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Philip Rivers completes 18-of-22 passes for 257 yards and a score as NC State improves to 2-2.


Sept 20, 2003


By Tony Haynes

Raleigh, N.C.--NC State took the old bend but don't break defensive philosophy to a whole new level on Saturday, yielding 681 yards of total offense to Texas Tech, including a school-record 586 yards passing. But by the end of the day, the only statistic that mattered was the number on the scoreboard. With Philip Rivers throwing for 257 yards and T.A. McLendon rushing for 115 more, the Wolfpack (2-2) snapped a two-game losing streak with a wild 49-21 victory over Texas Tech (2-1) in front of a sellout crowd of 53,800 fans at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Despite using as many as seven defensive backs in certain situations, the Wolfpack still had a difficult time slowing down Red Raiders quarterback B.J. Symons, who finished 39-of-63 for 586 yards and two touchdowns. But the gaudy statistics really didn't matter, not with Texas Tech bogging down in the red zone on several occasions. The Raiders also fell prey to some key miscues that would ultimately lead to their downfall.

"They could have had 50 points and they could have had just seven," said Wolfpack head coach Chuck Amato. "When they got down in the red zone our kids fought the heck out of them. I think they got down there four times and scored only once. This is what we needed. We're not there yet; we're still building. But hey, a win is a win."

A win that came after two potentially devastating losses for a team that had dreams of winning the national title before the season. But on Saturday, the Wolfpack had only one goal: beat Texas Tech.

Outscored by a combined total of 42-17 in the first half of those defeats to Wake Forest and Ohio State, NC State finally got off to a quick start on Saturday, jumping out to a 21-0 halftime advantage.

Following a bobbled punt and turnover by Texas Tech's Wes Welker, McLendon set the tone, shaking off four Texas Tech tacklers on the way to a 29-yard scoring run that put the Pack out in front 7-0 with 4:52 left in the opening quarter. Then the NC State defense got into the act on Tech's next possession when cornerback Greg Golden picked a wobbly Symons pass out of the air and raced 71 yards down the right sideline to make it 14-0. Golden's pick was assisted by freshman defensive end Mario Williams, who nailed Symons from behind just as he released the football.


"Actually, I was almost going to celebrate with Mario on his big hit, but once I saw the ball coming toward me I got really excited," said Golden, whose big play marked the first NC State interception return for touchdown since November of 2001 when Marcus Hudson picked off a pass at Duke and raced 100 yards. "My first thought was to catch the ball and don't get caught."

He wasn't caught and NC State was off an running early. But after letting a 38-17 advantage slip away last year in Lubbock, Amato knew that no lead is safe against the pass-happy Red Raiders. That's why a huge play in the kicking game near the end of the first half really came in handy for NC State. Breaking free up the middle, sophomore linebacker Manny Lawson came up with the fourth blocked punt of his career and the 42nd block overall for the Pack since 1998. When receiver Richard Washington fell on the ball in the north end zone, the Pack owned a 21-0 lead with 5:23 remaining in the half.

"We talked really strong about dominating the kicking game," Amato said. "We've lost five games in two years and if we would have dominated the kicking game in those five games, we would have the longest winning streak in the country. We finally got [a blocked punt]. That should have been our third of the year. We just missed one at Wake Forest."

Meanwhile, Texas Tech's red zone problems persisted, especially in the second period. There was a faked field goal that blew up at the 8-yard line with 4:10 left before intermission. And with 29 seconds left in the quarter, a bad snap caused kicker Keith Toogood to hook a field goal attempt wide left.

Incredibly, the Red Raiders were held scoreless in the opening half despite rolling up 355 yards of total offense, 322 of them coming through the air.

If Tech had any ideas of getting back into the game right away in the third period, McLendon dashed those hopes by ripping off a 67-yard run from scrimmage that eventually led to Josh Brown's one-yard scoring dive two plays later to give NC State a 28-0 lead. On his long dash, McLendon appeared to suffer a hamstring injury that was initially diagnosed as a cramp. He did not return after rushing for 115 yards on just 10 carries.

"First I thought it was a cramp and then it was a hamstring," said Amato. "If the hamstring is that bad, then we're back in the same boat next week. That's conditioning. The poor kid hasn't been able to do much running the last three weeks. You've got to be in shape to play this game. He makes us a different offense when he's in there."

But Brown did the job in McLendon's absence, rushing for 73 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Cotra Jackson also added a 24-yard scoring run late in the game that gave the Pack a 49-14 advantage.

And while Texas Tech continued to move the ball throughout the second half, NC State did a better job of making its drives count. Late in the third period, the Wolfpack went on a 14-play march that covered 94 yards and consumed more than six minutes off the clock. Brown's second score, this one from two yards away, ended the drive. The Pack had two other scoring drives that chewed up nearly 10 minutes of the fourth quarter.

Those marches helped the NC State defense, which was just trying to hang on for dear life everytime Symons and the Tech offense took the field.

"Once those guys get on the field, you get butterflies," Golden said when asked about the Red Raiders passing attack. "Once they start driving down the field it's all a matter of staying composed."

Said Amato: "We switched our coverages as frequently as we could so that they couldn't get a read on it. We played seven defensive backs, we played six defensive backs and five defensive backs. They were drained."

But by the time Symons threw touchdown passes of 36 and 50 yards in the fourth quarter, the outcome was no longer in question. Because of two fumbles that were lost, the one interception that was returned for a score and the breakdowns in the kicking game, the Raiders were really never in the game.

"They coached better than I did," said Texas Tech coach Mike Leach. "Four turnovers are huge, but you should be able to overcome them. We just played disjointed. I've never had this much offense with this little production before. And I can't count many times where I've been on a team that played as well as we did in the first half and didn't come away successful."

And while Symons put up the biggest passing numbers ever recorded against an NC State defense, Rivers had another steady day, going 18-of-22 with one TD pass. The senior quarterback has now completed 118 of the 153 passes he has thrown this year.

One of the unsung heroes for the Wolfpack on Saturday was kick off specialist John Deraney. Other than the opening kick off, which was returned 29 yards, the redshirt freshman boomed the rest of his kickoffs, recording seven straight touchbacks.

But the big story on this sunny Saturday afternoon was an NC State defense that bent, bent and bent, but rarely broke.

"You give up a school record but you don't give up that many touchdowns," Golden said. "A lot of people won't look at it like that, but that's the only thing that matters."