NC State
Indiana
Pack Pounds Indiana, 35-14
9/6/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept 6, 2001
By Tony Haynes
This time there was no miraculous comeback. But this time, a miracle wasn't needed.
One year after it had stunned Indiana with an improbable rally in Bloomington, NC State, playing before its home fans in remodeled Carter-Finley Stadium, ran out to a 21-0 first half lead and never looked back in a season-opening 35-14 triumph over the Hoosiers.
Thanks to an opportunistic punt-block unit and a swarming defense, the suspense that marked so many of the Wolfpack's games last season was non existent on Thursday night.
While not always clicking all cylinders, the NC State offense did just enough to compliment an improved defense that nearly shutout what was projected to be one of the Big Ten's best offensive teams. Indiana (0-1) didn't put points on the board until quarterback Tommy Jones found tight end Kris Dielman on a 15 yard scoring pass with 5:26 left. But at that point, the score was 35-7.
For NC State (1-0), quarterback Philip Rivers hit 22-of-33 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those scoring tosses fell into the hands of tight end Willie Wright, who made five catches for 63 yards.
"We came in thinking we could dominate," said Wright, who had nine catches against IU last season. "Indiana is a great team, but we felt like if we came in here and executed our game plan that we could win the game. We knew that they were a great offensive team and an improving defensive team, but we knew we could come in here and get the job done."
The most improved defensive team on this night belonged to NC State. Utilizing a defensive rotation that included junior college transfers Terrance Martin, Terrance Chapman and Shawn Price, the Pack stymied Indiana's high-powered attack most of the night.
"We were really pleased (with the play of the defensive line)," said NC State coach Chuck Amato. "We had some quickness up front. We subbed a lot of people so we could keep them fresh. The linebackers also played well, for the most part. They really chased the ball well as a group. Those three junior college people are helping us and they're only going to get better. This was a great defensive performance against a team that last year was the second leading rushing team in America behind Nebraska. To hold them scoreless for 52 minutes, not many people have done that."
The Heisman Trophy campaign of Indiana's Antwaan Randle El did not get off to a stellar start. Playing both wide receiver and quarterback, the speedy senior was a non-factor most of the night. As a fulltime quarterback last season, Randle El gave NC State fits. On Thursday night, however, the Pack may have caught a break when Randle El spent most of his time running pass patterns.
"Because he was playing receiver, he didn't have the ball in his hands all of the time," said Wolfpack linebacker Levar Fisher. "He's a great athlete and he did a lot of things tonight, but it just wasn't enough.
Randle El's numbers were modest at best. As a receiver, he made four receptions for 30 yards. On those occasions when he lined up under center, he'd usually run option keepers that resulted in just 40 yards on seven carries.
The Pack got the scoring started when Wright made a brilliant one-handed, over the shoulder catch in the south end zone with 3:29 left in the opening period. When Austin Herbert's extra point attempt was blocked, NC State was up 6-0.
Early in the second period, the Wolfpack's signature punt block unit made its presence felt. Brian Jamison broke free up the middle to block a Ryan Hamre punt in the Hoosier's end zone. Sophomore receiver Troy Graham fell on the football to put NC State ahead 12-0. A two-point conversion attempt failed.
On IU's next possession, Pack cornerback Brian Williams broke through to block another punt. Eight plays later, Herbert nailed his first career field goal, a 27 yarder that made it 15-0 Wolfpack.
Along with sending the crowd of 51,500 into a frenzy, the two blocks also seemed to take Indiana totally out of the game.
"We just work so hard on that phase of the game," Amato said. "Joe Pate does such an outstanding job of coordinating all of our special teams, and he's really involved in that punt block team which we call the attack team. It was needed, we had so many missed opportunities to score a couple of more touchdowns with the field position that was given to us."
Tailback Ray Robinson, who rushed for 69 yards on 19 carries for the game, closed out the first half scoring with a five run that concluded a 75 yard drive in seven plays.
Junior receiver Bryan Peterson and Wright added touchdown catches in the second half as NC State built a 35-0 lead early in the fourth quarter.
"We made as many mistakes as I've seen in any ballgame," said Indiana coach Cam Cameron. "When a team makes that many mistakes only one person is responsible, and that's the head football coach. You have to take your hat off to Chuck Amato and the job that he's done. I'm obviously disappointed that our team wasn't more prepared early in the game from a poise standpoint. I thought we lost our poise early. Obviously, they've created a nice environment to play in here, but we've been in those situations before. We have enough veterans guys on offense that we should be able to keep our composure at this point."
But with Jones running the show at quarterback, Indiana appeared to be rattled throughout the game. The Hoosiers lost two fumbles to go along with the two blocked punts. NC State did not turn the ball over and was penalized only three times for 13 yards.
The Wolfpack finished with 361 yards of total offense compared to just 276 for Indiana. The Hoosiers, who were the Big Ten's top rushing team a year ago with an average of 266 yards per game, managed only 106 on the ground on Thursday.
