North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: Wolfpack Paints Orange Bowl Red
11/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
BY TONY HAYNES
On Saturday, in the next to last game the
Unless, of course, you bleed Wolfpack red.
On this day, the Pack walked away with a cherished win that won’t soon be forgotten by coach Tom O’Brien, his team or the school’s passionate followers.
“It’s number one [on the list] at NC State today, that’s for sure,” O’Brien said. “These kids did a great job. It was a tough day with it being hot and humid. They hung in there, gave up a couple of bad plays in the first half, but nobody quit. We kept playing and playing. As a result, we got it to overtime with a chance to win the football game.”
Facing the first game-winning situation of his career, Steven Hauschka made it count, calmly splitting the uprights from 42-yards out to set off a wild celebration.
After dropping five of its first six games, NC State has now pulled an unexpected about-face, winning three straight games over fairly respected competition. Victories over
As O’Brien noted, the Wolfpack appeared to be in the refuse to lose’ mode most of the warm, summer-like afternoon in
Prior to the Pack touchdown, the Hurricanes had outscored their opponents 81-0 in the first half of games at the Orange Bowl this season.
After halftime, NC State relied on defense, field position and the kicking game. Before his game-winner, Hauschka kicked field goals of 31, 35, and 47 yards in the fourth quarter to give the Wolfpack a 16-13 lead over the offensively-challenged Hurricanes. Hauschka’s leg was also a weapon on kick offs. Using a brisk easterly wind coming from the open end of the
“It’s great when you know they’re going to start at the 20,” said O’Brien. “I would think that we won the field position all day. That was due to the offense changing field position, the defense getting off the field and our kicking game.”
The field position battle was indeed won by the Wolfpack. NC State’s average starting position was the 36 yard line, compared to the 23 for the Canes.
Building on two huge passing games against ECU and
These are not the Hurricanes of Kelly, Kosar and Testaverde. No, far from it. With regular quarterback Kyle Wright still ailing with an ankle injury,
Using mostly two tight ends and running out of the I-formation,
But after the Wolfpack won the toss and chose to defer for the overtime period, Freeman couldn’t do it again, hooking a 27-yard attempt wide left.
Four plays later, Hauschka cashed in on his opportunity to send the Pack home with a very special Orange Bowl victory.
“It’s the first time the game has come down to me like that in my entire career,” said Hauschka, who had made his first 10 field goal attempts this season before finally missing from 29 yards out in the second quarter on Saturday. “I’m really happy I could execute on it.”
