NC State Wolfpack

By Tony Haynes

The good news for NC State fans is that the streak is over. NC State's 38-20 victory over North Carolina at Kenan Stadium ended a frustrating stretch, which had seen the Pack drop seven straight games to the Tar Heels. What's the bad news? Let me think for a moment.....actually, I can't come up with anything at this point.

Chuck Amato's Wolfpack has won five of six games, and in the process has shown improvement every week. Even in a seven-point loss to powerful Clemson, the Pack proved that it was good enough to hang with one of the nation's best teams. And Saturday's win in Chapel Hill put an exclamation point on the first half of the season.

Against the Tar Heels, NC State's wide open offense geared down, choosing instead to employ a punishing running attack that, prior to Saturday, had been virtually non-existent. All week, Amato challenged his offensive line to become more physical, telling them that they could make quarterback Philip Rivers' job a lot easier by opening some holes for tailback Ray Robinson. Before going down with a minor foot injury, Ray-Rob produced 110-yards on the ground. His replacement, sophomore Cotra Jackson, pounded out 94-yards, all in the fourth quarter.

Assuming the performance in Chapel Hill wasn't a mirage, NC State's offense may actually move to another level if the effective work on the ground continues. Along with establishing a certain element of control, an efficient running attack opens up play-action passes and wears down opposing defenses. A withering Carolina defense had no chance of slowing down Jackson's battering runs late in the fourth period on Saturday.

Defensively, the Pack has made enormous strides since the first couple of games. State makes up for a lack of overall size and speed with 60-minutes of teeth clinching tenacity. And after missing dozens of tackles earlier in the season, the defense has become a mean hitting machine over the last few weeks. If the ACC were to produce a "hit of the year" video, NC State safety Adrian Wilson and linebacker Levar Fisher might be the feature performers.

Wilson and Fisher are two of the most aggressive players in the league, and their mindset seems to be contagious. It now appears that NC State has 11 non-stop engines on defense, which is a testament to the type of approach Amato has attempted to instill since day one.

The Wolfpack's aggressiveness is also translating into opponent's mistakes: State is now at plus eight in the all-important turnover margin category.

Confident and brash, this NC State team now believes anything is possible, and why shouldn't it feel that way? This is, after all, is a team that already has three come from behind victories (two in overtime) and a long waited triumph over a rival it hadn't defeated since 1992.

Perhaps the only sobering news to come out of the win at North Carolina was the season ending knee injury suffered by cornerback J.J. Washington. Since replacing James Walker midway through the second game at Indiana, the redshirt freshman had solidified the corner spot opposite Brian Williams. If another corner goes down, Amato and defensive coordinator Buddy Green might be forced to hold student body tryouts.

But regardless of injuries and a lack of overall depth, you just get the feeling that the 2000 Wolfpack is working on something special. Six regular season games are down, five are left. If the second half turns out to be anything like the first, we'll be in for a great show.