Tony Haynes: Wofford Has Pack's Attention

BY TONY HAYNES

Raleigh, N.C. Since its stunning victory at Michigan a few weeks ago, Appalachian State has been the most talked about story of the young college football season thus far. The Mountaineers’ upset has been chatted about on talk shows, in front of office watercoolers and in barber shops.

But perhaps no group of people have discussed ASU’s unmatched feat more than other football coaches.

Having repeated the well-known phrase “any team can beat another team on any given Saturday” thousands of times over the years, coaches now have a concrete example of what is indeed possible. For the foreseeable future, there’s very little doubt they’ll now be answering a question with there own question: “remember what Appalachian State did in 2007?”

With Wofford, a school that resides in the same division and conference as Appalachian State, coming up on NC State’s schedule this Saturday night at 6 p.m., you better believe Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien reminded his players of what happened at the Big House’ back on September 1.

But you can also be sure that Wofford coach Mike Ayers did the same thing. Really, how could he resist the temptation of asking his Terriers “if Appalachian can do it, why can’t we?”

By Monday, NC State’s team was already well-informed.

“We take every game seriously,” said Wolfpack receiver Darrell Blackman. “Two weeks ago, Appalachian State went into Michigan and won that game. You can’t take any team lightly, no matter what division they’re from. You’ve got to go out there and prepare like they’re the best team in the nation and execute your game plan.”

Wofford resides in what was formerly referred to as Division 1-AA. Political correctness has since convinced a few NCAA thumb-twiddlers to now change that to the Football Championship Subdivision. Now that we’ve cleared that up, Wofford is ranked 10^th in this week’s FCS poll, nine spots behind undisputed division leader, Appalachian State.

What’s not clear is whether the Mountaineers’ famous upset actually helped or hurt other FCS schools like Wofford. Ayers, now in his 20^th season, knows his Terriers won’t be sneaking up on the Pack on Saturday, not with Appalachian State still fresh on everyone’s mind.

“[Appalachian State] didn’t just tap on the door,” Ayers said, “they kicked the door down. Anytime someone kicks the door down, you know there’s a red alert out there. I’m sure every coach is going to refer to that every time they’re playing a school from our level. They’re going to say you’ve got to take them serious and you’ve got to be ready. Coach O’Brien is a great coach and he’s done a great job wherever he’s been. I know this: we’re not going to sneak into town. They know we’re coming and they’re going to be ready.”

The Appalachian State factor aside, NC State shouldn’t really need any special reminders to stir up motivation. This is, after all, a Wolfpack program that’s mired in a nine-game losing streak that stretches back to last October.

“When you lose a game, especially repeatedly, it gets kind of tough on you,” said Pack middle linebacker James Martin. “But anytime you go out on that field you have it in your mind that you want to win because if you didn’t want to win you wouldn’t go out there. This team hasn’t forgotten how to win. It’s just the small things that are getting us right now.”

Last week at Boston College, NC State was undone by seven turnovers, six of which were committed by quarterback Harrison Beck. On the positive side, Beck did throw for 321 yards against the Eagles and showed an ability to make some big plays in the passing game, something NC State has lacked since the Philip Rivers days.

Beck will get his second straight start Saturday night against Wofford.

“That was my first start and I had one half before that,” said Beck, who sat out all of last season after transferring to NC State from Nebraska. “Obviously, I’m just starting to learn the flow and the ups and downs of an entire football game. I think I learned a lot of things that I can build off of. I watched the game tape and made some corrections. I did a lot of very good things and I did some things that weren’t so good. Our offense is going to continue to grow and I think this can be a very successful football team.”

Despite its 2-0 start, NC State does lead the ACC in passing yardage, averaging 311 yards per contest. That’s a claim Wofford won’t be making this season in the Southern Conference. The Terriers run a triple option attack that has produced an average of 359 yards on the ground this season. Whether you call it the wishbone, the flex-bone, the wingbone or the chicken bone, it’s an offensive system that works and can be very difficult to prepare for.

“No matter how we package it, it’s a triple option offense,” Ayers said. “We’re running the option out of about 18 different formations. What we try to do is check the numbers [at the line of scrimmage], see where the people are and come up with a scheme that allows the quarterback to make a decision to give the football off, keep it or to pitch it. We also have a fourth option and that’s throw the football, although we don’t do it very much.”

No they don’t. In two games, Wofford has put the ball in the air only 15 times.

“It’s an offense that’s difficult to go against,” Martin said. “I ran the wing-T and wishbone offense when I was in high school. We’re going to have to stay in our assigned gaps at the right times because a wishbone offense can easily break for a long run.”

Unlike NC State, the Terriers have gotten accustomed to winning. Their current seven-game winning streak dating back to last year is the second longest streak of its kind in the FCS, second only to Appalachian State’s 15-game streak.

And the last team to beat Appalachian was...NC State.

This weekend, however, the Wolfpack wants to make sure Wofford doesn’t become the talk of the town.

North Carolina State University Athletics

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