North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: Pack Seeks Early Wake Up Call at Uva
10/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Tony Haynes
The time line for the pregame meal and wake up call was similar to the itinerary the Wolfpack follows prior to
While noble and well thought out, Amato’s attempt to adjust his team’s collective body clock proved unsuccessful since the Pack found itself trailing the Deacons 10-0 16 minutes into the game.
But whether early start times are to blame or some other unknown reason is the culprit, NC State (3-4, 2-2) has not been a team that routinely gets off to fast starts this season. In fact, the Pack has allowed it opponents to score first in six consecutive games.
Only once, when it scored on a safety following an errant shotgun snap into the end zone in the opener against Appalachian State, has the Wolfpack jumped out on top early.
Since then, it’s been a constant theme of falling behind and fighting back.
If Amato had his preference, not only would this Saturday’s 12-noon game at Virginia (3-5, 2-2) start after the sun goes down, it would also be played in a different venue.
“I would absolutely love to move it back to between
Looking for fresh story angles, media members use Amato’s weekly press conferences on Mondays to ask questions about certain trends. On Monday, there were to attempts to find a correlation between the Pack’s sluggish starts and 12-noon game times. But the Wolfpack’s habit of falling behind has nothing to do with early start times. NC State also faced early deficits against
Whether it’s day or night, this team, for whatever reason, apparently needs a quarter or two to find its rhythm.
“I think we’ve been behind every game but one,” Amato said. “I don’t know what it would be like to realize in the first quarter that we’re winning. But you know what? Maybe our kids would get complacent. We’d have to let them catch up and go ahead so we could come back.”
Finally taking his tongue out of his cheek, Amato said “we’ve tried everything.”
They’ve tried everything to jump start a team that doesn’t seem to get going until the numbers on the scoreboard favor the opposition. And while early success has indeed been a problem, no one can question the Wolfpack’s heart, enthusiasm and will to win. After stirring comeback victories over
Trailing 6-0 at the half at
“It still came down to an onside kick,” Amato said. “It shows that these young men won’t stop. It could have been very easy for them to be totally deflated two or three minutes into the second half. I didn’t see that. That’s so encouraging.”
But Amato also knows that the Wolfpack can’t realistically expect to win the majority of its remaining five games if it continues to dig early holes for itself. There is no margin for error for teams who are consistently playing from behind, not to mention the fact that much of the game plan has to be scrapped for teams trying to mount comebacks.
“I don’t think starting at
That should be comforting for Wolfpack fans, but the proof will be in the pudding this Saturday in
“Definitely a must win for us,” said tight end Anthony Hill. “We’re still focused on trying to become ACC champions. That’s what we focus on every day in practice. We’re definitely striving for that and this
Fourth quarter dramatics are nice every now and then. But for this NC State team, a little first quarter efficiency might open up a clearer path to victory.
Georgia Tech Game Time: NC State’s streak of
Injuries: The Wolfpack appeared to have emerged from Saturday’s
Reliable Return Man: In the age of big-play specialists, Darrell Blackman is indeed special. Blackman, who led the ACC in kick off return yardage last year, currently leads the league in punt return average (14.8 yards). At
