North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: The New Deal
9/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 3, 2004
By Tony Haynes
For NC State, the arrival of the 2004 football season isn't the only thing that will be new this weekend. There will be those new uniforms and a new defensive coordinator. Then, there's a new, improved ACC. Finally, the Wolfpack will have a new starting quarterback for the first time in the Chuck Amato era. Richmond, the Pack's opening night opponent, will be playing its first game under a new coach when it visits Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday night. Like with anything new, one never knows exactly what to expect when so many unknown forces collide at the same time.
NC State probably hasn't faced an opening night quite like this since that rainy September evening in 2000 when Amato, coaching in his first game, sent a lanky freshman quarterback into the huddle for the first time. It wasn't always pretty that night, but the Pack did eventually escape with a double-overtime victory over lightly regarded Arkansas State. And that lanky freshman quarterback, a guy named Philip Rivers, would go on to to shatter most of the ACC's career passing and total offense records.
Now, the player who waited in the wings while Rivers was carving up opposing defenses like a plump turkey on Thanksgiving Day, will get his turn. Perhaps, patience will pay off for redshirt junior Jay Davis, who has seen very limited action in 10 games over the last two years.
Still, Amato, who will be starting his fifth year at NC State, doesn't expect to be as jittery about this weekend's opener as he was back in 2000.
"The first one was [more unnerving]," Amato said. "An 18-year old freshman with the ugliest throwing motion in the world. I read it so often. That was a lot worse. This is the way it's supposed to go. The way it is with most teams, you recruit these quarterbacks with a couple of years in between them and they wait their turn. It's that way with Jay right now. He's a fourth year junior and he's been around. Now the pressure is on him."
For his part, Davis has passed the first test with flying colors. He used his experience to beat out redshirt freshman Marcus Stone for the starting job and has since made a quick adjustment to the swarm of media attention that has come his way. If he performs as well on the field as he has off it, the Wolfpack will be in good hands.
"When you play behind a guy like Philip who is such a great quarterback and such a good leader, you've got to be prepared to be compared to him," said Davis. "It comes with the territory of playing behind a guy like that. It's something that I'm going to have to deal with throughout the season and I'm ready for it."
But Davis alone won't be able to compensate for Rivers' departure all by himself and he may not have to. He'll be surrounded by a talented cast of skill players and offensive linemen, a group of players who have already proven themselves.
But NC State's biggest improvement will likely show up on the other side of the ball. Directed by new coordinator Reggie Herring, the Wolfpack defense would seem to have a very good chance of rebounding from a sub-par year in 2003.
"I think we've got a year under our belts," said defensive tackle John McCargo. "Coach Herring brings a lot of excitement to the defense. The team is just playing better together. We'll perform a lot better than we did last year."
Last year, NC State finished 8th in the ACC in total defense primarily because McCargo and a few of his other mates along the defensive line were playing major college football for the first time. The expected maturity and improvement of the defensive front should be a better compliment to a back seven that will be one of the most experienced linebacker and secondary groups in school history.
Of course, not everything is new this year. Unfortunately, news of an injury to star tailback T.A. McLendon during the preseason was an all too familiar refrain. McLendon, the ACC Rookie of the Year in 2002, has been slowed by a hamstring injury that could keep him out of the opener. The blow of McLendon's most recent physical setback could be softened somewhat by the impressive emergence of rookie tailbacks Bobby Washington and Darrell Blackman, a pair of prep All-Americans who have lived up to the hype during the preseason. While Blackman will start on Saturday, Washington should also see plenty of action.
"When you look at the depth chart and see that T.A. McLendon is their fourth-string tailback, that tells you that they feel good about their offensive skill in the backfield," said first-year Richmond coach Dave Clawson, who spent the previous five years at Fordham. "We've been watching film and we have unbelievable respect for those guys. They run well at all the skill positions, they're very physical up front and they're very deep in the backfield. We're just to go down there and try to compete the best we can and give a great effort."
To be sure, Clawson's club will have an uphill battle on Saturday night. A Division 1-AA member of the Atlantic 10 conference, Richmond made a coaching change after winning only two of 11 games last season. With new offensive and defensive schemes in place, the Spiders' will try to rely on surprise elements to keep the Wolfpack off balance.
"Do we hope we catch them off-guard with something? Absolutely," Clawson said. "I think every game that you go into you try to do that. Part of our advantage is that they don't know what we're doing. But by the same token, our offensive system hasn't been in place that long, so we're going to have to go there with a fairly basic game plan that our kids can execute. I think it's more important for our kids to know what they're doing than to run a whole bunch of trick plays and catch NC State off-guard."
Said Amato: "We have to prepare for everything. You look at their offense and defense and you know what they did at Fordham. We know where the defensive coordinator came from. You just have to prepare for everything. The biggest thing we have to do is prepare ourselves fundamentally. If we can block, if we can tackle and we know our assignments and win the kicking game, that's all we can ask our kids to do."
It sounds so clear cut, but in a new season with so many unknowns hanging out there, you just never can tell what might happen. It will truly be a new deal.
NC State Injury Report (9/3/04)
Doubtful:
Running back T.A. McLendon - Hamstring
Out:
Safety Andre Maddox - Hamstring strain
Center Kalani Heppe - Broken Foot
