North Carolina State University Athletics
Bowden To Make Guest Appearance On Amato Radio Show
11/6/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 6, 2001
By Tony Haynes
NC State football coach Chuck Amato and his former boss, Florida State's Bobby Bowden, will renew acquaintances on Wednesday night when Bowden makes a guest appearance--by telephone--on Amato's weekly radio show.
The Chuck Amato Show airs every Wednesday night from 7-8 p.m. and is broadcast live from Playmaker's Sports Caf? on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh.
Before taking over at NC State two years ago, Amato spent 18 years as an assistant coach under Bowden at FSU. And when the Pack meets Florida State this Saturday afternoon in Tallahassee, Amato will be making a return to Doak Campbell Stadium-but this time, he'll be on the visiting sideline for the first time in his coaching career.
"I just hope I walk in the proper lockerroom to get dressed," Amato joked. "When you live someplace for 18 years, which is longer than I lived where I grew up, and you go to work with the same people that length of time, it's emotional. And Bobby will then make it more difficult by attacking us with that team that is getting better and better and better. It's going to be different, to say the least."
Amato still owns his old home in Tallahassee, a residence that is now occupied by his daughter Selena.
Since entering the ACC in 1992, Florida State has never lost to a conference opponent at Doak Campbell, a winning streak that now stands at 38. All three of the Seminoles' league losses since then have come on the road.
"That stadium will be rocking and rolling on Saturday," Amato said. "It can get very, very loud. I do believe practicing with noise because it's a problem, you've got to be able to hear. You've got to be able to communicate in that kind of an atmosphere."
Following early season losses to North Carolina and top ranked Miami, there was talk around ACC circles that Florida State was finally coming back to the rest of the league. But as the conference race heads into the November stretch drive, the Seminoles (6-2, 5-1) are in a familiar spot: tied for first place in the ACC standings.
After a rocky beginning, FSU quarterback Chris Rix is hitting his stride. In his last two games, the redshirt freshman has nine touchdown passes and 800 yards of total offense. Rix leads all freshmen nationally with 1,984 passing yards and 18 touchdowns.
"Just remember [on Florida State's recruiting board], Rix's name was way up here and Philip Rivers' name was way down there (pointing downward)," Amato said. "That was the guy they wanted and that was the guy they took. As you're now seeing, he's pretty good. He can throw the deep one as well as anybody and he's mobile. He'll run under a 4.6 (in the 40) at 238 or 240 pounds."
Wolfpack Safeties on the mend: Making NC State's injury list this week are starting safeties Terrence Holt (neck strain) and Julius Patterson (left quad contusion). Both players are listed as questionable, although Amato says he fully expects Holt to play on Saturday. Defensive end Shawn Price, who has missed two games with a sprained ankle, is also listed as questionable.
Upon further review, it has been determined that Wolfpack linebacker Levar Fisher did make enough tackles in last Saturday's win at Duke to become the school's all-time leading tackler. Immediately after the game, Fisher was credited with nine stops to tie Damien Covington in the record book. A review of the film, however, showed that Fisher actually made 12 stops to reach 460 for his career. The 2000 ACC Defensive Player of the Year also scored his first career touchdown against the Blue Devils when he picked up a fumble in the second quarter and raced 52 yards.
