Wolf Facts
FootballPack continues to prepare for Florida State
It’s been nearly two weeks since the fairy tale debut of redshirt sophomore quarterback Daniel Evans. And now Thursday he has the task of trying to follow it up against the defending ACC champs — Florida State.Coach Chuck Amato said he naturally worries about how the young quarterback will perform, but that he is confident in his abilities.”Of course I’m [anxious]. He’s our quarterback,” Amato said. “It’s going to be interesting to see. It’s only his second start. But he proved his worth in the last 46 seconds that will go down in — to quote [Franklin Delano Roosevelt] — ‘infamy’ and in N.C. State history. Now we’ll go with it and see what happens.”Amato commented earlier in the week about the speed and quickness of the Florida State defense and the challenge it will present to the Wolfpack’s offensive line. And yesterday he talked about how important it is to evaluate speed in the recruiting process.”Speed is awfully, awfully, awfully, awfully, awfully important,” Amato said.But he added toughness is valuable to look at as well.”We cannot ever forget about toughness,” Amato said. “You can’t forget about people who are football players. If we were just looking for speed, we would just go to track meets. But if a guy can fly and do all of those other things, then that’s what everybody’s looking for.”One of those types of players on the Seminoles defense is senior linebacker Buster Davis.Davis currently leads Florida State in tackles with 35 and is tied for the team lead in sacks with two.Amato compared his ability to former State linebacker Dantonio Burnette.”[Davis] is just hard, tough, smart, physical, intimidating,” he said. “I mean he just plays so daggone hard. He’s been playing there for about 20 years, it seems like. Boy, he’s really good.”But according to Amato, until this year he had been overshadowed by some of his higher profile teammates.”The last couple of years some people maybe did not notice him,” Amato said. “Because of Sims and Nicholson and all those people that they had there. But he’s good. Everybody would love to have six of them like him.”
–Dennis Burton
Wolf FactMen’s Tennis1 of 3 advance in singles, both doubles groups prevail
Senior William Noblitt advanced to the second round of the 2006 Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. in the singles compeition and along with partner Nick Cavaday advanced to the third round in the doubles. The duo won their two matches by the scores of 8-3 and 8-5 respectively. Noblitt’s single victory came in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.But Noblitt and Cavaday were not the only N.C. State tennis players to advance in the tournament. The doubles team of James McGee and Jay Weinacker won both of their matches and advanced to the third round as well. In the singles, however, Weinacker and McGee lost in the first round. McGee fell to Dimitar Kutrovsky, the No. 117-ranked player in the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings preseason poll. The tournament will resume today.
–Dennis Burton
Coming Soon Thursday in Technician Sports
Look for a feature on wide receiver Darrell Blackman, who missed the Boston College game with an injury and is working to get back on the field. Blackman switched from running back to receiver after last season.Also, there will be a report on how the men’s soccer team fared against Maine in today’s match.Plus, keep an eye out for a preview of Thursday’s women’s soccer matchup against conference foe Wake Forest.
