North Carolina State University Athletics
Rivers Ready For Seminoles
10/25/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Tony Haynes
NC State's freshman quarterback Philip Rivers has seen a little bit of everything this season, but it's doubtful he's seen anything like Florida State. When he breaks the huddle for the first time and glances across the line of scrimmage on Oct. 28 at Carter-Finley Stadium, Rivers will be looking at the finest collection of defensive talent college football can offer.
But given his relatively short six game track record, it's highly unlikely that the rookie from Athens, Alabama will be frightened or intimidated.
"We know they're going to try to play that man coverage and bring those ends up-field with the thought they can cover your receivers long enough for those guys to get there," Rivers said. "It's just going to be a matter of running good routes and protecting long enough to get the ball off."
Although he has been among the nation's top passers all season, Rivers has also taken his share of punishment in the Pack's first six games. That was especially the case in three physical conference games against Georgia Tech, Clemson and North Carolina.
NC State head coach Chuck Amato knows first hand just how devastating Florida State's pass rush can be. As a former FSU assistant, he coached and recruited many of the lightning quick defensive linemen who will be trying to take his new quarterback's head off on Saturday night. Amato's fear for Rivers' safety even caused him to compose a tongue and cheek press release that drew a few laughs from the media this week. The letter reads: "Because of the great respect and admiration I have for coach Bobby Bowden, I am not going to play Philip Rivers on Saturday night, for two reasons: No.1, I do not want coach Bowden to be arrested for child abuse. No. 2, I want Philip Rivers for the next four games."
Seriously folks, Amato understands that Rivers is his ace in the hole in a game like this. Not only has the freshman shown an ability to bounce back after taking a vicious hit, he's also demonstrated remarkable poise every single time out.
"We've got to do what we can to protect him, even if that means putting him 15-yards deep and bringing Danny Young in there to be the center for a long snap," Amato said. "But he's going to get hit. If he didn't get hit he wouldn't think he was in a college football game. If you count the number of times he got hit in the Carolina game, the Clemson game and Georgia Tech game, nobody can say he has a glass jaw."
Florida State is currently second in the ACC with 32 sacks in eight games. The ringleader of the Seminoles' defensive line is right end Jamal Reynolds, who leads the league with 10 sacks this season.
Among the things you can always count on in life are death, taxes and the fact that Florida State will always have great defensive ends who can rush the passer.
"I think I'm definitely going to have to step up in the pocket this week," Rivers said. "Those guys, number 58 (Reynolds) and 99 (David Warren), get in sprinter stances and they're coming as fast as they can to a point back there."
It certainly doesn't sound like that much fun, or is it?
"This is the kind of game you love to play in," Rivers said. "Even though they're not ranked first, they're probably the best team in the country. This is a fun game to be in."
And it will certainly be fun to watch.
