North Carolina State University Athletics
Robinson Wins Rookie Of The Week Honors
10/26/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Tony Haynes
With its wide receiver corps depleted by injuries, NC State needed one of its young receivers to step up and make a difference in Saturday's game at Duke. Needless to say, Koren Robinson was up to the challenge.
The redshirt freshman's 10-catch, 129-yard, one touchdown performance didn't go unnoticed. On Monday, Robinson was honored as the ACC's Rookie of the Week.
The 6-2, 195 pound native of Belmont, N.C. now has three 100-yard game this season.
Robinson's explosion in the Pack's 31-24 overtime victory over the Blue Devils seemed to be infectious.
"Probably more than any other game this year, we had guys step-up and make plays at critical times," NC State head coach Mike O'Cain said during his weekly press conference on Monday. "Koren Robinson did it several times, Rahshon Spikes a couple of times, (defensive end) Clint Johnson in overtime, (quarterback) Jamie Barnette numerous times and (cornerback) Tony Scott made a couple of huge plays. That's what we needed to have."
Spikes, a senior tailback, ran for 146 yards on 26 carries and a touchdown. He also had a 74-yard reception for a touchdown. Johnson recorded two huge sacks, including a sack of quarterback Spencer Romine on Duke's first play in overtime. Barnette had his best day of the season, hitting 19 of 28 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns. And Scott's fourth quarter interception with NC State trailing by seven was probably the biggest play of the game.
Now 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the ACC, the Pack is in a position to control its own postseason destiny in its final four games.
"You look at it realistically, and some people will say it's a long shot, but we could finish this thing 9-3," O'Cain said. "It's going to take a lot of hard work and it's going to take guys stepping up as they did on Saturday."
A trip to Georgia Tech this weekend will kick off the final four game stretch for NC State.
"Coming off of last week, we've put ourselves in a situation where we have to win the games," said Wolfpack defensive tackle Jeff Fisher. "These next couple of games, we're going into it with the mentality that we just have to get it done."
