North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Turns up the Competition
8/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 30, 2004
By Tony Haynes Raleigh, N.C. - While NC State football coach Chuck Amato stops of short of saying his program has satisfactory depth at most positions across the board, he has been pleased with an ever increasing level of competition at several key spots. As a result, the starting jobs at a handful of key positions were not secured until late last week, while a few others may still be up in the air. The quarterback competition between Jay Davis and Marcus Stone, a battle that was eventually won by Davis, may have received the most publicity, yet it was hardly the most dramatic competition in camp. At free safety, Marcus Hudson and Troy Graham appeared to be neck and neck through most of August until Hudson's name showed up No. 1 on the depth chart on Friday. Hudson, a former cornerback, had to be awfully good to beat out Graham, a senior who started 11 of 12 games last season and continued to play even after breaking a bone in his foot in a September game against Texas Tech. Up front on defense, sophomore DeMarcus "Tank" Tyler may have produced the upset special of the preseason by unseating redshirt junior Dwayne Herndon at one of the tackle positions. Considering that he was almost moved to the offensive line back in the spring, Tyler has come a long way since an up and down freshman campaign in 2003. "DeMarcus is much better than I ever anticipated at this point," Amato said. "He's just a youngster in a man's body. He was taught fundamentally very, very well in high school. He plays with low pads. The biggest thing he's going to need to learn is how to use his hands. You can't play this game on any level without using your hands. If he stays healthy, he's going to be a good one." Like Tyler, offensive tackle Derek Morris was a highly decorated rookie when he arrived at NC State more than a year ago. And also like Tyler, he found out that an impressive high school résumé should not be construed as a free pass for playing time. Morris is now listed No. 1 at right tackle, but getting there wasn't easy. Saying he needed to send the massive 6-6, 340-pound sophomore a message, Amato had Morris working behind Jon Holt for the first two weeks of camp. "I did [send him a message]," Amato said. "Sometimes you get those `super sophs' and their heads don't fit in their helmet. He's got a ways to go. He was probably 6-6, 350-pounds when he was in the third grade. He didn't learn the fundamentals because he didn't get to play junior high football. He was so big that he could get by without fundamentals and technique. Now, he's learning fundamentals and technique. Technique is so important at our level and the next level because he's playing against men that are his own size for the first time." And a fundamentally sound Derek Morris will only bolster a talented, experienced offensive line that will be looking to open holes for a bevy of talented running backs. Now that the quarterback situation has worked itself out, the question of the week becomes, who will start at tailback? The job had been T.A. McLendon's to lose, but that was before the junior injured a hamstring in practice more than two weeks ago. Since that time, McLendon has done very little in practice, prompting Amato to say on more than one occasion, "You can't make the team in the tub." But McLendon's most recent exile to the training room has turned into a winning lottery ticket for freshmen running backs Bobby Washington and Darrell Blackman. And as much as he might try, Amato has often had a difficult time tempering his enthusiasm for his prized rookie runners. "In practice, they've done an outstanding job...that's in practice where there are no people, no sportswriters, no internet and no television cameras," Amato said. "The thing that has impressed everybody is how fast they have absorbed the offense, terminology wise. You can certainly get mixed up listening to a play call. I think Dick Portee (running backs coach) deserves an awful lot of credit; he's spent a lot of time with them. I would to if I was coaching those two. We'll find out. You never know what's going to happen when the lights go on." As of Friday, the depth chart listed Washington or Blackman as the starter at tailback, with Reggie Davis third, followed byMcLendon. Davis is also recovering from a hamstring injury. "We all know what a great player T.A. is," said Amato. "There's nobody that roots more for T.A. than C.A." But if C.A. is forced to start a first-year back against Richmond on Saturday, he'll do so with a little less reticence after watching Washington and Blackman perform in the preseason.
