North Carolina State University Athletics
Clemson and NC State Coaches Quotes
10/4/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
NC State quarterback Philip Rivers
"He is a winner. Composure and leadership are also words that come
to
mind when describing him. Besides having all of those intangibles,
however, he is an extremely accurate passer and that is what makes him
so dangerous."
NC State Having 15 days to Prepare for Clemson
"The amount of time they have had to prepare for us is
definitely a concern. I would not be surprised if they are able to
drive the ball pretty well on the first couple of possessions until we
have a chance to adjust to what they are doing. I also would not be
surprised if they are able to slow us down early in the game until we
can make adjustments to what they are doing defensively. They have a
very experienced coaching staff and I know they will take full
advantage of the time leading up to the game."
If Clemson will have to make any adjustments because of the time
NC State has to prepare for the game
"We try to put in a wrinkle or two every week, but this week we
will have to throw in a few more simply because of NC State's
preparation time. They are going to have new wrinkles on offense and
defense so we will have to do the same. They are going to be very sound
so we are going to have change things more than normal this week."
Clemson's Top-5 Ranking
"The key of course is to be ranked in the top-5 at the end of
the year. If we were to finish with a 5-6 record that would not be very
impressive at all. I think right now the ranking means more to players
and fans than it does for coaches because we realize its insignificance
at this point of the season. From a pride standpoint it is important
for our fans because they want to see Clemson get back to where they
have been in the past. The ranking is also a reward for our players for
all the hard work they have put in so far this season."
Clemson's Receivers and the Progress of Kevin Youngblood
"We had our most drops of the season last week against Duke. We
obviously were not mentally into the game. As a group, on a scale
between one and ten in terms of blocking, I would have to say they have
performed right around a six or a seven. Kevin's problem has been
consistency. He will catch two and then drop two. He has improved his
consistency in practice so I do expect him to see more playing time. I
think he is going to be a very good wide receiver but he still has a
ways to go."
The status of running back Travis Zachery's sprained ankle and
the expected playing time of freshman running back Keith Kelly
"I expect Travis to be ready to play by this weekend. If he is
not 100 percent by game time I think he will at least be close to it.
We are going to try to get Keith more time early on in the game anyway
but if Travis is not at full strength than he will definitely get more
time."
NC STATE HEAD COACH CHUCK AMATO
On Last Week's Activities
"We did a lot of conditioning during the week, including weight
room work and agility training on Monday and Tuesday. Our coaches were on
the road recruiting those two days. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we
got after each other pretty good. We really focused on improving North
Carolina State those three days, as far as blocking and tackling is
concerned. We are 4-0 but we still have to improve on the basic
fundamentals of the game."
On Preparation for Woodrow Dantzler
"We've put a couple of people back there this week. It's tough
though, because his ability is very hard to simulate in practice. It will
be very similar to what we saw in the first quarter of the Georgia Tech
game in that the speed factor will be the biggest thing for our guys to
contend with. There are about 25 snaps a game where the play is called
for him to run the football. He is a tailback playing quarterback. It's
basically a single-wing offense. It's basically a tailback that takes the
direct snap with wideouts and makes good decisions. He can run it and he
can throw it and that's what drives you absolutely crazy. When you have a
quarterback who can take off like that, it makes playing defense that
much difficult because someone is going to have to shed a blocker and
make a tackle. He reminds me of Ted Brown in that he has tremendous lower
body strength. He's shifty, powerful and breaks tackles upon tackles.
With Clemson, they have a Heisman Trophy candidate with his hands on the
ball every play. Preparing for him is similar to preparing for Michael
Vick because they are both dominating players and have the ability to
dominate games."
On Clemson Resurgence
"Basically, they are all a year older. Everyone is starting to
learn his (Tommy Bowden's) system down there and they have a number of
starters returning to do that. Because of that, their confidence level
has risen to the point that they now know that they can win. When Bowden
took over that team, they didn't have a very high confidence level. Not
only are they good, they believe that they are good and that makes for a
dangerous combination."
On Bowden
"I know Tommy well. He is so much like his dad in a lot of ways.
He does the football brain. He knows enough about x's and o's but he also
knows a lot about fundamentals. He also talks a lot about toughness and
being physical out there on the field. When you run that fast-break
offense, you've got to be in good condition physically. He's done a
wonderful job of incorporating that mindset into his program."
On Records and Rankings
"This year has been very unique because of the number of people
in the top 25 that have already been beaten. There are only a few
undefeated teams left that were ranked that high early in the year. We
are 4-0 and we have struggled to get three of the four wins we have. They
are 5-0 and haven't struggled very much this season to this point. They
have whipped five teams. They are among the leaders nationally in scoring
offense and scoring defense.
