Trestman's System Peaked In Its Very First Game

I don't mean to pile on Marc Trestman with this, because I'm not sure he deserves all the criticism he's getting, but I was thinking about his system after the game yesterday and it occurred to me that the offense has never looked better than it did in the 2005 opener against Virginia Tech. NC State piled up over 400 total yards against a Hokies defense that would finish the year ranked #1 in total defense.

The Pack's first possession of the game--and Trestman's first series calling plays in college--was a fantastic 14 play, 83 yard drive that ate up six minutes and was capped by a 25-yard Darrell Blackman touchdown run. Though we ended up losing, I remember being excited about the offense's marked improvement.

I spent the rest of 2005 wondering where that offense went. Now we're two-thirds through 2006 and I'm still wondering.

2005

Opponent	Total Offense (yds)	Pts Scored	Opp Total Def Rank
Virginia Tech	438	16	1
EKU (I-AA)	475	54	n\a
UNC	270	24	42
Georgia Tech	286	17	22
Clemson	267	10	20
Wake Forest	303	19	69
Southern Miss	425	21	73
Florida State	281	20	14
Middle Tenn State	238	24	28
Boston College	306	10	16
Maryland	186	20	43
South Florida	300	14	17

2006

Opponent	Total Offense (yds)	Pts Scored	Opp Total Def Rank
App State (I-AA)	242	23	n/a
Akron	290	17	63
Southern Miss	274	17	72
Boston College	320	17	45
Florida State	340	24	16
Wake Forest	334	23	48
Maryland	299	20	83
Virginia	290	7	21