WILSON SUFFERS CONCUSSION IN OPENER
Starting quarterback Russell Wilson suffered a Grade Three Concussion in the
second quarter of the season opening loss to South Carolina and was transported
to Richland Memorial Hospital. It was determined at the hospital that Wilson suffered
no injury to his spinal cord.
EVANS UNDER CENTER
Graduate quarterback Daniel Evans will get the start against William & Mary on
Saturday, the third season that the veteran has started at least one contest. He
started nine games as a redshirt sophomore then eight games last season.
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Daniel Evans
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Evans is 6-11 overall and 4-5 at Carter-Finley Stadium. Evans won four straight
last season. He is 1-2 against non-conference opponents, with a win against East
Carolina and a loss against Central Florida in 2007. He also lost to ECU in 2006.
Evans needs just 90 yards passing for 4,000 in his career, which would make
him just the seventh quarterback in school history to reach that mark.
He currently ranks fifth in school history in pass completions, seventh in yards,
ninth in percentage and 15th in pass efficiency.
NC STATE VERSUS WILLIAM & MARY
NC State will open its 2008 home slate against the William & Mary Tribe. The
Wolfpack holds an 11-8 all time record in the series, including a 9-3 mark in
Raleigh and a perfect 2-0 record at Carter-Finley Stadium.
The Pack has outscored the Tribe 80-9 in the two meetings in Carter-Finley
Stadium, a 38-9 win in 1999 and a 42-0 shutout in 1980.
The two teams met 14 times in 19 years from 1940 until 1958, but didn’t meet
again until 1980.
NC State is 64-12-3 all-time in home openers.
WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
Senior running back Andre Brown’s performance was perhaps the lone offensive
highlight for the Wolfpack in the loss to South Carolina.
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Andre Brown
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Brown ran for
101 yards on 21 carries for his sixth career 100-yard rushing effort, tied for ninth
in school history with the legendary Dick Christy. Brown now has 1,873 yards
rushing, good for 11th all-time in school history. He ranks fourth in the league in
rushing and 34th nationally after the first round of games.
Brown needs just 48 yards to move into 10th place all-time, and 127 yards for
2,000 career rushing yards.
The senior from Greenville, N.C. ranks second in the ACC among active players
in career yards and rushing touchdowns (15).
IF YOU TRAVEL, YOU WILL PLAY
True to head coach Tom O’Brien’s comments during the week, nearly every NC
State player on the South Carolina travel roster played. Only eight players did not
see action out of the 66 players who made the trip, and one of those was freshman
quarterback Mike Glennon, who the coaches plan on redshirting.
Twenty-two players saw their first career action for NC State, including four true freshmen - wide receiver/returner T.J. Graham, fullback Taylor Gentry and linebacker’s
Dwayne Maddox and Sterling Lucas.
‘FOUR’ THE FIRST TIME
NC State’s pass defense was solid for most of the night against South Carolina,
allowing just 106 yards through the first three quarters and picking off four
passes.
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DeAndre Morgan
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The four interceptions are tied for the second-most nationally. Each of
the four interceptions had a common theme - it was the interceptor’s first of their
career.
In fact, redshirt freshman Jimmaul Simmons had his pick on his first career
play, which came on third down of the Gamecock’s first drive.
Redshirt Justin Byers added an interception in his first career game.
A pair of redshirt sophomores - linebacker Nate Irving and DeAndre Morgan
- each had the first pick of their careers.
SPENCER LEADING RECEIVER
Granted, NC State only had five pass receptions for 49 yards in the opener, but
sophomore Owen Spencer led the team with three of those five catches and 27 of
the yards.
The speedy Spencer, from Leland, N.C., had just five catches for 73 yards as a
true freshman, and didn’t have more than a single catch in a game last year.
IRVING, LINEBACKERS LEAD DEFENSE
The NC State linebackers are an inexperienced bunch, as outlined in the note
below. The three starters against South Carolina - Nate Irving, Robbie Leonard and
Ray Michel - had combined for just five career starts heading into the opener.
