North Carolina State University Athletics
HAYNES: View from the Booth
9/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
BY TONY HAYNES
RALEIGH, N.C. – Each week before NC State football games, I'll run down some of the things we'll be watching for from our booth on the Wolfpack Sports Network. This week, South Carolina pays a visit to the ever-evolving and improving Carter-Finley Stadium for a much-anticipated battle between two schools that were once ACC rivals. This year actually marks the 40th anniversary of South Carolina's only ACC title and the 30th anniversary of the Wolfpack's 1979 conference championship.
The two programs are virtual mirror images of each other. With 529 all-time college football victories, NC State has just two more than South Carolina. And the series between the two schools stands at 26-26-4. You can't get much closer than that.
And while a little historical perspective is always enlightening, nothing that's happened before will have any impact on what happens on opening night in 2009. Not even South Carolina's 34-0 win over the Wolfpack last August will be terribly significant come Thursday.
With quarterback Russell Wilson improving through the entire 2008 campaign, the Pack became a totally different team than the one the Gamecocks shutout at Carter-Finley Stadium.
"I just want our players to know this is a very good team that we're playing," said Steve Spurrier, starting his fifth season at South Carolina. "Sometimes people have a tendency to go by the score of last year's game, when really you can't. NC State became a much better team as the season progressed and they were much stronger at the end of the season. That's something most teams hope to do. Hopefully, we'll become a much stronger team at the end of the year."
Something the Gamecocks didn't do last season. After winning seven of its first 10, Spurrier's bunch finished up at 7-6. NC State was 6-7. Both teams lost in their respective bowl games.
Here's this week's view from the booth:
Who's that quarterback? South Carolina's starting quarterback, redshirt sophomore Stephen Garcia, was 1-2 as a starter last year, throwing six touchdown passes and eight interceptions. Spurrier says he won't have a quick hook on Garcia and will give him every opportunity to succeed. Here's the real hook: Garcia's uniform number is 5. One of his potential back-ups is starting corner Stephon Gilmore, who also wears No. 5. Word is the speedy Gilmore could get some snaps if the Gamecocks choose to go the 'Wildcat' or spread formation to give defenses a different look. So there's Stephen and Stephon, both of whom wear No. 5. Got it?
Spurrier is being coy about the chances of Gilmore getting some snaps under center.
"We've worked with him every other day or something like that," Spurrier said. "There's a chance he may get in there and get some [snaps]. Our defensive coaches are reminding me that he's slated to play the entire game at defensive corner, plus he's on a lot of our special teams (punt returner). We've got to use him wisely. He's such a good runner with the ball and he can pass pretty well also."
The NC State defense will have to be leery of which No. 5 is actually in the game because South Carolina's offensive style will likely change dramatically if Gilmore sneaks in from the sideline. Wolfpack head coach Tom O'Brien and defensive coordinator Mike Archer will certainly be on their toes.
"They've talked about different ways of running the ball and trying to run the football better, so we're really not sure what that entails," O'Brien said. "Reading the scrimmage reports, they've taken Gilmore and put him in the Wildcat formation. That's the newest thing in college football, so we have to be ready for that."
After his team rushed for an average of only 94 yards last season, Spurrier revamped his staff and added four new offensive coaches, including running game coordinator Eric Wolford. Of course, we all know who the passing game coordinator is.
Best Players on the Field: The two best players on the football field may also be two of the best players in the United States. Better yet, they'll be facing off against each other. First team All-ACC quarterback Russell Wilson proved that he could elude the very best pass rushers in the league last year. On Thursday, he'll likely be keeping an eye on South Carolina's all-everything linebacker Eric Norwood. A two-time All-SEC selection, the 6-1, 252-pound senior is his league's active leader in career sacks (22) and tackles for loss (43).
The best way to neutralize Norwood and the Gamecocks pass rush is to run the football successfully and stay out of obvious passing situations. Yes, Russell Wilson can make opposing pass rushers look silly, but O'Brien wants his prized signal caller to avoid the injuries he suffered last year by running less and throwing more.
If Wilson is running for his life on Thursday, particularly if Norwood is chasing him, it won't necessarily be a positive sign for the Pack.
Kicking game: It's always safe to expect the unexpected in opening ballgames, and that can be particularly true in the kicking game. And this match-up has the potential to produce some special teams plays that may or may not be particularly special. In Jeff Ruiz, NC State has a new punter. For South Carolina, Spencer Lanning, who averaged 42.1 yards per punt last season, will also try to take over the placekicking chores this year. Lanning has one career attempt with the ball on the ground - an extra point against South Carolina State in 2007.
The kickoff and punt coverage teams for both squads will be under stress throughout the night, and a big return could sway the game one way or the other. Averaging 24.1 yards per kickoff return last season, South Carolina's Chris Culliver is nearing school records for return yards. So good was NC State's T.J. Graham in his freshman year that he's already ranked fifth on the school's career kickoff returns list. Graham's 1,028 yards on kick returns last season set a school record. The Raleigh Wakefield product was so effective that seven of the Wolfpack's opponents sacrificed valuable field position by employing short 'pooch' kicks to reduce Graham's effectiveness.
Gameday Line-up:
4 p.m.: Fan Zone on front lawn of RBC Center.
4:30 p.m.: NC State team arrives for the Walk of Champions, which returns to the front of the Murphy Center this season.
6 p.m.: Wolfpack Sports Network coverage begins.
7:03 p.m.: Kick-off!
