It was a long bus ride home from Columbia last Thursday. Not only did the Pack fall to South Carolina in its season opener, it was shut out for the second straight game and lost starting quarterback Russell Wilson to a grade three concussion in the process.
But tomorrow, despite forecasted showers from Tropical Storm Hanna, the team will look to rain on William & Mary’s hopes of an upset in Raleigh as the Wolfpack kicks off its home opener at 6 p.m.
“It hurts to be shut out twice and still have that bitter taste from last year in our mouths,” senior running back Andre Brown said. “But we’re going to get it turned around.”
According to redshirt junior defensive end Alan-Michael Cash, the Pack will look not only to win but to do so in style, beginning with a defense that tallied four interceptions and five sacks last week and held South Carolina in check for three quarters before losing morale in the fourth.
“We do have to make a statement,” Cash said. “The defense knows what we have to do. We want to shut them out basically. [The] offense will bring it together.”
The offense, however, has been “a major concern” for State, according to coach Tom O’Brien. Though Brown collected 101 rushing yards at South Carolina, the team’s three quarterbacks that saw action combined for only 49 yards through the air, with no touchdowns and two interceptions.
“Anybody involved in the passing game was not very good,” O’Brien said. “When we had to get in the situation to throw the ball, we didn’t protect very well, we didn’t throw very well and we didn’t get open very well.”
The Pack will look to graduate student Daniel Evans as its starter in the contest, with redshirt junior Harrison Beck as his reserve. Wilson is listed as questionable for the game, a surprise too many who believed the concussion was too severe to overcome so quickly.
With Wilson, the Pack looked to more of a spread option offense to suit his ability to run. The team will probably look to more traditional power-running and drop back passing schemes against William & Mary to suit Evans’ abilities.
“[Wilson is] a threat with the running. Daniel is not that mobile, but he’s good enough of an athlete to run [the offense],” Brown said. “It’s going to hurt with Russell out, but I’m pretty sure Daniel is capable doing the job.”
The offense will have to match a high-powered William & Mary offense that averaged 29 points per game last season, and 278.1 yards through the air. The Tribe returns its starting quarterback, redshirt senior quarterback Jake Phillips, whom the defense studied closely in film this week.
“He’s real good,” Cash said. “He likes to take off a lot. If nothing’s open, he’s going to run. We’ve got to make sure we stay in our rush lanes and contain him.”
O’Brien is familiar with William & Mary coach Jimmye Laycock, who has become known for his productive offenses as he enters his 29th season as head coach of the Tribe. In 1986, Laycock’s William & Mary team upset Virginia 41-37 at Virginia while O’Brien was an assistant with the Cavaliers.
“They’ve got a lot of experience, they haven’t played a game, they’ve gotten to watch us and know what we do, so he’ll come in here [prepared],” O’Brien said. “I’m well aware of William and Mary.”
And after the Pack’s season-opening loss against Central Florida a year ago, Cash said the returning players will not allow the team to make the mistake of underestimating an opponent again.
“We just know that we can’t take any team lightly, no matter who it is,” Cash said.
