North Carolina State University Athletics
Haynes' World: A Season To Remember
12/29/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Tony Haynes
Savor this 2000 Football season Wolfpack fans. Remember it, cherish it and lock it away in your memory banks because we will never travel this road again. Sure, there will probably be better teams, bigger bowls and more wins, but there will never be another season quite like this one.
In NC State's remarkable 38-30 victory over Minnesota in the MicronPC.com Bowl on Thursday night, we saw the Wolfpack's entire season flash before our very eyes. The story line was the same as it had been in so many other games this year: fall behind, ask a freshman quarterback to engineer a comeback, and get the ball in the hands of one of the most scintillating wide receivers any of us has ever seen.
It will never be this way again.
The quarterback, Philip Rivers, can never be a freshman again. From here on out, so much will be expected of a player who lived out a fairy tale in his first season at NC State.
"The difference between most quarterbacks is not physical attributes, it's what's between the ears," said Minnesota coach Glen Mason, who watched Rivers hit 11-of-16 passes for 246 yards in the second half of the MicronPC.com Bowl. "He's talented and he's confident. It's amazing for someone so young."
The receiver, Koren Robinson, never stopped amazing us with his ability to dominate football games. Regardless of the score, the opponent, or the field position, we always had this feeling that K-Rob was about to break loose on any given play.
Have we seen the last of the magical Rivers-to-Robinson combination? Perhaps. The NFL is certainly in Robinson's future, it's just a matter of when that time will come. More than likely, the redshirt sophomore already knows what he wants to do.
"I'll make a decision within the next two weeks," Robinson said after the Bowl game. "I love NC State; it's a great place to be. I'm not sure right now. I'm just going to enjoy the victory and I'll make a decision after I talk to my mom."
In come from behind wins over Arkansas State, Indiana, Georgia Tech, Duke, Wake Forest and Minnesota, NC State overcame a total of 87 points in deficits. Facing a 24-0 mountain against the Golden Gophers, the Wolfpack never flinched. Maybe there is something about having been there before.
Chuck Amato's first team at NC State became the Rocky Balboa of college football. Like Rocky, the Wolfpack was never at its best until it had been floored by a couple of right hooks. The harder they fell, the faster they got up and the stronger they became.
Levar Fisher's passion, Adrian Wilson's bone rattling hits, Clayton White's leadership and Ray Robinson's quiet versatility were all big pieces of a puzzle that fit together nicely.
When he was an assistant at Florida State, Amato collected a couple of National Championship rings, which he proudly wears on a regular basis. Soon, however, he'll be showing off another ring, one that represents a special 8-4 campaign and a memorable bowl win in his first season as a head coach.
"I can't wait to design this one and put it on my ring finger, and wear it with all of the pride in the world because of where it comes from," Amato said.
He won't forget and neither will we.
