North Carolina State University Athletics
Annabelle's Preseason Diary
8/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 15, 2003
The numbers certainly look good from the Wolfpack's first scrimmage, both on offense and defense. The team had a kicking scrimmage this morning in the stadium, then came back out for a solid, two-hour workout this afternoon. It was great to see the new cover over the tunnel going into the Murphy Center where the team will run out. It's red with a big "block S" in the middle. Chris Tolson from the facilities crew did a great job designing it and getting it installed.
The scrimmage began in sun, then light rain, then clouds, then heavy rain, then the temperature dropped and it drizzled. I don't think the guys were too upset when they ran their gassers after practice that it was cool and damp.
Philip Rivers looked like we have all grown accustomed to Philip looking. He completed passes to six different receivers, going 17-of-22 for 136 yards and throwing five-yard TDs to Brian Clark and Sterling Hicks. Both of those receivers looked sharp, with Clark catching six balls for 81 yards and Hicks grabbing five for 31 - including some pretty tough catches. Jay Davis led the first-team offense to another touchdown - a 20-yarder to Tramain Hall. Davis ended up with 138 yards on a 12-38 outing. None of the four QBs threw an interception.
When the team was running its one-minute drill, Philip thought the clock ran down a little quicker than it should have. "Who's running the clock?" he screamed from the opposite sideline. "Who's running the clock up there? We're at HOME! We're at HOME!" It's hard to keep Philip from being competitive, no matter what the situation.
I'm going to create a new offensive stat for tight end T.J. Williams: the "runover." He's been doing it to defenders in practice and tonight on one catch, he ran over one defender, then vaulted another on a 17-yard play. He ended up with 46 yards on three catches. T.J. also caught a pass from Philip during goalline drills. "That's there all day long!" Philip yelled.
T.A. McLendon got shook up early in the scrimmage, so Josh Brown, Cotra Jackson and Reggie Davis carried the load. All three had good runs and Reggie notched a couple of "runovers" himself.
On defense, A.J. Davis had eight tackles to lead the team. Manny Lawson was a monster, with six tackles, including three for loss and two sacks. Alan Halloway had five stops, also including three tackles for loss and a sack. Pat Thomas tallied five tackles.
The team was a little emotional at the beginning of practice. Coach Amato announced that Terrance Chapman would not be with us this year because of "academic and personal reasons." He also told the media that Marcus Hudson and Corrie Dawson would concentrate on academics this season.
Coach Amato said that he was very pleased with his young players, and singled out Brian Clark. "He's big, tough and hard to bring down," he said.
