RALEIGH
Toney Baker has fought his way back into N.C. State's top playing rotation after a near two-season absence because of injury and will be the starting tailback on Thursday night in the season opener against South Carolina.
Coach Tom O'Brien said yesterday that, barring an injury in practice in the time left before the game, Baker, a senior from Jamestown, will take the field for the first time since Sept. 2, 2007, when he injured his right knee in the season opener against Central Florida.
O'Brien, entering his third season at N.C. State, said that Baker had earned the right to start because of his play in summer practice this month and in spring practice, when his comeback began after he was cleared to return to full contact.
"We won't know (if Baker is fully recovered) until he gets into the football game," O'Brien said. "He's certainly a lot better than he was in spring practice, and certainly did a great job in preseason and scrimmage time when he had the opportunity to carry the ball and catch the ball and do blitz protection and pass protection."
Jamelle Eugene, a senior also, is listed as No. 2 at running back after coming back from shoulder surgery that forced him to miss all of spring practice. Two redshirt freshmen -- R.J. Mattes and C.J. Wilson -- won starting jobs, also.
Baker damaged cartilage in his knee in 2007 after rushing 10 times for 38 yards against Central Florida and did not play again the rest of the season after undergoing surgery. He was scheduled to return last season but needed a second operation on the knee in August 2008 to clean out debris and was sidelined again.
He has missed the last 24 N.C. State games but said earlier this month that he feels fine and as quick when running the ball as he was before being hurt. He has rushed for 1,272 yards at N.C. State, the sixth-highest total among active conference players, and had 10,231 yards rushing at Ragsdale High School, the third-highest total nationally in high-school history.
"I think it speaks a lot to the team; they know the hard work and dedication he did, and the tremendous job our training staff did with him," O'Brien said. "He spent a lot of extra time in the training rooms. He spent a lot of time in the strength-and-conditioning area to get himself back to this position."
Eugene averaged 4.7 yards last season, the most for an N.C. State running back, and has 1,168 yards rushing in his career. O'Brien considers Baker and Eugene co-starters and said that both should play in the first game and likely throughout the season.
"It'll be similar to what we did with Andre (Brown) and Eugene last year, and similar to what we've done in previous years," O'Brien said. "It'll either be by series or situation."
Mattes and Wilson are the only freshmen to earn starting jobs for the opener.
Mattes is a 6-6, 303-pound right guard. His father, Ron, played defensive tackle at Virginia in the mid-1980s when O'Brien was an assistant there under Coach George Welsh.
"His dad didn't play offense until he went to the NFL," O'Brien said. "R.J.'s been an offensive player pretty much his whole career. I think that's the biggest difference there. His dad was a big, tough, physical guy, and certainly I think R.J. fits in that category."
Wilson, a 5-11, 177-pound defensive back, beat out DeAndre Morgan, a junior, for the job at the field corner spot in O'Brien's defense.
Jeff Ruiz, a junior, will be the punter in the opener. Chris Ward, a freshman, will be the backup.
O'Brien has been concerned about the punter's job and has considered it one of the top questions that had to be answered in summer practice.
O'Brien is confident that he has a more experienced team than a year ago when N.C. State opened at South Carolina and lost 34-0, but he said he won't hesitate to make changes throughout the depth chart after the first game.
"Right now it's how we're going to start the season," O'Brien said. "It may not be how we end up."
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.
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