Wolfpack vows to not give up on season

By: By Bill Cole | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: November 17, 2009

RALEIGH --

A winning season and a bowl game are now out of the question for N.C. State, but Coach Tom O'Brien and two of his players have no doubts that the team can still accomplish much in its two remaining games.

N.C. State will play at Virginia Tech on Saturday and then will finish at home Nov. 28 against North Carolina. For defensive end Willie Young, those games now define the season.

"As long as we're breathing," he said, "we've got something to play for."

Last weekend's 43-23 loss to Clemson was N.C. State's fifth loss in six games, but O'Brien is determined that his team finish strong. Two wins will even the record at 6-6 and provide a lift for spring practice.

O'Brien will not make major changes to his starting lineups and will stick with players he thinks give the Wolfpack the best chance of winning now.

"I think Saturday the question was asked if we were going to start playing for next year, and certainly we're not," O'Brien said. "We still have two games left to play this year, and the biggest one is Virginia Tech this week."

O'Brien knows that his players are disappointed about not being eligible for a bowl and understands their frustration. He said that playing hard in the last two games and preparing well are important for the rest of this season and for the program's future.

He is certain that none of his players has given in and that the seniors who set the pace are still playing hard. He thinks that one problem is that N.C. State doesn't have enough seniors to set examples for young players.

"A lot of guys are still competing and playing hard," he said. "Some guys are trying to do too much. That's part of the problem. They just have to do their job."

The seniors have inspired junior receiver Owen Spencer. He knows that they're hurting because they will not finish their careers in a bowl game, but he said that N.C. State can still gain ACC respect by defeating Virginia Tech and UNC, two of the conference's better teams.

"We know that a bowl game is not in sight, but we can show a lot of character and how much heart and fight that we have left by going out and winning our last two games," he said. "That would be real big for our program, to get to .500.

"We've still got a lot to fight for."

bcole@wsjournal.com.