North Carolina State University Athletics
Behind The Scenes With Tony Haynes: Wolfpack Defense Switches Gears
9/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 17, 2002
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.-The team NC State will face this Saturday is averaging 45 passing attempts per game, while only running the ball 24 times per contest. The Pack's opponent this week also features a quarterback that just became his conference's all-time leading passer. Are you starting to get the feeling that Texas Tech has very little in common with East Tennessee State, Navy and Wake Forest? We're talking night and day; apples and oranges; frick and frack. If East Tennessee's offense looked like Phyllis Diller, then Texas Tech's attack resembles Pamela Anderson.
Not only will the 16th ranked Wolfpack be running up against the best team it has faced so far this season, it will also be encountering an offensive style that has absolutely nothing in common with the strategies employed by NC State's first four opponents. Look at it this way: The Red Raiders (2-1) average 389 yards of total offense per game. Their passing attack is producing 328 of those yards. Or as Texas Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury puts it: "We pass to setup the pass."
"They (Texas Tech) actually use their passing game as their running game," said NC State defensive backs coach Chris Demarest. "A lot of their routes aren't the posts or the take-offs; a lot of their routes are the crossing routes and the check-downs to the backs and wide receivers. If we miss tackles, then they're going to get a 15 or 16-yard play."
Wow! That sounds familiar. In fact, it sounds a lot like the offense NC State fans have come to know and love since Chuck Amato took over in 2000. In practicing against the their own offense over the last two months, the Wolfpack's defensive players have unknowingly been preparing themselves for many of the same schemes and formations they'll see this week.
"That's big," Demarest said. "The offenses are very similar. They're going to use three wide-outs and they're going to use four wide-outs. They're going to spread you out and when they use two backs, it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to run the ball. Practicing all spring and preseason, and working on what we do best in our coverages will help us prepare for this game."
In Tech's impressive 42-28 victory over Mississippi last weekend, Kingsbury became the top passer in Big 12 Conference history with 8,331 career yards. The senior's success has been met with very little fanfare around the nation. And while NC State's Philip Rivers is starting to have his name mentioned in Heisman Trophy circles, Kingsbury continues to flourish in relative obscurity. At least that's the opinion of his head coach.
"I think he's done a heck of a job here and anytime you lead this conference in passing two years in a row going on three, that makes a pretty big statement," said Raiders coach Mike Leach.
Kingsbury opened the season by throwing for 341 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-21 loss at Ohio State. He then put up 374 yards and three more touchdowns the next week against SMU. The numbers in Texas Tech's win over Mississippi: 25-of-39 for 270 yards and three touchdowns.
If you're going to play in Texas, you might as well have a shootout. With Rivers and Kingsbury throwing footballs this week, this could turnout to be the most entertaining standoff since Wyatt Earp went head-to-head with the Ike Clanton gang. Thank goodness Amato had the foresight to add 'Doc' Holliday to his staff three years ago.
"These are the games you practice hard for and you play for because it's so much fun getting all that attention and everyone's jacked up," Kingsbury said. "We're excited and it's going to be another visible game and I think we'll play well."
And Texas Tech's passing attack will provide a new challenge to an NC State secondary that has spent the first four games being preoccupied by sweeps, options, and counters. It will truly be as different as night and day.
