North Carolina State University Athletics
Chuck's Plans Interrupted by Charley
8/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 16, 2004
By Tony Haynes In some ways, the rainy weekend that just passed resembled the type of weather that has so often crashed NC State football parties on many opening nights the last several years. At least this time, it was only a scrimmage that was affected. Scheduled to hold its first preseason scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday afternoon, the Wolfpack continued to postpone the workout through the weekend as a pair of weather systems dumped large quantities of rain on the Raleigh area on both Saturday and Sunday. In the end, Pack coach Chuck Amato decided to push the scrimmage, which is closed to the public and media, back to Monday. The constant rain, combined with sloppy field conditions, certainly would have interfered with NC State's ability to execute at a time when the coaching staff is looking to gauge the progress the Pack has made through the first week of practice. An improving weather forecast should allow the Wolfpack to get back on the field on Monday afternoon, meaning quarterbacks Jay Davis and Marcus Stone will have more favorable conditions under which to resume their battle for the starting job. Amato has said that each player will get an equal number of reps with the first team offense. But if you're expecting a statistical breakdown of their respective performances in the scrimmages, don't get your hopes up. NC State will not release the statistics of the two quarterbacks after Monday's scrimmage. It has been Amato's intention all along to stretch the competition out through most of the preseason. On the weather front, Hurricane Charley didn't cause as much inland damage in North Carolina as initially feared on Saturday. And even though it was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it crossed into the state, it did produce enough rain to put a damper on outdoor activities. By Sunday, another system - unrelated to Charley - generated even more rain in central North Carolina. With the 2004 opener against Richmond a little less than three weeks away, Pack fans are hoping that the worst of the tropical weather is getting its licks in early. For whatever reason, nasty weather and NC State season openers seem to go together as four of the Wolfpack's last six home openers have been anything but dry affairs. Tropical systems made life miserable for fans and players alike in 1998 (Ohio), 1999 (South Carolina) and 2000 (Arkansas State). Kick off for the 2002 game against New Mexico was actually delayed by a fierce thunderstorm that rumbled through the area just before the scheduled start time.
