North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: Part-time Rivals Meet in Greenville
10/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
BY TONY HAYNES
So is it a rivalry or is it not? For the players involved, is this one of those so-called bad blood’ games?’
“When you’re 1-5,” NC State guard Kalani Heppe reasoned, “everything kind of ends up being a bad blood game.”
Heppe’s perspective best suits the Wolfpack as it get set to make only its second appearance at
After dropping five of six games in the first half of its 2007 season, the Pack took some time to reflect on the good, bad and ugly during last week’s open hole in the schedule. The conclusion: the bad and ugly overwhelmed the good, which is why Heppe and his mates are eager to make amends, regardless of who happens to show up on the schedule this week.
But as the Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium clock moves towards kick off time on Saturday afternoon, the Wolfpack will undoubtedly be aware that this will not be one of those serene, relaxing fall afternoons in
“These BCS leagues and non-BCS leagues, people have turned and made it the haves and have-nots,” said ECU coach Skip Holtz, whose father, Lou, was on the other side of this series when he coached NC State between 1972 and 75. “What playing a game like this gives us the opportunity to do is show where we are on the field right now. That will have implications on how this program is viewed, not only around the state, but around the country. That’s the chip on the shoulder we play with around here at
There was a time when ECU played with a chip on its shoulder because it almost always was an underdog when it faced NC State every year between 1970 and 87. Underdogs no more, however. Since the Wolfpack won 11 of the first 15 meetings in the 1970s and 80, the Pirates have come back to take six of the last nine, including last year’s 21-16 triumph in
Following ECU’s win in
It was during the time when the series was in hiatus that many of the players who will be participating in this weekend’s battle were growing up. As a result, it would take a history lesson for most of them to fully comprehend the
“Everything I hear comes from my grandmother who came and watched my dad play,” said Wolfpack quarterback Daniel Evans, whose father, Johnny, went 2-2 against the Pirates from 1974-77. “She had some pretty good stories about the rivalry, the fans in the stands and the fights. That’s pretty much the first thing I think of.”
When Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien was a defensive end at Navy, he participated in one of college football’s most celebrated and traditional rivalries. On his very first day on campus in
His first order as a plebe?
“One of the first thing you learn as a plebe is you have to know the number of days until the Army-Navy game, the number of days until Christmas leave, the number of days until the ring dance for the juniors to get their rings and the number days before graduation,” O’Brien said. “The first thing on that list was the number of days until we beat Army.”
After becoming NC State’s head coach last December, O’Brien wasn’t instructed to count down the number of days until the
“Anything with
This time around,
The ECU defense has struggled, giving up an average of 34 points per contest. But with a total of 22 turnovers in six games, the NC State offense hasn’t yet been able to get out of its own way. Injuries have taken away star tailbacks Toney Baker and Andre Brown, meaning Jamelle Eugene must become the workhorse of the Wolfpack backfield.
In a 27-10 loss at
“I think he’s the total package,” Evans said. “He’s a great blocker, a great pass receiver out of the backfield and he can run the ball. It’s not going to change anything we do offensively. A lot of times when you get somebody injured, you have to limit some of the stuff you do. With Jamelle, we can keep on running the offense the way we’ve been doing it.”
Holtz figures O’Brien and the Wolfpack made the most of last Saturday’s bye to tweak some things and could come out with a fresh mindset to begin the second half of its season.
“We’re coming off a seven-week emotional string right now, and they just got done lying in bed watching college football all weekend,” said
It’s likely that both teams will pull a few standbys out of their respective playbooks, wrinkles that coaches save for game just like this.
Here we go again: Among other things, O'Brien had hope last week's bye would produce a healthier NC State football team. In the case of Julian Williams, it didn't turn out that way. The Wolfpack's starting left tackle is out indefinitely with a knee sprain. After missing the game at Florida State with a shoulder injury, quarterback Harrison Beck has been cleared to play against ECU.
