North Carolina State University Athletics
2002 Football Preseason Diary, Day 16 (LAST DAY!)
8/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 16, 2002
Well, this is it - the last installment of the 2002 preseason diary. It's pretty exciting, not just because you won't have to put up with me any more, but because that means the preseason is over and the season has arrived! In a way, it seems like camp has been going on for two years (I'm sure the players would say more like four years), but in a way it's flown by.
Today, the team went through what will be almost exactly their game-day schedule and then had a scrimmage which began at exactly 4:38 p.m. (kickoff time for the New Mexico game). They had walk-through's, pregame meal, meetings, etc. The first-team offense and defense wore red jerseys and white pants and the rest of the team wore white jerseys and red pants. There were a few guys who switched back and forth.
The coaches used the headsets and went up in the press box. Coach Mike Canales even called his quarterbacks from upstairs when they came off the field, just like a regular game. Coach Amato watched the scrimmage from the balcony of the fieldhouse. Sounds like he was far away, but trust me, I've been around him enough to know that he saw EVERY SINGLE THING that went on inside that stadium. I sometimes think he has eyes in the back of his head!
A.J. Davis and Dovonte Edwards were chilling out in the endzone, both with their legs elevated. Both were all smiles and seem to be in great spirits. Alan Halloway was finally at practice today - he won't have contact work for a few days, but he looked like he was in pretty good shape (he ran the circumference of the field and back and forth across the endzone for a LONG time).
This scrimmage wasn't situational like the previous ones, but had kickoffs, punts, PATs - the whole nine yards. I won't go into many details (we are going into game week, so don't get mad!), but I did see Greg Golden make some pretty impressive runs today. There were a couple of times that I thought he was down and he'd come shooting out of the pile for more yardage. He and T.A. McLendon both scored a couple of touchdowns.
Tramain Hall and Terrence Chapman had a good time over on the white side. Hall had a 36-yard reception from Jay Davis and also saw time at cornerback. I may be seeing things, but I think that toward the end of the scrimmage, I saw 'ole number 11 (Chapman), lined up at tailback!
Don't think that the players have the weekend off, but it won't be on the regular two-a-day schedule. They'll practice in the morning and have some meetings and church on Sunday. Then Monday, they'll start the schedule they'll stick with all season.
We'll have our first football press conference on Monday at Gino Russo's Oyster Bar up on Glenwood. If you haven't been to Gino's, go by sometime. He's been good to the Wolfpack (and has even been known to whip up a lasagna for a certain football coach or a media relations director!).
Thanks for all the kind e-mails, calls and comments I've gotten for this diary. I'll try to do some regular installments throughout the season and then again when hoops gets cranked up (it actually cranks up on Monday - I'll meet with the basketball team on Monday afternoon. Basketball season is JUST around the corner!).
Diary, Day 1
Diary, Day 2
Diary, Day 3
Diary, Day 4
Diary, Day 5
Diary, Day 5, Part 2
Diary, Day 6
Diary, Day 7
Diary, Day 8
Diary, Day 9
Diary, Day 10
Diary, Day 11
Diary, Day 12
Diary, Day 13
Diary, Day 14
Diary, Day 15
