North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack And Tigers Meet In 21st Textile Bowl
10/12/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 12, 2001
By Tony Haynes
In an annual match-up that is called the "Textile Bowl," Clemson will visit NC State in a football game that could have major bowl implications down the road. And when the Tigers and Wolfpack meet at 12-noon this Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium, a number of other enticing trinkets will be hanging in the balance, including a shot at the ACC Championship.
Somehow, you figured it would come down to this.
In this most topsy-turvy of ACC seasons, Clemson(3-1,1-1) and NC State(3-1,1-1) are among seven teams that still have dreams of snatching a title ring at seasons end. Saturday's winner will stay alive in the sweepstakes, while the loser will face a more difficult path.
"There's a lot of people (five) in the league with one loss," said Wolfpack head coach Chuck Amato. "It's a great motivating thing to tell your team that we control our own destiny. If we win the rest of our conference games, the worst we'll be is conference co-champs. And how many coaches are telling their teams that? There are a lot of them. It's going to be interesting and that's the fun of it."
And while he enjoys being in a heated race for the conference title, Amato is growing weary of some of the 'Monday Morning Quarterbacks' who have been expressing some disappointment with the Pack's offensive production in four games. Among 115 Division 1-A teams, NC State is ranked No. 82 in total offense (337.7 yards per game), No. 39 in passing offense (236.8 ypg), and 74th in scoring offense (21.7 ppg).
"That's what upsets so many people: 'oh, we're not averaging 64 points per game and Philip isn't throwing for 600 yards per game,' but we're still 3-1." Amato said in a mocking impression of some of the doubters. "We have a bunch of youngsters that will fight you and scrap you, and to me, it's unfair for somebody to call that underachieving. We haven't scored as many points as we would like to. I think defenses have caught up with a lot of what offensive people do. But if we can continue to win games ugly, I'll take them. We'll just be called the ugly ducklings. That's fine."
Said senior tight end Willie Wright: "We're 3-1, and that's the bottom line. If we score two points and our defense shuts 'em out, we win. The offense has been struggling, but we're winning games. Our defense has stepped up for us. That's what you need sometimes. Right now, we're trying to play hard and win games. If we have to score 20 points to win or five points to win, that's what we're trying to do, just win games."
NC State's formula for success this fall has certainly been a departure from seasons past when Wolfpack clubs always seemed to be engaged in high-scoring shootouts. And while the NC State defense has yielded yards between the 20s, it has been quite stingy in the red zone. Through four games, Wolfpack opponents are averaging just 15 points per game.
'They're pretty sound in their schemes and haven't had any busted coverages or missed assignments," said Clemson coach Tommy Bowden. "They've also got pretty good players. The fact that they've been able to prevent big plays has helped them out defensively. With coach Amato spending so many years at Florida State, they pattern a lot of their philosophy on that and you can tell on film. They're very aggressive and they're pretty physical."
But Bowden has a wide-open offense that will be the most talented and explosive unit that NC State has faced this season. The Tigers are capable of putting up points and yards on everybody, as evidenced by their 47-44 overtime victory at Georgia Tech two weeks ago. Clemson quarterback Woodrow Dantzler is a special player who makes big plays both on the ground and through the air.
"He is the best runner in the ACC, that's my opinion," said Wolfpack linebacker and reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year Levar Fisher. "We have to stop him. If we don't stop Dantzler, they'll win. That's just the way it is."
Fisher and NC State were treated to some of Dantzler's magic last year. In Clemson's dramatic 34-27 triumph over the Pack in Death Valley, Dantzler rushed for 103 yards and passed for 220 more. With just 57 yards rushing this weekend, Dantzler would become the first player in ACC history to reach 2,000 yards rushing and 4,000 yards passing for his career.
"When this kid takes off and runs he's got a wiggle about him," Amato said. "He's fast, he makes people miss and he's got great vision. He's got it all, that's why he's a Heisman Trophy candidate."
If recent history repeats itself on Saturday, this edition of the Textile Bowl will be a thriller. The last four games in the series have been decided by a touchdown or less. Four years ago in Raleigh, Matt Padgett booted a 20-yard field goal with just 19 seconds left to give Clemson a 19-17 victory.
One year later in Death Valley, Torry Holt completed an incredible day by catching a nine-yard scoring pass from Jamie Barnette with just 37 seconds left. Holt's fourth touchdown helped the Wolfpack escape Clemson with a 46-39 win.
In 1999, NC State won another high scoring shootout, 35-31. And last year, Clemson survived a last ditch comeback effort by the Pack to prevail 34-27.
Injury wise for NC State, defensive end Terrance Chapman, who sustained a high ankle sprain at Wake Forest last week, is listed as doubtful for Saturday. Punter/placekicker Austin Herbert, who has been nursing an ankle sprain, will likely yield the placekicking duties to Adam Kiker for the third straight week. Herbert is expected to punt on Saturday.
