North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: Winds Of Change Blow For Pack, ?Noles
10/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
BY TONY HAYNES
There’s a very good chance Evans and Amato will embrace again after the Wolfpack and Seminoles meet this Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m.) at Doak Campbell Stadium, but this time, they’ll be heading to opposite locker rooms when it’s all over.
Even Nostradamus would have been challenged to predict all that has changed since the Pack recorded its second straight win over the Noles last October 5th. The Wolfpack would not win again in 2006, spiraling into a seven-game losing skid that ultimately led to the popular Amato’s dismissal.
It was Amato who gave Evans a scholarship to play Division-I football, something many other major schools were reluctant to do. This Saturday, Amato will be giving Evans something far different: a corps of fast, athletic linebackers who will be coming at Evans full force when the Seminoles choose to blitz.
One year after their celebratory embrace at Carter-Finley Stadium, Amato is
Evans, meanwhile, gets a chance to beat
The Wolfpack starter at the beginning of the season, Evans was replaced by Beck in the second half of the season opener against
“I’m looking forward to it,” Evans said. “We’ve got a good game plan right now, and the guys are fired up to go down to
NC State has won four of the last six games between the two clubs, leading some to wonder in
“He did a marvelous job against us,” Bowden said. “It’s good to have him back. You can imagine what it will be like for him standing on the sideline looking at all those kids that he recruited. That will be tough on him.”
New NC State coach Tom O’Brien wasted no time breaking the ice with his players this week. Long before they were asked about playing a game against their former coach, O’Brien addressed the subject during a team meeting last Sunday.
“I didn’t play in the
O’Brien has been there and done that. In week two, he tried to beat the very same
As O’Brien did that week, Amato has been trying to deflect the extra attention he’s been receiving for this game.
“It is not about me,” said Amato, who guided the Wolfpack to five bowl appearances in seven years. “It’s about the players on both sides of the field. We’ve got two great universities playing and I love those kids up at
In that game a year ago, Evans passed for 190 yards and three touchdowns. Perhaps even more importantly, the Wolfpack played a turnover-free football game for one of the few times in recent years. The turnovers and mistakes that plagued the Pack down the stretch in 2006 have continued to sabotage NC State’s battle plan this season. With 18 giveaways in five games, the Wolfpack’s minus-13 turnover margin is, by far, the worst ratio in the ACC.
“We focus on it in practice and we focus on it in meetings,” Evans said. “There comes a point where the players have got to accept responsibility and makes sure each individual person goes out and doesn’t let it happen. Coaches can say it all they want but if we don’t do it from within, it really doesn’t matter.”
In what certainly was a winnable game last week, NC State turned the ball over five times against
“We have 18 turnovers and 12 of them have happened in two games, at
And while NC State wants to stop turning the ball over,
Evans, of course, won’t be doing much running on Saturday. A pocket passer, he’ll let Andre Brown and Jamelle Eugene do the running, and hope his offensive line can give him enough time to match or even surpass the winning performance he put together in last year’s win over the Seminoles.
Then, when it’s all over, Evans can seek out his ex-coach for another post-game hug.
“I definitely respect coach Amato,” Evans said. “I enjoyed him as a coach when he was here and I think everybody did. Once the ball is snapped, it’s going to be
