North Carolina State University Athletics
Haynes: B.C. is Back
10/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
BY TONY HAYNES
On September 23rd 2006, thousands of fans were either in their cars going home or were headed to the parking lots when Daniel Evans and John Dunlap teamed up to produce one of the most memorable moments in NC State football history. With just eight seconds left, Evans stepped up in the pocket and lobbed a soft pass in the direction of his intended target in the north end zone at Carter-Finley Stadium. Dunlap did the rest, rising high and snagging the throw just before being leveled by a
Just like that, the Wolfpack had secured a satisfying and stunning 17-15 victory over the shocked Eagles.
Amid the wild celebration that ensued at Carter-Finley Stadium, NC State head coach Chuck Amato was euphoric, while Evans was mobbed by his teammates.
Many
It would be up to their head coach to somehow put things into perspective in the locker room. But as that coach, Tom O’Brien, left the field that night, little did he know of the unusual twist the future would hold.
You see, on September 23, 2006 Illinois senator Barack Obama was making waves in political circles, but didn’t yet have a household name in mainstream America. Even less famous was Sarah Palin, who was campaigning to become governor of
The economy in 2006 was growing at a respectable rate of 3.2 percent, while unemployment fell to historically low levels, finishing the year at 4.5 percent. People complained that the cost of oil was $61 a barrel. At the pumps, we were paying around $2.20 for a gallon of gas.
Now back to football.
After beating B.C. in 2006, NC State would win only one more game the rest of the year. Following a seven-game losing skid, Amato’s tenure ended. A few weeks later, O’Brien promptly left
What else? Daniel Evans is now the Pack’s third string quarterback.
And one more thing: A few days after NC State knocked off Boston College two years ago, former East Carolina head coach Steve Logan was giving props to the Pack on his local radio show in the Raleigh-Durham market.
Go figure. Now to the 2008 game.
NC State defense guessing:
NC State cornerback Jeremy Gray detects a pattern.
“The two games where the competition wasn’t that good they ran the ball a lot because they were just much better than those teams,” Gray observed. “When they played Georgia Tech and
Who plays quarterback and changing game situations will also factor into
Anything is possible on Saturday.
“A balanced offense is throwing it when you want to throw it and running it when you want to run it,” said
Freshman tailback Montel Harris is toting the leather to the tune of 7.7 yards per carry and tallied 143 yards with three touchdowns in last week’s 42-0 thrashing of
Bottom line is,
The Yellow Jackets’ formula provides the Wolfpack defense with some worthy goals.
It’s hard to move two mountains: The
That’s almost 700 pounds between the two of them,” said NC State running back Andre Brown. “I told Teddy [Larsen] that it was going to be a load up there. I remember back in the day when Leroy Harris was here. He was talking about Raji and what a load he was up there. It’s going to be tough.”
Tough indeed. Brace and Raji are rarely knocked off the ball and occupy blockers, which frees up the linebackers to make plays. As a result, the Eagles don’t give up much of anything running or passing. And perhaps most impressively, they have already forced the second most turnovers in the nation with 15.
Fortunately, NC State finally got some good news on the injury front late this week. Quarterback Russell Wilson returns after missing the
The NC State offensive line, anchored by Larsen at center, has been steadily improving through the first half of the season and that improvement will certainly be put to the test this week. B.C. defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani will try to create chaos for
But ultimately the big test for the Pack will be running the football with those big tackles up front. Without any semblance of a running game, NC State and Wilson will be forced into the unfavorable scenario of playing behind the chains most of the day.
“They’ve got a great defense,” Larsen said. “Those two guys inside are huge. It will be a great challenge, but hopefully we can get some things going. If we can give it to these guys, it would really get our confidence up heading into the conference schedule.”
