N.C. State will be on the road today, but its game at Florida State will be a personal homecoming for 17 Wolfpack players.
The 17 are from Florida, and most arrived in Raleigh through the recruiting of Chuck Amato, the previous N.C. State coach who is now in his second stint on the FSU staff. Six of the 17 are starters, and seven are top reserves.
DeAndre Morgan, a starting cornerback, followed Miami while he was growing up in Riviera Beach, but FSU was his second-favorite team. Both programs recruited him but stopped after a broken bone in his foot hampered his play in high school.
"I used to (look for payback) when I first got here, but now I just look at it as a regular game," Morgan said. "I don't feel like there's nothing to prove. You've just got to go out and play."
N.C. State (3-4, 0-3 ACC) is coming off an open date last weekend. FSU (3-4, 1-3) is coming off a confidence-building comeback win at North Carolina. Kickoff will be at noon (WXLV Ch. 7).
The game will help determine if N.C. State can have a third consecutive strong finish under Coach Tom O'Brien and secure bowl eligibility.
Ted Larsen, a senior center and resident of Palm Harbor, is confident that last week's break gave the Wolfpack time to rest weary bodies and tired minds and prepare for the five remaining games.
"I think everybody's on board," he said. "I don't think we're having any problems with (morale). From the beginning, I feel like this team's been really close. We'll stick together even though we've hit some rough patches. It's a close group of guys."
O'Brien welcomed the time off to work with a battered defense that is still having trouble tackling. N.C. State has given up 101 points in its past two games and 131 in its past three. It has lost all three.
"We've put it behind us," Morgan said of the defense's play in recent games. "Things can happen. We weren't playing our best. We learned a lot from those games. It woke us up a lot. We want to go out and play Wolfpack football like we know how to do."
State's secondary will have its seventh different starting lineup. It will have to contain the passing of quarterback Christian Ponder, who amassed 395 yards and three touchdowns at UNC to help the Seminoles rally from an 18-point deficit. Ponder completed his last 16 passes and was 21 for 25 in the second half.
O'Brien said he can't fault his defense's effort, but he isn't pleased with its execution.
"We've had good practices," he said. "I don't think they've shown any sense that they're down or we don't think they're capable of doing things. Talking with a couple kids, they understand what they have to get done. It's a question of making it work, and making it happen.
"It has to come from them. That's a renewed sense of us trying to coach them a little better and them trying to execute a little better. And that's what we have to get done."
bcole@wsjournal.com.
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