North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: William, Mary and Hanna
9/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Weather Update, from the NC State athletics department: The eye of Tropical Storm Hanna is tracking more westerly than previous projections and is expected to make landfall over North Charleston, S.C. early Saturday morning. Due to stronger winds in the Raleigh area through lunchtime Saturday, NC State officials recommend extreme caution when considering arrival times to the area and the use of tailgating tents and other items susceptible to strong winds. The forecast from the National Hurricane Center is still projecting skies to clear in the Raleigh area for the 6 p.m. kickoff. Track the storm at the WRAL storm tracker site or get full weather updates at WRAL.com's weather center.
RALEIGH, N.C. -- William & Mary will be visiting Carter-Finley Stadium for NC State’s home opener. Hanna is expected to pay a visit as well. But by the 6 p.m. kick off time, Hanna, a tropical storm that’s been meandering through the eastern
Unfortunately for NC State, Hanna will have more of an impact on Saturday’s game than the Wolfpack’s best skill players. The Pack’s No. 1 tight end (Anthony Hill), its top running back (Jamelle Eugene), and its best and most experienced wide receiver (Donald Bowens) will join 57,000 other people as spectators.
After suffering a Grade III concussion at
“Ever since I’ve been here we’ve had so many of those things happen, especially the last few years” said quarterback Daniel Evans, who will make his 18th career start if
William & Mary, an NCAA subdivision team that posted a 4-7 record a year ago, certainly can’t match NC State in terms of size and speed on either side of the ball. But the Pack’s injuries do even the playing field somewhat.
“We’re preparing for a very fast, physical football team,” said Tribe coach Jimmy Laycock. “Playing teams from the ACC like we have in the past, we understand how big they are and how much faster they are.”
Although he has been praised for his knowledge of pro-style passing schemes, Laycock is certainly no passing fancy. In fact, he’ll be starting his 29th year at William & Mary on Saturday. His first game with the Tribe was September 6, 1980 at NC State. Now he’ll be back on September 6, 2008.
For what it’s worth, the Wolfpack prevailed in that game 28 years ago, 42-0. Now to the breakdown...
The NC State offense: Ok, hang on for a second, let me think of something......Oh yea! Saturday’s game will provide an opportunity for the Wolfpack to finally get something going after being shutout in back-to-back games (including last year’s 37-0 loss to
The good news for the Tribe is that nine starters return on defense. The bad news is that those nine starters played on a defense that yielded averages of 38 points and nearly 390 yards last season. As always, it starts up front and in this game, the Wolfpack should be able to bully William & Mary at the line of scrimmage.
The running of Andre Brown was one of the few silver linings for the Pack in last week’s 34-0 loss at
“If we can pass as well as we did in some games last year and run the ball the way we did last week, I think we can have a pretty balanced offense,” Evans said. “It would be great for us to do both well this Saturday.”
If the running game is clicking again, Evans should be able to get in more of comfort zone throwing the ball than he was last week when he was just 4-of-12 for 37 yards and two interceptions. Evans has always been at his best when he can get into the play-action package of the playbook and take some shots downfield on running downs.
But he needs help. NC State’s young receivers were a bit star-struck in the big league atmosphere at
“Out there on the perimeter, the receivers are young,” said Andre Brown. “That big audience from last week should set them right. After playing in that atmosphere on national television I’m pretty confident they’ll know what to expect this week. They’re going to go out there and make plays.”
Look for freshman T.J. Graham to feel more at ease this week and bring the crowd to its feet at some point.
The Wolfpack defense: The combination of Laycock’s knowledge of the passing game and an experienced senior quarterback in Jake Phillips will always make the Tribe dangerous. With Phillips leading the way, William & Mary averaged 29 points and a tick under 400 yards per game of total offense in 2007. Phillips finished with 2,801 passing yards and 19 touchdowns last year.
The Tribe put up 63 points in a win over VMI last September. But then again, it could muster only a field goal when it tried to move the football against a very good Division-1 defense at Virginia Tech.
The biggest problem for William & Mary will be a lack of experience at the tailback spot. Starter Terrence Riggins has only 19 carries in his career while back-up Ryan Woolfolk has none. The Tribe is relying on the young guys because of preseason injuries suffered by Courtland Marriner and senior DeBrian Holmes.
With a suspect running game, the Tribe will hang a heavy burden on the right arm of Phillips. Although Willie Young is questionable, the Wolfpack should be able to put William & Mary into predictable passing situations and get pressure on Phillips. If so, a Pack secondary that intercepted four passes at S.C. last week could get a few more picks on Saturday.
Overall, NC State needs to give the fans something to cheer about early in the home opener, meaning the offense has to come out, establish some dominance at the line of scrimmage and stay on the field.
“Not so much for putting points on the scoreboard, but really more for our own confidence,” Evans responded when asked about the importance of getting off to a quick start. “Whether it’s scoring touchdowns or getting some first downs which lead to touchdowns, I think it would be important for us to come out early and get into a rhythm.”
