Pack eager to get payback

While most other teams playing major-college football sit and wait, N.C. State will open its season tonight and try to use the game as a springboard to long-awaited success.

With quarterback Russell Wilson leading the way and running back Toney Baker ready to play for the first time in almost two years, N.C. State will play South Carolina at 7 p.m. at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.

It will be the second straight Thursday night opener between the two, and Coach Tom O'Brien will have a stronger and more experienced team than he had for last year's 34-0 loss in Columbia. O'Brien also is confident that the game will provide an indication of how much progress State has made since last season's 6-7 finish.

"I think it's good, especially when you play out-of-conference people back-to-back, because that gives you a couple of years' worth of knowledge and preparation," O'Brien said. "It certainly will be a measuring stick of where we are and how we compare to where we were last year at this point."

The game also will bring Coach Steve Spurrier back to Carter-Finley for the first time since Nov. 12, 1988, when he was at Duke and his team played N.C. State to a 43-43 tie.

Spurrier hasn't changed much in 21 years or after stops at Florida and with the Washington Redskins, and he still looks for every advantage he can find.

"We're underdogs, you know that," he said. "That's the way the experts see it. We're going to have to play hard and play very well. I wish we were practicing better right now."

Wilson made his college debut against South Carolina last season but was knocked out of the game late in the second quarter with a concussion. He missed one other game and was limited in a third by injuries, but he returned to put together a remarkable season, throwing only one interception in 275 passes and none in his last 249 passes of the season.

O'Brien wants to make sure that Wilson stays healthy this season and has encouraged him to be more judicious if he has to scramble.

"He's got a good slide now," O'Brien said. "Obviously he worked on it in summer baseball. We don't want to discourage him from running. We don't want to discourage him from doing some of the things that are really his strengths.

"He has to do a little better job in the decision-making process of when to take a hit and when to get down and when to run out of bounds."

Baker's presence could ease the pressure on Wilson to run. Baker last played for N.C. State on Sept. 2, 2007, when he suffered cartilage damage in his right knee against Central Florida. Lingering problems sidelined him for N.C. State's last 24 games.

O'Brien plans to play Mike Glennon, a 6-6 backup quarterback and redshirt freshman, at least briefly, so that he can gain experience if Wilson is injured again. O'Brien hopes to play Glennon by the second quarter.

Wilson passed for 1,955 yards and 17 touchdowns last season and became the only freshman to be named the All-ACC first-team quarterback. In O'Brien's estimation, Wilson has the arm, legs and intelligence to lead the program to its first winning season since 2005.

O'Brien thought that Wilson was "hyper" last season against South Carolina, partly because it was his first college start but also because he's ultra-competitive. O'Brien is hoping that a year's experience will help Wilson control his anxiety.

"He's calm in the huddle, and he's not (hyper) in the locker room," O'Brien said. "Once he gets on the field, his competitiveness takes over, and he wants to do everything at warp speed.

"Sometimes you can't play, certainly at quarterback, at warp speed. You have to relax, and sometimes you've got to let things happen and evolve as they come about and take them as they come about. He's just so competitive that he wants to do so well and make every play.

"He's not perfect. He's not going to make every play. He's got to accept some things. He doesn't let a mistake affect the next play, but he has to relax a little more out there and play the game at normal speed, not Russell speed."

■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.