North Carolina State University Athletics
Amato Encouraged by Top Ranked Defense
9/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 19, 2004
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - It's a statement Chuck Amato has repeated over and over since he first took over as NC State's head football coach five years ago: the Wolfpack won't be a great football team until it plays great defense. Maybe it's no coincidence that Amato's best team - a squad that posted 11 wins and a Gator Bowl victory over Notre Dame in 2002 - led the ACC in total defense. Amid the disappointment of Saturday's 22-14 loss to Ohio State, NC State still came away feeling that its defense will likely be a strength for the remainder of this season.
"I said two years ago that the way recruiting was going that the post-Philip Rivers era will maybe be about defense," Amato said on Sunday. "Two games don't make a season, but if this defense is better than the one we had two years ago then it will be a great defense."
So far, so good.
Through two games, the 2004 NC State defense actually leads the entire nation in total defense, having allowed an average of just 152 yards per game. The Wolfpack is also ranked No.1 in pass defense (68 ypg.), 21st in rushing defense (84 ypg.) and 12th in scoring defense.
After pitching a shutout in the Pack's season opening 42-0 win over Richmond, the NC State defense put up another strong effort in Saturday's defeat to Ohio State. Despite being on the field for 35 minutes, the unit held the Buckeyes to just 137 total yards and 11 first downs. Ohio State's only touchdown came after an interception gave the Buckeyes first and goal at the NC State three-yard line right before halftime. OSU went on to score on the very next play. In fact, had the Pack avoided some costly penalties and put up a better stand in that particular goal line situation, Amato wouldn't have had any other complaints about the performance.
"The biggest breakdowns were silly penalties that let Ohio State continue drives," said Amato. "Call them overaggressive or whatever, but I would rather them be overaggressive than under aggressive."
Among the individual standouts on Saturday were linebackers Oliver Hoyte (14 tackles and three tackles for loss), Stephen Tulloch (12 tackles and three for loss). Defensive end Manny Lawson also had three tackles for loss including a sack.
"Manny played a lot better this game than he did the first game," Amato said of the former outside linebacker. "He's a junior, but kind of a freshman playing that position. He's going to get better and better and better. He was more physical yesterday than he had been. He and his sidekick Mario [Williams] grew up a quite a bit. Those are the kind of things we expect out of Manny Lawson."
On the offensive side of the ball, Amato knows his team has some work to do. Making just his second start at quarterback, Jay Davis struggled with three interceptions. Overall, the junior was 12-of-24 for 99 yards and one touchdown.
"He'll learn from it," Amato said. "Jay is a good quarterback who will learn from it. He made mistakes and he knew it. In fact, he knew a lot of them when he came off the field."
One guy who could very well take some of the pressure off of Davis is junior tailback T.A. McLendon, who made an impressive debut against the Buckeyes, rushing for 94 yards on 15 carries. After missing most of the preseason with a hamstring pull, McLendon looked very much like the impact player he was as a freshman when he was named ACC Rookie of the Year."
"We probably need to get T.A. even more touches," Amato said. "He's quite a running back. I think all of his injuries are behind him."
Speaking of injuries, Amato said the Wolfpack came out of the Ohio State game in pretty good shape physically. Freshman tailback Bobby Washington had some swelling in an ankle on Sunday, but the injury isn't believed to be serious.
NC State will travel to Virginia Tech for a 12 noon ACC showdown next Saturday.
