North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Expecting Physical Matchup at Virginia Tech
9/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 24, 2004
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - Big, physical and nasty. Those were just some of the adjectives NC State head football coach Chuck Amato has used this week to describe Virginia Tech. Here's another one: Happy. After spending their entire athletics existence in the shadows of the ACC, the Hokies and their fans are absolutely giddy about being a part of the 51-year old league. And after establishing itself as one of the top dogs in the Big East the last few years, Virginia Tech wants to do the same in its new conference. On Saturday, the Wolfpack, of course, will try to turn Tech's euphoria into misery.
The 45th meeting between NC State and Virginia Tech at Blacksburg's Lane Stadium will be different than the previous 44. This time, the game will have conference implications.
"They're a great football team," said Wolfpack defensive end Mario Williams. "That's the way to start off the ACC by playing Virginia Tech. It's a great opportunity. We have to put anything that's negative behind us and correct those mistakes because this is going to be a big game."
Given the fact that Virginia Tech (2-1) has been awfully impressive over its first three games and that Lane Stadium may very well be one of the toughest places to play in America, the Wolfpack will be in for a very long afternoon if it repeats last Saturday's mistake-filled performance against Ohio State. Done in by five turnovers and 14 penalties, the Pack (1-1) came away defeated and disappointed.
Playing in front of their rabid fans, the Hokies are 78-25-1 in home games since Frank Beamer took over as head coach 18 years ago. And although Tech dropped its opener to Southern California, the game was very competitive until the top ranked Trojans finally broke it open with a pair of touchdowns over the last seven minutes.
"They're very physical up front," Amato said. "They're offensive linemen are huge. They're defensive linemen aren't as tall as you might think, but the whole football team from the waist down is very, very strong. You see the quarterback break tackles. You see the tailback, who might be bigger than advertised, break tackles. You see linemen knock people off the ball when they're on offense. You see defensive linemen knock offensive linemen backwards. That's leg strength."
The average weight of the massive offensive line Amato mentioned is 317 pounds. In fact, left tackle Jimmy Martin (6-5, 299) is the only player on that unit who weighs below the 300 mark. Give Jimmy a few doughnuts, and it would be a clean sweep.
"Overall, we're a little bit bigger in the offensive line," said Beamer. "We've had some good linemen and have an awful lot of them playing pro football. I think this one is a little bit bigger and hopefully it's going to be one of our better ones. I think they're tough guys."
Toughness is a Virginia Tech trademark and a quality that NC State will have to match on Saturday. The Wolfpack will counter Tech's giants and cagey quarterback Bryan Randall with a defense that's ranked No. 1 in the nation through the first two weeks of the season.
"It's just the second game of the season, but we have been working hard and trying to be the best defense we can possibly be," Williams said. "I'm not going to say [the ranking] is a fluke because we do put a lot of dedication to go out there and do what we can do."
And while most discussions about football games usually focus on offense and defense, this could truly be a contest in which both teams are looking for an edge with their special teams. No two programs in college football have blocked more kicks than NC State and Virginia over the last several years. Under Beamer, the Hokies have rejected 103 kicks over a span of 204 games. Since 2000, the Wolfpack has 33 blocked kicks, a figure that leads the entire nation.
"I think it's the emphasis that you put on that," Amato said. "We do emphasize it and I know Virginia Tech does. When I was at Florida State, we visited them and they visited us and we always talked about blocking kicks. We talk offense and we talk defense, but I always say that if we win the kicking game, 90 percent of the time we'll win the football game."
If preseason projections mean anything, then Saturday's 12 noon matchup could come down to a big play in the kicking game. NC State, which has gone to four straight bowl games under Amato, was picked to finish seventh in the ACC's preseason media poll. Virginia Tech, a school at has made 11 consecutive bowl appearances, was picked sixth. Could it be that one or the other was underrated?
"I think that remains to be seen," Beamer said. "I think we were picked about where we belong; we didn't finish very well last year and we lost a lot of great players. I personally like what's happening with this football team right now but it's early in the year. I think it's the whole year and how you do each and every week."
