North Carolina State University Athletics
It's Two or Die for Pack
11/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 14, 2005
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - NC State senior linebacker Oliver Hoyte remembers what it was like to play on teams that had winning seasons and qualified for bowl games. Hoyte was a freshman when the Wolfpack won a school record 11 games in 2002, a season that was capped off with a memorable victory over Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl. The very next year, NC State routed Kansas to pick up its 8th win in the Tangerine Bowl. It's that same feeling of satisfaction he wants to experience one more time before his career ends.
But for Hoyte to get his wish, the Wolfpack (4-5, 2-5) must finish with wins over Middle Tennessee State (3-5) and Maryland to close out the 2005 campaign.
"Every game is important to me because I've enjoyed my time here," Hoyte said. "I would love to play one more extra game in college."
Before last Saturday night's 30-10 loss to Boston College, the Wolfpack was riding high following back-to-back wins over Southern Mississippi and Florida State. Once 2-4, the Pack had recovered to even its record at 4-4 and appeared to be a confident football team, one that thought a five-game winning streak to end the season was possible. An early 10-0 lead over the Eagles made that goal seem even more realistic.
But that's when the roof caved in.
Taking control of the battle up front, the big, physical Eagles stormed back to score 30 unanswered points, leaving NC State with no margin for error in its last two games.
Needless to say, this isn't the dream scenario Hoyte had hoped for entering his senior year.
"Coming into the season we had high expectations," Hoyte said. "We had dreams of being in the ACC Championship Game. Then we lost to Virginia Tech, then we lost again and again. Ever since then, our goal has just been to win out and see what happens. Now we're in the same situation; we must win out if we're going to reach a bowl."
Hoyte and the defense played fairly well at B.C., but were eventually undone by big plays. Finishing with just 335 yards of total offense, the Eagles picked up 198 of those yards on four plays. Offensively, the Wolfpack was staggered by a B.C. defense that stopped the run and set up near impossible play-calling situations. Over the course of the game, the Pack averaged 11.7 yards to go on third down plays. The end result was a Boston College defensive line that was able to tee off and apply tremendous pressure on quarterback Marcus Stone. All-America defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka had a field day with 12 tackles and 3 and a half sacks.
"They weren't going to let us run the football," said NC State coach Chuck Amato. "Every time we did have something positive happen in the running game, we had a penalty. I was told that the average on third down for the game was 11.7 yards. It's easy then for the defense to pin its ears back and go. It's one on one pass rush, and when you do one on one pass rush, a lot of the time the defensive man will win."
The Wolfpack hopes it will be in more favorable down and distance situations in its last two games, otherwise, its chances for a winning season and possible bowl invitation will vanish.
Amato and Hoyte both acknowledged on Monday that the Pack's current 4-5 record was disappointing, but neither was ready to call the season a failure, not with two games remaining and a possible bowl trip on the line.
Who would have predicted before the season that NC State would be 4-5 through nine games?
"No one," Amato replied. "But you know what? Three weeks ago, no one would have said that we would have a chance to become bowl eligible. This could turn into a very rewarding season under the circumstances. There's no question that it's disappointing right now."
All Watered Down: On NC State's first play from scrimmage at Boston College, quarterback Marcus Stone came out of a play fake and attempted to plant his back foot. But as he braced himself Stone slipped and fell down for a nine-yard loss. Later, in the third quarter, Wolfpack defensive end Renaldo Moses also lost his footing as he tried to chase down B.C. quarterback Matt Ryan on what became a three-yard scoring run to give the Eagles a 24-10 lead.
Is this football or ice skating?
As it turns out, the grounds crew at Boston College was seen watering the field about two hours before kick off. A little liquid nourishment would make sense if the field at Alumni Stadium was made up of natural grass. But what looked like grass really wasn't. The field at B.C. is a synthetic surface knows as FieldTurf.
"We had a lot of people slip," Amato said. "I wonder if they water it every game so that it looks green, especially TV games against teams that run really fast? They can do whatever they want. Some people grow grass really high. It's called home field advantage. That's why you play a game at home and away. Maybe it's something they do with that type of field. That wasn't any reason for the outcome of the football game."
Hoyte noticed something peculiar about the field very early in the game.
"For some reason the field was wet," Hoyte said, not knowing that the field had been watered before the game. "I don't think it rained or anything. Your hand would touch the ground and you would stand up and your hand would be freezing. It wasn't that cold, but your hands would be cold because they were wet. It was slippery out there."
Game Time Set: NC State's final home game and last regular season contest against Maryland on November 26th will begin at 12 noon and will be televised by ESPN.
