight-win finish may end up being a turning point. The year included the losses now familiar to those who follow the Wolfpack, like a 44-14 defeat to Cincinnati in September, but the way N.C. State closed bodes well for the upcoming future.
November opened with a back-and-forth war between O’Brien and North Carolina’s Everett Withers, with each claiming their university to hold the state’s flagship program, but O’Brien had the last laugh in a 13-0 shutout. After a dreadful loss to Boston College, the Wolfpack brought Clemson back down to Earth in a 37-13 win at home.
In the regular season finale, N.C. State erased a 20-point third quarter deficit against Maryland with 42 unanswered points, including five touchdowns in a now-legendary fourth quarter. The Wolfpack controlled Louisville in bowl play, taking a 31-10 third quarter lead before holding for a seven-point win.
The widescreen view illustrates N.C. State’s solid season, when the Wolfpack returned to bowl play despite the sort of off-field melodrama that could have cut down the year’s promise in its tracks. Of secondary value is Glennon’s strong play nearly throughout, especially down the stretch, which bodes well for the Wolfpack in 2012.
Is this a team that can make a run towards an A.C.C. title next fall? Never underestimate the importance of finishing strong, such as N.C. State did this fall. And take note of how a program like Oklahoma State, Clemson or Michigan State needed to learn to walk — slowly improving, moving from 6-6 to 8-4 or 9-3 — before running to the top of their respective conferences in 2011.
Whether N.C. State turns a strong finish into a Top 25 finish next fall hinges on a number of factors, including the development of a stronger running game, more improvement from the offensive line and the defense’s ability to continue creating turnovers in the passing game.
But this we know is true: N.C. State, in a roundabout way, will be better in 2012 than it would have been had O’Brien not shown Wilson the door. And when it comes to the big picture, isn’t the future — a potential B.C.S. berth, if all goes very well — more important than the win Wilson might have added to N.C. State’s total in 2011?
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