North Carolina State University Athletics
Gary Hahn's Scouting Report
9/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 11, 2002
#19 (AP) #20 (ESPN) NC STATE (3-0) vs. WAKE FOREST (1-1)
DATE: Saturday, September 14, 2002
TIME: Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. (EDT) at Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NC (51,500)
RADIO: Wolfpack Capitol Sports Network. AIRTIME: 6:00 p.m. (EDT)
TELEVISION: None
OPPONENT--Last season 10 of Wake Forest's 11 games were decided by 10 points or less. Saturday's home opener with East Carolina was also a thriller. The Demon Deacons opened a 17-point lead early in the third quarter and held on for a 27-22 victory over East Carolina in its home opener, beating the Pirates for the second time in as many seasons. The previous week, Wake Forest dropped a 42-41 overtime decision at Northern Illinois, opting to go for the win rather than kicking the extra point to take the game to a second overtime.
The Deacons ran for 181 yards against ECU, but took their biggest lead of the game at 20-3 through the air when James MacPherson connected with Jason Anderson for a 46-yard touchdown with 12:54 left in the third quarter. Anderson injured his shoulder on the play and missed the rest of the game. MacPherson completed 16-of-29 passes for 216 yards while Anderson led the Deaks with three catches for 91 yards.
East Carolina (0-2) closed to 20-16 on Art Brown's six-yard TD run with 3:15 left in the third quarter, but Wake Forest made it 27-16 on Cornelius Birgs' two-yard TD plunge with 8:27 left in the contest. East Carolina needed just 77 seconds to score again, closing to 27-22 on Paul Troth's 15-yard TD pass to Edwin Rios with 7:16 to go. However, ECU's two-point conversion attempt failed.
The Pirates threatened again and were driving when Troth threw his fourth interception of the game, the second one of the night picked off by Eric King, just inside the end zone with 4:33 to play. Wake Forest tried to run out the clock, but could only get to midfield before it had to punt. Steve Hale dropped the snap and East Carolina's Marcus White recovered on the Deaks 42-yard line with 1:35 to play. The Pirates hopes ended when Troth's pass on 4th-and-3 from the Wake Forest 35 was incomplete with 33 seconds remaining.
WFU held a slim 397-395 edge in total yards, but took advantage of five ECU turnovers. Troth completed 21-of-41 passes for 273 yards. Both teams lost a fumble in the game
The Deacons are experienced with 16 starters returning and have apparently filled holes in the offensive line left by graduation. The numbers are impressive. Even without its best runningback, WFU is averaging 34 points and 424 total yards a game. Senior tailback Tarence Williams, a 1,000-yard rusher last season, broke a bone in his foot in mid-June and his return has been gradual. He's carried the ball only two times this season. Last year's second-leading rusher, Fred Staton, will miss the entire year to concentrate on academics.
That adversity has not stopped the Deaks from running the ball. Using a combination of five backs led by Nick Burney (6-3, 214, Jr.) and bruising fullback Ovie Mughelli (6-2, 248, Sr.), Wake Forest is averaging 262.5 rushing yards a game. Mughelli has scored five rushing touchdowns and is nearly impossible to stop in short yardage situations.
At the controls of the Deacons offense is MacPherson (6-2, 197, Sr.) who is the tenth Wake Forest quarterback to pass for more than 3,000 career yards. His top target is Fabian Davis (5-11, 180, Sr.) who leads the team with 7 catches for 107 yards and is the Deaks No. 2 rusher with 104 yards and a team-leading 11.4 yards per carry average.
Defensively, the Deacons employ a 3-3-5 defensive scheme, similar to what New Mexico threw at the Wolfpack. WFU has some solid defenders, but is still searching for consistency. So far, the Deaks are allowing opponents 408 yards (244 passing) and 32 points a game. The top defenders are senior end, Calvin Pace (6-6, 270), a second-team All-ACC selection last season. Pace leads the Deaks with 23 tackles, including 4 tackles for loss. Outside linebacker, Kellen Brantley (6-3, 236, Jr.), is one of the ACC's best, recording 95 tackles and 3 interceptions a year ago. In the secondary, all five starters are back, including junior safety Quintin Williams, one of the ACC's top defensive backs.
On special teams, Hale is a returning starter who is punting for a 40.4 yard average. MacPherson can also punt (12 times for an average of 42 yards last season) if needed. New kicker, Matt Wisnosky (6-1, 190, So.) has struggled with consistency. He's made 2 of 5 field goal attempts (27 and 36 yards vs. ECU). Fabian Davis is a dangerous return man. This season, he's run back 5 punts for a 22.4-yard average, including one for an 82-yard touchdown.
Wake Forest has lost eight straight games to the Wolfpack in Raleigh. The Deacons have not beaten NC State at Carter-Finley Stadium since 1984 when Al Groh was WFU head coach.
INJURIES--NC State: CB A.J Davis-Out; Fractured fibula; TB T.A. McLendon-Questionable; shoulder; DT Jerrick Hall-questionable; neck sprain; DT Alan Holloway-doubtful, sprained PCL; C Jed Paulsen-out; sprained ACL. Wake Forest: WR Jason Anderson-Doubtful; shoulder; NT Montique Sharpe-Doubtful: knee.
