NC State
Western Carolina
Hall, Wolfpack Romp Over Western Carolina, 59-20
8/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug 30, 2003
Box Score?|? Notes?|? Photo Gallery
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.--NC State football coach Chuck Amato has often said that he'll never be able to fully thank Tramain Hall for the many sacrifices he's made to play football with the Wolfpack. But in the Pack's season opening 59-20 victory over Western Carolina on Saturday night, Amato showed his gratitude by getting the ball in Hall's hands. In fact, the redshirt sophomore did almost all of the work in NC State's first touchdown drive and later sent the red-clad crowd of 53,800 into a frenzy with a 67-yard punt return for another score.
On the first drive of his career and NC State's first drive of the season, Hall made catches of 12, 18, 11 and six yards. The last grab, a swing pass from Philip Rivers, resulted in a touchdown that gave the Pack a quick 7-0 advantage. It was a four-play march and Hall touched the ball on every single snap.
Amato had ordered his offensive coaches to get the ball to Hall on the first play of the game. Little did he know that the Deerfield Beach, Florida native would be a one-man show on the opening drive.
"I didn't realize he'd touch the ball on every snap," Amato said. "Only three people touched it: the center, the quarterback and him. It couldn't happen to a better person because you're talking about someone who really loves this place and he'd never played a game here before tonight. I don't care if he never scores another touchdown here. He's shown us what it's like to be a great fan of NC State."
Based on Saturday's performance, Hall will be scoring many more touchdowns for the Wolfpack. He added a second score on a scintillating punt return of 67 yards down the left sideline to give the Pack a 28-7 lead with 5:27 left before the half.
 He can do so many things - he can line up in the backfield, he can be a wide receiver. He's a great addition, and we've waited for him long enough.
NC State QB Philip Rivers
|
|
After questions about his Florida exit exam forced him to leave NC State in 2001, Hall was enrolled at Los Angeles Valley Junior College in hopes of regaining his eligibility. Although he could have attended any other school in the nation after that year, he wanted badly to return to NC State. And despite the fact that the NCAA ruled that he would have to sit out the entire 2002 season in order to return to the Wolfpack, Hall stuck it out. On Saturday night, his long wait to wear red and white paid off.
"It all started in the tunnel when I had tears in my eyes," Hall said about the emotions he felt before the game. "When I got out on the field, the adrenaline was pumping. I was nervous on the first play because I knew I needed to catch the ball."
In all, he made seven catches for 97 yards and the two scores. Hall's smashing debut somewhat overshadowed yet another magnificent performance by Rivers, who opened his Heisman Trophy campaign by hitting 26-of-30 passes for 320 yards and three scores. The performance moved Rivers up to fourth place in the all-time ACC record book for passing yards (9,413), third in passing attempts (1,257) and fifth in total offense (9,293).
His .867 completion percentage on Saturday night was the best at NC State since Terry Jordan completed 23-of-25 throws (.920) against North Carolina on September 26, 1992.
In building a 42-14 halftime lead, the Wolfpack offense was never stopped except when tailback T.A. McLendon fumbled the ball away late in the second period. McLendon, the reigning ACC Rookie of the Year, finished with 69 yards on 14 carries, including touchdown runs of eight and 17 yards.
State also got a short touchdown run and a scoring reception from senior running back Cotra Jackson, who was making his return after being sidelined by academic problems last year. Jackson's return, Hall's debut and Rivers' heroics were the bright spots in a lopsided win over a Division 1-AA opponent that had been predicted. But Amato was hardly in the mood to throw a party afterwards, especially since his defense yielded a pair of long scoring drives. Amato was really fuming right before halftime when a 30-yard touchdown pass from Catamounts' quarterback Brian Gaither to receiver Michael Reeder ended a 10-play, 81 yard drive that used up a little more than two minutes.
"There were a couple of things that disappointed me," Amato said. "At times, we didn't fight as hard as we should have fought. I thought the offense looked awfully, awfully good. Our kickoff coverage has got to get better. The biggest thing is defensively. We know we're young up front. They're just going to have to fight through it and grow up. I know it's going to take awhile to get a pass rush and that puts a strain on the defensive backs."
 |
 Jerricho Cotchery, who caught five passes for 62 yards and a TD, tries to break away from Western Carolina's B.J. Jessup. |
NC State's starting defensive line included a true freshman in end Mario Williams; a redshirt freshmen in tackle John McCargo; and redshirt sophomore Renaldo Moses. In most cases on Saturday, the Wolfpack needed to blitz in order to get pressure on Gaither, a tall talented passer who actually had a number of balls dropped. The 6-3, 220-pound senior was 20-of-37 for 173 yards and one touchdown.
"Brian Gaither played a gutsy game," said second year Catamounts head coach Kent Briggs, who spent 11 seasons as a defensive assistant at NC State. "He threw like he did during the preseason. He did a good job of getting rid of the football and showed a lot of poise."
Overall, NC State finished with 494 yards of total offense and had 33 first downs compared to 16 for Western Carolina. The Catamounts rolled up 235 yards.
The 33 first downs tallied by the Wolfpack were just two shy of the school record set 20 years ago.
"Defensively we're disappointed in our performance," Briggs said. "NC State has a great offense and they have a lot of weapons. They had a lot to do with the way our defense performed, but we also made a lot of mistakes."
