North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Holds Pre-Bowl Scrimmage
12/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 20, 2005
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - The sounds of construction could be heard throughout Carter-Finley Stadium on Tuesday morning as crews continued to prepare an area beyond the south end zone for what is to become a new grandstand structure and concourse. But there was another sound that could heard on the playing field: the sounds of pads popping and the normal chatter associated with a football scrimmage inside an empty stadium. On a bright but cold morning, the NC State Wolfpack was back to playing a little football as it prepares for its meeting with South Florida in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
The two 6-5 teams will face off at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte at 11 a.m. on December 31st.
"It was something we needed to do," said Pack coach Chuck Amato. "It was a typical scrimmage like you have back in two-a-days. We had some penalties that a bunch of second stringers were involved in. The defense got quite a few turnovers, but the offense scored quite a bit. We went ones versus twos."
Meaning the one offense worked against the No. 2 team defense and vice versa.
Amato also said the scrimmage featured work on various down and distance situations along with a goal line period at the very end. He added that the scrimmage was an improvement over a Monday morning workout that he labeled "awful."
By working against the likes of Andre Brown, Toney Baker, Darrell Blackman and Reggie Davis, the NC State defense is getting a taste of what it's like to practice against good running backs. And when the Wolfpack meets the Bulls, it will be seeing another talented ball carrier. South Florida tailback Andre Hall was named first-team All-Big East after rushing for 1,256 yards and 15 touchdowns this season. The 5-10, 205-pound senior also led USF in receptions with 24 catches for 272 yards.
"He's darn good," Amato said. "He's strong, he's got good vision and he's a battler. He's a good player. I'll tell you, he does a great job on screens."
Handling Hall will be the biggest priority for an NC State defense which finished the regular season ranked 17th in the nation in rushing defense. Ironically, South Florida is ranked 17th in rushing offense. But when forced to throw, the Bulls struggled, averaging only 143 yards per game, a figure that ranked 7th in the eight team Big East.
Still, South Florida has made amazing strides since adding football as a sport in 1995 and becoming eligible for Division 1-A status only four years ago. The Bulls, who will be making their first appearance in a bowl game, started practicing last Tuesday.
"We've never been to a bowl game so there's a little bit of an unknown," said coach Jim Leavitt. "We had three weeks off during the season as we prepared for Rutgers. There are some similarities there. We really focused in on our younger guys. We did a lot of fundamental work. We took our seniors off the field. The concern I have is closer to the game going to Charlotte and the focus and distraction that will happen from being there for more then one night. These guys have never done that. A number of our coaches have never done that with exception of a few. The ones that have, like myself, it's been 10 years. That is something that you have to be careful about. Our goal is to be ready to play before we fly up there."
And while USF will be playing its first bowl, NC State will be bowling for the 23rd time in school history and for the fifth time in six years under Amato. The Wolfpack's all-time bowl record is 11-10-1. Amato's bowl record at NC State is 3-1.
