North Carolina State University Athletics
Rain, Injuries Limit Wolfpack in Football Scrimmage
4/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 5, 2003
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.-Perhaps the biggest story from NC State's closed football scrimmage on Saturday morning at Carter-Finley Stadium was who didn't participate. Held out because of a variety of minor injuries, receivers Tramain Hall, Richard Washington and Andy Bertrand did not take part in the controlled scrimmage, which was interrupted for about 20 minutes by a violent thunderstorm that moved through the Raleigh area. Also relegated to the sidelines was tailback Josh Brown, who's nursing a slight hamstring problem. Throw in the fact that reigning ACC Rookie of the Year T.A. McLendon is still recovering from offseason wrist surgery and you're left with a makeshift offensive unit that consisted of mostly backup players.
"The offense is awfully shorthanded," said Wolfpack head coach Chuck Amato. "I tell you what, if we get a couple of more people hurt, I don't know how we'll be able to have a scrimmage next week. We had one running back and three wide receivers that didn't participate."
If what happened on Saturday is any indication, then fans coming out to watch next weekend's annual Red/White Spring Scrimmage will see some unfamiliar faces lining up with the first string.
The leading rusher on Saturday was junior Jevon Moore, while the top two pass catchers were Brian Clark and walk-on performer Kennard France. In other words, many of the players putting up most of the offensive statistics weren't what most ACC fans would consider to be household names.
Also sitting out of most of the action was starting quarterback Philip Rivers, but that was by design.
"Philip was only in for one series," Amato said. "We know what Philip can do. We've got to see what Jay Davis and what Chris Moore can do. They're the future when Philip leaves."
Working with the second team offense, Moore connected on 8-of-15 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown. Davis, who took snaps with the first team offense, was 12-of-25 for 113 yards and one scoring pass.
Admitting that his team had been worn down by the tough spring practice regimen, Amato said the upcoming week would be a little bit lighter before the spring period concludes with next Saturday's open scrimmage at 1:00 p.m.
"Tomorrow, we'll have a two hour meeting to show film of this scrimmage and then we'll go out and practice for about and hour and 15 minutes. We'll go a half a scrimmage on Wednesday, and Friday will be very light so we can do something on Saturday."
