Published: Aug 5, 2004
Modified: Aug 5, 2004 6:37 AM
Packing a serious punch
N.C. State's sold-out home football schedule has marquee names
Chuck Amato leads the Pack onto the field at Ohio State last season. This fall, the Buckeyes will be calling on the Wolfpack in Carter-Finley Stadium.
News & Observer File Photo
By CHIP ALEXANDER, Staff Writer
RALEIGH -- A large sign on Trinity Road near Carter-Finley Stadium lists N.C. State's 2004 football schedule, with the home dates in red.
Slanted across the sign is another notation in gray and white: "Sold out."
The Wolfpack players report today for preseason practice, and there again is a sense of anticipation surrounding the NCSU program, a sense of excitement as to how the season may unfold. NCSU averaged 53,274 in attendance at Carter-Finley last year, and every ticket has been sold for this season.
"Our fans, they may be more excited than we are," Wolfpack junior Tramain Hall said, laughing. "And I'm so excited I don't know what to do with myself."
2004 WOLFPACK FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
SEPT. 4 -- Richmond, 6 p.m.
SEPT. 18 -- Ohio State, 3:30 p.m.
SEPT. 25 -- at Virginia Tech, TBA
OCT. 2 -- Wake Forest, TBA
OCT. 9 -- at North Carolina, TBA
OCT. 16 -- at Maryland, TBA
OCT. 23 -- Miami, TBA
OCT. 30 -- at Clemson, TBA
NOV. 6 -- Georgia Tech, TBA
NOV. 11 -- Florida State, 7:30 p.m.
NOV. 27 -- vs. East Carolina at Charlotte, 1 p.m.
The Pack has home games against the likes of Ohio State, Miami and Florida State. Add in such road tests as Virginia Tech, Clemson and Maryland, and NCSU has a schedule that Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato says could be the most rugged in school history.
"There will be no letdown," said Hall, the Pack's all-purpose offensive back. "This is the schedule we've always been looking for. Now we've got it. Now we'll see how we handle it."
A year ago, the expectation level was considerably higher, the buzz about the program many decibels louder. Sports Illustrated ranked NCSU eighth in its college preview issue and State was ranked 16th by The Associated Press in preseason. Quarterback Philip Rivers was deemed a potential Heisman Trophy winner.
Instead, State had overtime losses at Ohio State and Florida State, miserable losing efforts at Wake Forest and Georgia Tech and lost at home to Maryland to end the regular season at 4-4 in the ACC. A 56-26 romp over Kansas in the Tangerine Bowl left the Pack 8-5 for the season.
Rivers was the ACC player of the year and passed for 4,491 yards and 34 touchdowns, but he finished seventh in the final Heisman balloting.
Now begins what Amato calls the Pack's "A.P." era -- that is, "After Philip." For 51 consecutive games, Rivers started and usually delivered as State went 34-17. But with Rivers graduated and in the NFL, with quarterbacks Jay Davis and Marcus Stone untested, many wonder how the Pack will fare in a new-look ACC that has Miami and Virginia Tech elbowing their way in.
On Wednesday, a tall yellow crane towered above the west side of Carter-Finley, above the steel skeleton of the new press box and luxury suites being built. Call it symbolic, perhaps, but Amato's program may still be under construction after four years -- and now has lost one of its primary architects in Rivers.
State goes into the 2004 season unranked in the ESPN/USA Today coaches preseason poll. On July 26, the ACC media picked NCSU to finish seventh in the 11-team conference.
"I was looking for 11th, to help motivate us a little," Amato said.
"That's just a poll. It shows there are a lot of good teams in this league. Polls are polls. They're just opinions."
And the Wolfpack players have their own opinion.
"We'll miss Phil," senior cornerback Lamont Reid said. "But it also could give us an advantage."
Come again?
"The edge we'll have is that a lot of people are saying, 'Phil is gone, so what kind of team will they have?' " Reid said. "What we have is more talent than people think."
Take the tailback position, for example. Junior T.A. McLendon, named first-team All-ACC as a freshman, is healthy again after suffering from knee and hamstring injuries last season that limited him to 608 yards rushing and nine touchdowns. Josh Brown and Reggie Davis also return, and freshman Darrell Blackman -- a top high school prospect who played at Hargrave Military Academy last season -- could push all three.
"We may go to the wishbone," Amato joked.
And there could be a late newcomer. Bobby Washington, signed by Miami, was refused admission and is looking for a new school, The Miami Herald reported Wednesday. Washington, ranked the nation's third-best running back last year by one recruiting service, was recruited by NCSU and the Herald reported he may consider the Wolfpack program.
Washington, who rushed for 2,132 yards and 23 TDs last year at Miami's Killian High, told the Herald the university questioned his score on the ACT board exam. He said his scores were accurate and requested and was granted a release by the school.
Under NCAA rules, NCSU coaches aren't allowed to comment on Washington, a recruitable athlete, until he enrolls. But the Wolfpack has four former Killian players who could help lure Washington to the program.
The Pack will have a new face on defense: Reggie Herring, hired as defensive coordinator. Todd Stroud, who headed the Pack's strength program for four years, takes over as defensive line coach.
"We'll be better on defense," Reid said. "First, we have experience, with five or six senior starting, which means better leadership. Second, we have Coach Herring and the intensity he brings. Our attitude has changed."
But can the Wolfpack withstand that schedule -- the one so prominently displayed at Carter-Finley? The Pack opens Sept. 4 against Richmond. After that ...
"It'll be tough," Reid said. "Every Saturday will seem like a bowl game."
Staff writer Chip Alexander can be reached at 829-8945 or chipa@newsobserver.com
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