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Battered N.C. State to tangle with 3-1 BC
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Published: October 4, 2008
Baling wire is no longer enough to keep N.C. State's injury-ravaged football team intact.
"We're duct-taping things together right now," Coach Tom O'Brien said this week.
O'Brien would love to have his team available to play his old team when Boston College visits State today for an ACC game at noon. The problem is that O'Brien's current team, or at least a big portion of it, is on the injury list.
Ten Wolfpack starters have been sidelined for at least a game, and seven have missed more than one. The former number will grow if offensive tackle Julian Williams misses today's game, as expected.
However, O'Brien did announce after practice Thursday that quarterback Russell Wilson will be back to start against BC and that tight end Anthony Hill (chest injury) is listed as probable. Wilson sat out last week against South Florida, and Hill hasn't played since the season opener.
N.C. State is 2-3 after last week's 41-10 home loss to South Florida. Boston College, in its second season since Jeff Jagodzinski succeeded O'Brien as head coach, is 3-1 after last week's 42-0 romp over Rhode Island.
But both teams are 0-1 in the ACC, which, at least in the early weeks, appears to be wide open. Wake Forest and Maryland are the only teams in the Atlantic Division without a conference loss.
"We talked about that Saturday night after the game," O'Brien said. "It was a tough loss to take. We lost to a really good football team. But that part of the season is over.
"We're 0-1 in conference, but there's not anybody that's 4-0 in conference right now. Everybody's alive. I've always treated each conference game like it's a championship game, because that's what you're playing for -- the championship. And the only way to win it is to win each game as you go along.
"So we'll play a championship game on Saturday. Hopefully we'll play like champions."
To do so, the Wolfpack will have to score against a rugged defense. The Eagles rank second in the ACC in total defense, first in passing defense and fourth in rushing defense.
They lead the nation in pass-efficiency defense.
BC lost quarterback Matt Ryan and four other offensive starters off last year's Atlantic Division champion. Seven defensive starters returned, including two players, defensive tackle B.J. Raji and linebacker Brian Toal, who missed last season.
Ragi was academically ineligible, and Toal had a shoulder injury.
"We thought going into the season that our defense was going to have to carry a lot of weight, particularly in the early going in the season until we could find out who we are offensively," Jagodzinski said. "We've got a good defense. I think they play good team defense."
A depleted roster is not new for O'Brien, who said he experienced a similar predicament his first two seasons at BC. He doesn't deny its potential impact.
"I think any first two years, they get like this," O'Brien said. "You just keep your nose to the grindstone, keep working, believe in what you're doing and keep working, and things are going to work out."
After playing in the State's 30-24 overtime upset win at Clemson, Wilson did not play last week against South Florida. N.C. State releases the nature of all the injuries on its roster except that of Wilson, who has already returned this season from a concussion suffered against South Carolina.
Earlier this week, O'Brien was asked the nature of Wilson's injury.
"I've reported the injuries as I've had to report them, in compliance with what our rules and regulations are to report injuries," O'Brien said.
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