North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Heads South
12/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
The extended seven-day forecast for the Miami, Florida area calls for partly cloudy skies with temperatures in the mid-70's. As far as NC State football coach Chuck Amato is concerned, those kinds of conditions are perfect for football practice.
Sure there will be some time allotted for sun and fun, but when the Wolfpack (7-4) convenes in South Florida Thursday morning (12/21), its main focus will be on its December 28th meeting with Minnesota (6-5) in the MicronPC.com Bowl.
During its weeklong stay in the Miami area, the Pack will hold practice sessions each and every morning. The early arrival couldn't come at a better time: the December chill that has taken hold in Raleigh wasn't necessarily ideal for a team preparing to play a game in such a warm climate.
"You don't have to have ear muffs on," said NC State coach Chuck Amato, "you don't have to have gloves on, and you don't need to have a shovel over your shoulder. You just need a little umbrella that folds up in case it rains. That's what Florida is all about. It's nice being in a place where you can put your feet in the sand in the afternoon."
The temperature change will be even more pronounced for the Golden Gophers. "I just finished my daily run and its about two degrees or zero outside," Minnesota coach Glen Mason told the media on Tuesday. "Yesterday when we ran I think it was about minus four. If you're asking if we're excited about going to Ft. Lauderdale in a couple of days, the answer is yes."
There's a possibility that Minnesota could arrive in the Sunshine State a little shorthanded. The Associated Press is reporting that a school investigation has concluded that at least 13 Minnesota football players misused a university telephone access code and ran up more than 16-hundred dollars in charges. The school says the players are suspended until they repay their portion of the bill.
Through an athletic department release, Mason said that he expected that the charges would be repaid before the team's charter leaves for Miami on December 22.
The Golden Gophers will definitely be without their leading tackler in the bowl game. Safety Delvin Jones, who tallied 88 tackles during the regular season, was declared ineligible earlier in the week. No reason was given for the suspension. Minnesota will also be missing starting cornerback Willie Middlebrooks who suffered a broken ankle late in the season.
"It probably affects us like it does any other team," Mason said of Minnesota's losses in the secondary. "There's limited depth at any position, and then you lose two starters--sure it's going to affect us like it does anybody else. We're not one of the 'have' programs of the Big Ten; we don't have a wealth of talent. But we've got good guys, good competitive kids and they'll try hard."
After getting off to a 5-2 start, the Golden Gophers dropped three of their last four games to finish up at 6-5.
