North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Wilson's Beginning to Chase Rivers' Marks
9/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. - Russell Wilson has never met Philip Rivers, his record-setting predecessor as NC State's quarterback. He saw him once in the equipment room at the Murphy Center, but he didn't introduce himself.
"I know he's a busy guy," said Wilson, the Wolfpack's hyper-involved two-sport standout. "But I would love to meet him some day."
For now, Wilson will have to settle for meeting up with Rivers, the San Diego Chargers starter who is one of the top passers in the NFL, in NC State's record book.
Like Rivers, Wilson now owns an NCAA record, now that he has thrown 329 passes without an interception. He broke the mark of 325 set two years ago by Kentucky's Andre Wilson with his career-high 36 passing attempts in Saturday's 45-14 victory over Gardner-Webb.
Rivers, who finished his career as Division I-A's second all-time leading passer, set an NCAA mark with 51 consecutive starts at quarterback. He holds just about every other ACC and NC State passing record, but that's the only category where he sits atop an NCAA list.
Wilson also matched a feat that only Rivers has accomplished in Wolfpack history: throwing eight touchdown passes in a two-game span. Rivers did it in his first two college games, as a freshman in 2000 against Arkansas State and Indiana, and then again as a senior in 2003 against Virginia and Florida State.
Wilson remembers seeing Rivers play in person only once.
"I can't remember what the score was, but I think he threw for about 450 yards," Wilson said. "I sat on the 50-yard line, if I remember right. He was just on point the whole game.
"I was close enough to see how he interacted with the players. He just pushed them and gave them confidence when he was on the sideline. That's a positive thing and something I've always looked up to."
Rivers also set the school record for the most touchdown passes in a three-game span, throwing 11 against Duke, Virginia and Florida State in 2003. That's another mark Wilson could match or surpass in Saturday's 3:30 p.m. game against Pittsburgh, if he does what he has done in the last two games.
Of course, those numbers don't matter to Wilson. He appreciates the acknowledgement he got from the crowd of 53,000 fans at Carter-Finley when he broke the record against the Bulldogs, but otherwise he doesn't put much stock in the individual numbers.
"The significance is that I'm giving my team a chance each and every game," Wilson said. "I want to win more games. That's the thing I really care about. Yes [breaking the record] is significant, it is important ... [because] not turning the ball over heightens your chances to win the game.
"So that's a positive. "
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
