North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
New Mexico
Rivers Leads Pack Past New Mexico, 34-14
8/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug 24, 2002
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.--NC State and its rabid fans waited all summer to get the 2002 football season underway. But when the time came to kick off Saturday night's opener against New Mexico in the Black Coaches Association Bowl, they had to wait a little longer. With lightning storms in the area, game officials delayed the start of the game by some 37 minutes. Once things finally got underway, it was Philip Rivers who provided the lightning bolts. NC State's incomparable junior quarterback threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more as the Pack opened with a 34-14 win over the Lobos.
"There's no question this was a good starting point," said NC State head coach Chuck Amato, whose record improved to 3-0 in season openers. "Thank goodness we have Philip Rivers. I said it two years ago sitting here after the Arkansas State game: by the time he leaves here two years from now, it will be invaluable what he has done for this university. He's something special."
Rivers was again special, hitting on 15-or-24 passes for 276 yards against an aggressive, blitzing New Mexico defense. Often escaping the rush with half rollouts, Rivers managed to buy just enough time for himself to make several big plays in leading NC State to a 21-0 halftime lead.
"Sometimes they would have two linebackers in one gap, running around and giving us a lot of looks," Rivers said about New Mexico's unusual defensive approach. "Our offensive line did a great job tonight of blocking that. Certainly I got hit and threw some balls late, but they did a great job of blocking and picking it up"
The first pass of the game was thrown not by Rivers, but by wide receiver Bryan Peterson. Taking a pitch from Rivers on a reverse, the former Clinton High School quarterback threw a perfect pass that was dropped by sophomore receiver Sterling Hicks. Had Hicks come up with the ball, he may very well have scored on NC State's first play from scrimmage. Later in the first period, Peterson also dropped a sure touchdown on a well-thrown ball from Rivers on a post pattern.
But once the first-game butterflies dissipated, the Wolfpack started to move the ball. A 21-yard strike from Rivers to Peterson concluded a 14-play 80-yard march to give NC State a 7-0 lead with 4:45 left in the first quarter. On its first possession of the second period, the Pack drove 96 yards in 11 plays with Rivers going over from the one to make it 14-0.
After the NC State defense forced another punt, Rivers and company went to work again, marching 89 yards in 10 plays for another score. One of the key plays in the drive was a bruising 18-yard run by freshman T.A. McLendon, who led the Wolfpack's rushing attack with 87 yards on 20 carries. A few players later, Peterson made it 21-0 by scoring on a beautiful 12-yard pass over the middle. Peterson, who has been with Rivers for three years now, made three catches for 61 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
"We have a great knack for each other and knowing what each other is going to do," Rivers said of the success he's had throwing to Peterson. "He has a great knack for adjusting to the ball. He's a senior now and he's done some great things for this school."
And though New Mexico answered with a pair of scoring drives in the second half, Rivers always had an answer to make sure NC State never lost control of the game.
With the Wolfpack up 21-7 late in the third quarter, Rivers pulled off the play of the night. In the grasp of a New Mexico defender and about to go down, he somehow scooped a little shot-put-like pass to Hicks, who traveled 46 yards to the New Mexico four-yard line. Not only did the third down play give NC State a first down, it set up Rivers' second one-yard touchdown run of the night.
"I was stepping up and not wanting to run," Rivers said of his improvisation. "Sterling really did a great job of adjusting his route. They know if I'm in trouble to come back to the ball. I just barely saw him; I probably couldn't have thrown it any further than that."
NC State finished with 410 yards of total offense while holding the Lobos to just 242 yards. New Mexico did most of its offensive damage in the second half, turning to a series of misdirection plays.
"They ran some bootlegs and options in the second half," Amato said. "With our youth at linebacker, we were a little overzealous to get to the football which helped them to do what they wanted to do on offense. Our pursuit was awfully good in the first half and that caused them to do some misdirection things. That was a good coaching adjustment on their part."
But overall, New Mexico just didn't have enough firepower to keep up with Rivers' excellence. Among other things, the Wolfpack offense converted on 10-of-15 third down plays.
"I thought we played with a little more maturity in the second half," said Lobos coach Rocky Long. "The first half we played like a high school team. We had receivers running wide open. We had guys blitzing wrong gaps. We couldn't convert on third down in the first half. I think we matched up physically with them. I think they're a little faster than we are and their quarterback had a better game than our quarterback."
New Mexico quarterback Casey Kelly, who was 5-2 as a starter last season, finished 19-of-35 for 157 yards and one touchdown. He also threw two interceptions.
Injury wise, NC State lost freshman tight end T.J. Williams, who went out with a shoulder injury in the first half. Tailback Josh Brown saw little action because of a banged up knee. Amato said that Brown would undergo an MRI on Sunday.
The win allowed the Wolfpack to stretch its winning streak in season openers to six.
