Feeling Optimistic: N.C. State's O'Brien, entering his third season, says he's pleased with the way his team is shaping up despite loss of Irving

N.C. State will open its season against South Carolina in a Thursday game for the second consecutive year, but Coach Tom O'Brien can detect a big difference in his team.

This time, O'Brien is confident that a stronger, deeper and more talented Wolfpack team will take the field at 7 p.m. today at Carter-Finley Stadium.

"It's different because we're going into our third year, and we should be better," O'Brien said. "Last year, we had all those position changes and guys in different spots. I didn't know how they were going to react.

"Now we've got guys who have played in football games, so we should be a much more competitive football team. It's a different year. And in your third year, you ought to be a better football team."

One question must be answered early -- how will the defense play without junior linebacker Nate Irving, its best player? He's out for the season while recovering from injuries suffered in a summer car accident.

The defense has an idea of what to do without Irving. He missed three games last season because of injuries, and N.C. State lost all three during a four-game losing streak.

O'Brien is hoping that senior Ray Michel will use his experience to guide the linebackers through tough times. Young players such as Dwayne Maddox and Audie Cole, both sophomores, and Terrell Manning, a redshirt freshman, will have to play more in Irving's absence.

"Certainly, you're not going to replace Nate Irving," O'Brien said. "We don't have another player on our football team like him. He came out of spring practice the No. 1-rated player on our defense.

"It's a good-news, bad-news thing. The good news is we lost him far enough down the way that we can make some adjustments and try and get the next best players on the field. You're not going to replace him out there right now."

The rest of the defense seems sound. Four seniors could start on the line. The secondary has players with experience, but some have played mostly as backups.

Russell Wilson, a sophomore quarterback, made his college debut last season at South Carolina. He went on to have one of the most spectacular first seasons in ACC history, passing for 1,955 yards and 17 touchdowns and throwing 249 straight passes without an interception. He was intercepted just once in 275 passes.

He suffered a concussion in the second quarter of last season's opener and couldn't finish the game. He missed a full game later because of another injury. Wilson is a darting runner who can frustrate the most veteran defenses, but O'Brien is concerned about keeping him healthy.

"We've had more injuries than anybody in the country," O'Brien said. "That was one of the things we tried to help him with in his decision-making process because of the fact that he won't have to take some of those hits if he can learn to dump the ball to a receiver and let the running back or the tight end take the hit.

"At the same token, we don't want to discourage him from running, because there's a lot of defensive coordinators in this league that don't like him."

O'Brien plans to prepare early in case Wilson is knocked out of another game. Mike Glennon, a 6-6 backup who redshirted last season, will probably play early against South Carolina and in most other games.

O'Brien said that having a veteran starting quarterback is crucial for his team, but he called Glennon "a pretty dang good backup" who deserves playing time.

"It's a situation where he hasn't been in a college-football game, and he's got to play," O'Brien said. "If Russell goes down, you don't want somebody going in that's never played, especially if you get down the road and it's an important game and you're playing for the championship or something."

Glennon doesn't have Wilson's scrambling ability, but O'Brien isn't worried.

"He'll be fine," O'Brien said.

N.C. State also has experience on the offensive line and at receiver. The backfield could get a boost with the return of Toney Baker, who has missed the past 24 games because of complications after a knee injury.

Baker said he feels fine. He is confident that he's as quick as he was before the injury but doesn't know how much of a decline he has had because of the long layoff. Baker, Jamelle Eugene and Curtis Underwood could make up the rotation at running back.

O'Brien say he's confident that N.C. State has many keys to success in place. The coaching staff hasn't changed. The players better understand the systems and terminology and their duties after two seasons under O'Brien.

"We're at the point now where you look at the two-deep, and we don't have any walk-ons listed or expect them to play," O'Brien said.

"We redshirted a lot of kids last year to provide depth, and now they're going to provide it. We're going to be young in spots, but at least they're going to be redshirt freshmen and scholarship players that have gone through spring practice and fall practice."

"The guys that have been around two or three years now understand specifically what we're asking of them. They understand and trust what we're telling them because finally at the end of last year we started seeing some pretty positive results. So I think the thing we can say is that we should be a very competitive football team this year."