NC State Wolfpack

By Tony Haynes

One team has played a game while the other hasn't. So who has the edge? It is a question that many college football coaches have been asked hundreds of times. Unlike the NFL, college football does not have a formal opening day.

Eight teams started in late August; many others kicked off last week. And while NC State was struggling past Arkansas State last Saturday, its next opponent, Indiana, sat idle.

Because the Hoosiers haven't played a game, Chuck Amato and his NC State coaching staff are left to speculate on what strategies IU will try to employ in Bloomington. And here's the other catch: Indiana has new coordinators on offense and defense.

"We're essentially playing two first games, which I don't like," Amato said. "I like to have just the one first game when you don't know what the other team is going to do. "They've got new coordinators on both sides of the ball and all we can do is analyze what they did at other places."

Indiana's new defensive coordinator, James Bell, is somewhat familiar. Last season, Bell orchestrated the defense that helped Wake Forest post a 7-5 mark and a 23-3 victory over Arizona State in the Aloha Bowl.

"That's what we're going on, that he's basically running the same defensive system that he ran at Wake Forest," said Amato, who faced Bell and the Deacons when he was an assistant at Florida State. "We'll have to make some adjustments on the sidelines and you always have to make adjustments. That's where the experience of our staff becomes very important."

Here's the reason Hoosiers coach Cam Cameron went out and lured Bell away from Wake Forest: Indiana had one of the nation's ten worst defenses a year ago, yielding 35.1 points per game.

Since Indiana didn't play last week, there was no obligation for NC State to provide the IU staff with a game film from the Arkansas State contest in Raleigh. Cameron said he listened to the game over the Internet without mentioning whether or not he'd obtained a videotaped copy of the contest.

"I guarantee you they've got a film of our game, even though they're not supposed to," Amato said. "I guarantee they've seen it and analyzed it."

And if they do have it, where did they get it? Well, they could've gotten it from Arkansas State or from Oklahoma. Why Oklahoma? The Sooners have a copy of the film because they will host Arkansas State this week. And by the way, Steve Spurrier Jr. is an assistant coach at Oklahoma. Spurrier Jr. worked for his father at Florida when Amato coached at the Gators' hated rival, Florida State.

So assuming Indiana has watched the tape, it would be reasonable to conclude that the Hoosiers will have a big advantage on Saturday, right? Well, that depends on whom you ask.

"I think without question that the advantage goes to the team that has already played if you come out of that game injury free," said Cameron, who's starting his fourth season at Indiana. "I think both of us go into this game feeling like we're both ready to play. I don't feel either team feels like they have a huge advantage over the other. The bottom line is that the team that's going to win this football game is the one that plays the best, not the one that played a first game and the one that didn't."

Adds Amato: "There are pros and cons both ways. Whoever wins the game it isn't going to be because someone had an advantage, it will be because they have a better football team.

So who does have an edge? Obviously, we've failed miserably in our attempt to reach a conclusion. I guess we'll have a better idea by late Saturday afternoon.