North Carolina State University Athletics
Behind The Scenes With Tony Haynes: Solid as a Rock
10/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 29, 2002
By Tony Haynes
So what's the greatest compliment one could give NC State's nationally ranked football team? You could give the Wolfpack props for being able to throw the football very well. This team can also beat you by running the ball. The defense should receive a tip of the cap for being ranked No. 1 in the ACC. And those special teams are, well, special.
Maybe we're getting somewhere here.
Perhaps the Wolfpack is no Miami or Oklahoma, but it does have something that many of the other teams in the top-10 envy: Across the board balance. In becoming the first team in school history to record a 9-0 start, the Pack has won games in every way imaginable.
In some respects, the last two games have been a microcosm of the entire season. In a 24-22 victory over Duke on October 19, NC State quarterback Philip Rivers threw for 364 yards against a pesky Blue Devils' defense that wadded up to stop the run. One week later at Clemson, Rivers passed for a career-low 129 yards, yet the offense was still productive thanks to a rushing attack that carved out 265 yards.
Defensively, the Wolfpack has been good enough-especially when it has mattered. In arguably NC State's biggest game of the year, its defense held Clemson to just 229 yards and zero points. The same Wake Forest team that has churned out an average of 249 rushing yards per game managed just 149 when it visited Carter-Finley Stadium on September 14.
But as good as the Wolfpack has been in the areas of passing, running and defense, its most feared weapon may very well be its special teams units, which have often demoralized opponents while also producing wild swings of momentum NC State's way. Through nine games, the Pack has blocked five punts, a point after touchdown and a field goal. Four of the blocked punts either directly or indirectly led to touchdowns. The Wolfpack is also the only team in the nation to have returned three kickoffs for touchdowns this season. All together, NC State has scored nine non-offensive touchdowns in 2002.
"The first thing we're going to work on and try to dominate in every game are special teams, and we're still going to try to put the best players on there," said NC State head coach Chuck Amato. "If they get tired on special teams, I tell them not to come to me and ask me for a break on special teams. I tell them I'm going to give them a break on first down, but not fourth down. Routs and upsets occur because of special teams. If we can win that, we've got a chance to win every game we play."
When opposing coaches watch NC State on film, they are immediately struck by the absence of any discernable weaknesses. And while it may not necessarily be overwhelmingly dominant in any one facet of the game, the Pack appears to be solid all the way around. It's a balance that can't be claimed by most teams, even some of the clubs ranked in front of the Wolfpack.
Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech appear to have issues with their respective passing games, while Miami has been giving up a lot of yards on the ground in recent weeks. Of course, the Sooners, Irish and Hokies have virtually impenetrable defenses that are complimented by ball-hogging rushing attacks. The Hurricanes have quarterback Ken Dorsey, who hasn't lost a game in two years.
The next four teams on the Wolfpack's schedule certainly have the manpower and coaching prowess to end NC State's winning streak. But in order to pull it off, they'll have to play superbly in all three phases of the game-offense, defense and special teams.
After watching his team get dissected and taken apart by NC State last Thursday, Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said, "they're not that much better than us." It's still not clear to which sport he was referencing.
Unlike Bowden, the entire nation saw an NC State squad that deserves its share of plaudits, a team that is as solid as a rock.
