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Wilson likely out for N.C. State
Evans expected to start at quarterback against William & Mary
AP Photo
Daniel Evans, a senior, has started 17 games in his N.C. State career.
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Published: September 2, 2008
N.C. State expects to be without quarterback Russell Wilson when it plays William & Mary in its home opener on Saturday night.
Coach Tom O'Brien said yesterday that State will go through practice this week with senior Daniel Evans as the No. 1 quarterback and junior Harrison Beck as Evans' backup.
Wilson, a redshirt freshman who had won the job in the preseason, suffered a Grade 3 concussion in the Wolfpack's 34-0 loss at South Carolina on Thursday night.
"We don't have any idea what Russell's situation is so we're going to prepare Evans and back up with Beck," O'Brien said during his weekly news conference.
O'Brien also said that tight end Anthony Hill will not play Saturday because of a chest injury.
State officials had confirmed Thursday night that Wilson had suffered a Grade 3 concussion, which is the most-severe form of concussion and indicates that Wilson lost consciousness at some point after he took a knee to the helmet while being tackled on a running play in the second quarter.
O'Brien didn't elaborate much on the injury yesterday, other than to confirm that Wilson was kept in a Columbia hospital overnight for observation and then returned to Raleigh on Friday.
"Russell's back and he's back into the regular daily routine, will be going to class and everything," O'Brien said. "So we'll see how he progresses here in a week or so.... We'll do whatever the doctors say that he's able to do, so we'll take it day by day."
Tailback Andre Brown seemed more willing to talk about the situation than his coach.
"We're going to miss him, but I'm pretty sure Daniel can go out there and run (the offense) just as strong as Russell can," Brown said.
The offense was tailored in the preseason to suit Wilson's running talents in a Spread formation, after State was a conventional I-formation team last year with Evans and Beck. So several adjustments will have to be made this week.
"With Russell, he gave us an option to pull it back and run," Brown said. "Daniel will just give it to me. I guess when Russell's in the game we have more of an option-type thing and more of a threat with the running. Daniel is not that mobile, but he's a good-enough athlete to run it. It's going to hurt with Russell out but I'm pretty sure Daniel's capable of doing it."
Evans has started 17 games during his career and played all but the last series against South Carolina after Wilson was injured. He completed 4 of 12 passes for 37 yards with two interceptions, including one interception early in the third quarter that set up South Carolina's first touchdown.
Thve Wolfpack committed four turnovers and was held to 138 yards in total offense against South Carolina, with a meager 47 yards passing . Wilson (1 for 5 for 12 yards before getting hurt), Evans and Beck combined to go 5 of 20 with two interceptions.
O'Brien said that he was not concerned at this point about the team losing confidence. He thought that State was in good shape at South Carolina with the score tied 0-0 late in the first half, before a bad snap and fumble deep in State territory set up the Gamecocks for a field goal and 3-0 halftime lead. Then Evans was intercepted on State's first series of the second half, and after South Carolina scored four plays later to push the lead to 10-0, the momentum was gone.
"I think what we have to do is go back and look at the positives," O'Brien said. "There were a lot of things to build on. We had a little bit ‘deer in the headlights' look, especially with some kids on offense, it was their first college game. We expected it to be a little slow, and the defense kept us in the game, which I hoped they would do.
"We just started getting into a rhythm when (Wilson) went down. So things were progressing the way you think it would have been, to be very positive for us at that point. Now, obviously turnovers took us out of the football game and when they got up and they've got 13 starters back and five or six of them are first-round draft choices, we started throwing the ball around and not being able to mix in the run and the pass. And we just got swamped. So the moral of that story is, let's not get in that situation....."
■ John Delong can be reached at jdelong@wsjournal.com.
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