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Nate Irving
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All three responded to the challenge and were the leading tacklers in the contest
for the Pack. Irving led the team with 10 tackles, including two for loss and his first
career interception.
Leonard notched nine tackles in his first ever game as a linebacker and had two
quarterback hurries.
Michel had eight tackles and a quarterback pressure.
LINEBACKER EXPERIENCE
The six players listed on the two-deep at linebacker have combined for just eight
career starts, and redshirt sophomore Nate Irving has five of them. Redshirt junior
Ray Michel has started two.
Redshirt senior Robbie Leonard, a former walkon, not only has never PLAYED
linebacker in a collegiate game until the opener against South Carolina, but the
converted safety had played in only 12 games from scrimmage in his career.
He
earned his first start at linebacker against USC and had nine tackles and two QB
hurries.
PACK DEFENSE SOLID
Before fatigue set in after being on the field for 10 full minutes longer than the offense
against South Carolina, defensive coordinator Mike Archer had to have been
pleased with the performance.
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Markus Kuhn
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NC State allowed 369 total yards, but 208 of those
came in the fourth quarter alone as cramps and bad field position took its toll.
Through the first three quarters, NC State had allowed just 55 rushing yards and
106 yards through the air.
The 2007 unit allowed over 186 yards on the ground - last in the ACC - and was
11th in the league in total defense.
Against USC, NC State allowed just 198 passing yards and intercepted a leaguehigh
four passes in the game. Those four picks were the most since 2000.
The defensive unit also notched five sacks in the game, tied for second nationally.
SPEEDY GRAHAM
Freshman wideout T.J. Graham has instantly added speed to the Wolfpack. Graham
won the North Carolina 4-A title in the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.44
and 20.82, respectively. He also posted the nation’s fastest time in the 200 meters
at one point during the season.
In 2007, Graham finished third nationally in the 100
meters at the Nike Nationals.
Graham was back as a punt returner and in on kickoff return, in addition to earning
the start at wide receiver. He returned two kickoffs for 42 yards and caught the
first pass of his career, a 10-yard reception.
YOUNG IN SPACE
One of the best personnel moves that the Wolfpack coaching staff decided to
make last season was at the defensive end position midseason.
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Willie Young
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Instead of the
ends lining up on the left or right side, they decided to put speedy Willie Young on
the side away from the tight end - in other words, to let him operate “in space.”
Space is definitely where Young belongs.
In the last six games, Young tallied
12 tackles for loss, including six sacks and pressured the opposing quarterback 20
times (including eight in the win over North Carolina).
Young tallied 16 tackles for loss for the season, the seventh-best mark in school
history and was one more than #1 NFL pick Mario Williams had for the second-best
mark ever for a Wolfpack sophomore.
The talented redshirt junior posted four tackles, including 1 1/2 sacks and two
quarterback hurries in the season opener.
KICKERS LOOK FOR A PLACE
For the second straight season, NC State will have a new player handling the
placekicking duties in 2008.
Last season, the man who would end up with his name in the Wolfpack record
books wasn’t even in the preseason media guide. Steven Hauschka came to the
Wolfpack as a graduate student after earning his degree from Middlebury College.
He ended up leading the ACC in field goal percentage (.889, 16-18), tying for sixth
in NC State history. He was also a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award. He went
from not even being on the roster, to signing an NFL free agent deal with the Minnesota
Vikings, and now with the Baltimore Ravens.
Redshirt sophomore Josh Czajkowski will handle the kicking duties after solid
spring and fall camps. Senior Bradley Pierson, who took over as the Wolfpack’s
starting punter in the third game of last season, will back up Czajkowski and also
punt.
Although Pierson had punted 62 times heading into 2008, neither player has ever
kicked off, kicked a PAT or a field goal in a college game until South Carolina.
Czajkowski missed his first career field goal attempt - 49 yards - but didn’t have
any other kicking chances.
Pierson averaged 42.7 yards per punt, the best single-game average in his career,
against South Carolina. He handled the kickoffs as well, booting his only attempt of
the opener to the goal line.