North Carolina State University Athletics
Cavs, Pack Ready for Shootout at Carter-Finley
10/31/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 31, 2003
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.-Last year's football game between Virginia and NC State was billed as a shootout between the ACC's two best quarterbacks. But with an icy cold breeze blowing off the mountaintops and the rain falling, both Matt Schaub and Philip Rivers must have felt like they were throwing a slippery brick at Scott Stadium. The result was a surprisingly low-scoring battle won by the Cavaliers, 14-9. But if the favorable weather forecast for the rematch holds this weekend, fans could be in for a few more offensive fireworks when the nation's two most accurate passers hook up one more time for a key ACC match-up at Carter-Finley Stadium. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.
Schaub, a 5th year senior for the Cavaliers (5-3, 3-2), leads the nation in completion percentage (71 percent). Rivers, who now holds virtually all of the ACC's career passing records, is right on his heels at 70.8 percent. Either way, you can't go wrong with a pair of quarterbacks who have a lot in common: both are big, both are smart and both can seemingly throw a football through the opening of a Coke bottle if necessary.
"I'm a great admirer of [Rivers]," said Virginia coach Al Groh. "What I think is remarkable is as significant a player as he has been this year and last year, the remarkable thing about Philip is how he played as a freshman and a sophomore. There are a lot of quarterbacks who are playing very well, but very few of them - whether its Carson Palmer or Matt Schaub - were able to play like Philip did in his first two years."
Rivers has, in fact, started all 47 games of his career and has been producing since game one. Schaub, on the other hand, was a late bloomer. After struggling for a few years, he came into his own last season when he actually beat out Rivers for ACC player of the year honors.
"He's a great quarterback," said Wolfpack linebacker Manny Lawson. "All I do know is he beat out Philip Rivers for ACC quarterback of the year, so that says a lot because Philip says a lot."
After injuring his shoulder in Virginia's opener against Duke, Schaub nearly missed three full games early in the season. But since coming back, he hasn't missed a beat, completing 70.6 percent of his passes for 1,448 yards and nine touchdowns. Ever the iron man, Rivers has thrown for 2,908 yards and 21 touchdowns in his first nine games this fall. Ironically, however, Virginia is the only team in the ACC against which he has not thrown a touchdown pass in his career.
"Certainly, that's been brought to my attention," Rivers said. "They're good on defense and the two games we've lost we haven't been good offensively. It only bothers me because that could have been the difference between winning and losing. It's nothing that I'm out to make sure it happens. If it comes along with a win, that would be great."
Rivers hopes that he won't have to do it all himself against a sturdy Cavalier defense, but the production of the Pack's feeble running game will again hinge on the physical condition of running back T.A. McLendon, whose playing status has been questionable to doubtful almost every week. After undergoing a pair of knee scopes within a five-day period last week, the sophomore runner has managed to practice on a limited basis this week. Regardless of McLendon's availability, Pack head coach Chuck Amato says freshman Reggie Davis will get his second straight start on Saturday.
Virginia's top running back, sophomore Wali Lundy, is also a back from an injury that took him away from a couple of games. Lundy averages 80 yards rushing per game, a figure that ranks second in the ACC.
Both Groh and Amato would feel more comfortable going into Saturday's big game feeling like they at least have a chance to achieve more balance in their respective offenses. Otherwise, the pressure will be on the two star quarterbacks to carry the load.
But if there is a personal rivalry between the two signal callers, it would be difficult to detect. The two players spent some cordial time together at the ACC's preseason media day back in July and found that they had a lot in common. And as everyone found out last year, the other 20 players on the field will also have something to say about who wins and who loses.
"Philip's more concerned about going against the University of Virginia's defense than he is about going against Matt Schaub," Amato said. "Look at last year's game. Neither one of them could put the ball across that little white line with any consistency. I'm not going to say to Philip, 'you've got to outplay him.' Our offense has got to outplay their defense."
While it has given up some yards both through the air and on the ground, the Cavaliers are very stingy when teams get close to their goal line. Although it ranks 5th in the league in total defense (368 yards per game), Virginia is yielding just 16 points per game, a statistic that will certainly grab the attention of an NC State offense that has sometimes stumbled in the red zone this season.
Still, there's every reason to believe this game will feature a little more scoring than last year's physically played match-up.
"I doubt [the point total] will be that low," Groh said. "I would like to see it somewhere in that category because I think we'd have a better chance if it was down in that range. That was nice. When that was over, I was thinking that we would like to be proficient enough that we can win close games. That was the first time we stepped over the line as far as being able to win a close game on defense like that."
Amato agrees with those sentiments.
"Could you imagine a game last year that had the two top quarterbacks in the league and there weren't a whole lot of points scored?" Amato said. "I'm waiting for that to happen consistently around here because that means you have a chance."
Regardless of how the game is played on Saturday, the contest could have major bowl ramifications. Representatives from a number of the bowls that have tie ins with the ACC will be present to watch not only Rivers and Schaub, but NC State (6-3, 3-2) and Virginia (5-3, 3-2). To the winner will go no worse than a share of second place in the ACC standings.
The Cavaliers have won four of the last five meetings, but still trail the overall series 31-20-1. NC State made sure Virginia would have unpleasant memories of its last trip to Carter-Finley in 2001, a game that saw the Pack prevail 24-0.
