North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Third Time the Charm for QB Wilson
11/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
RALEIGH, N.C. It took Russell Wilson three times to get here, really.
He won a battle between five fairly equal candidates in the preseason, and made his first start of the season in the opener against South Carolina. He lasted a little over a quarter before he was knocked unconscious and out of the offensive lineup for the next two weeks.
He started again against Clemson in the Wolfpack’s third game of the season, getting a little more comfortable under center and throwing his only interception of the season on the game’s final play.
He really made a statement in a 30-24 overtime victory over then No. 15 ranked East Carolina the following week, in which he engineered a game-tying drive late in regulation that put his team in position to win the game.
But sometime during that game, he suffered an injury that would keep him out of the lineup in a 41-10 loss to South Florida, the low point of the season.
Wilson got his third start of the season against Boston College, and has improved every week since then, culminating with Saturday afternoon’s leading performance in the Wolfpack’s 38-28 victory over Miami at Carter-Finley Stadium.
“He started for good against Boston College and has stayed confident,” NC State coach Tom O’Brien said. “He continued to get better and better each week and more confident.
“Certainly in the month of November, I don’t know anybody [in the ACC] who is performing better than he is right now.”
Wilson has been through a lot this season. His father, Harrison Wilson III, suffered a stroke in early August, about the time Russell was battling with Daniel Evans, Harrison Beck, Justin Burke and Mike Glennon for the starting quarterback job. He was unable to see his ailing father for many weeks, as Wilson suffered through his many injuries and setbacks on the field.
That’s why Wilson felt so humbled on Saturday, his 20th birthday. For the second home game in a row, Harrison Wilson III, was in the stands watching his youngest son play live for only the second time this season.
His only birthday wish was to spend Saturday evening with his family and a few of his teammates.
While that might have been birthday present enough for Wilson, he capped it off by playing his most rounded game of the season. He completed 11 of 23 passes for 220 yards. He threw for two more touchdowns and ran for another. He did not throw an interception, which means in the Wolfpack’s last seven games, he has tossed 13 touchdown passes without an interception.
And he extended his school-record streak of passing attempts without an interception to 226, the longest active streak in the nation and the second-most by an FBS quarterback this season. (Buffalo’s Drew Willy had a streak of 284 earlier this season.)
“It is funny how things work,” Wilson said. “Earlier this years, thing weren’t going well, with my family, with football not going the way everybody dreams of it. Sometimes, I think the Lord puts you up against things, where he tests you and makes you try things and see how you react. I kept my faith in Him and that’s how things turned out.
“Being able to turn that around is definitely a great feeling.”
Wilson has obviously done more than just turned his season around. He’s helped a remarkable turnaround in the Wolfpack program, which at one time was suffering through a four-game losing streak and was just 2-6 on the season.
By beating Miami, NC State became the first team in ACC history to lose its first four conference games then win its final four conference games. It also allowed the Pack to become bowl-eligible for the first time since the 2005 season, when NC State beat South Florida 14-0 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte.
“We have been going through peaks and valleys all season long,” Wilson said. “Things didn’t look good, but guys just kept working together, working as a team. I think that is where our strength really came through.”
Wilson, a two-sport standout who also plays for the Wolfpack baseball team, never really got down during his stutter start to the season, because he always had the confidence to be a successful college athlete.
“I always expect to excel, I am never afraid to do that,” Wilson said. “I knew I had to work at it. First I had to win the starting job. To keep pushing, rely on the seniors and then be successful.”
But now, according to his teammates, Wilson is the unquestioned leader of the Wolfpack offense.
“He has grown so much as a player and as a person,” said sophomore wide receiver Owen Spencer. “We love him so much on the team. He is becoming more vocal than some of the seniors and captains on the team.
“He has done a great job of leading us.”
For now, Wilson can’t wait to see what happens between now and his 21st birthday, with a full baseball and football season in between.
“I am looking forward to the future,” Wilson said. “At the same time, we have one more game to win.”
And that would be a belated birthday present worth waiting for.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
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