THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1920

TECH.

www.technicianonline.com

”—THURSDAY

JAN.

92003

A

.. 7 a Raleigh, North Carolina

NOTRE DOMINATION

N.C. STATE ENDS ITS RECORD~SETTTNG SEASONWITH A 28%: GATOR BOWLWTN OVER NOTRE DAME.Matt MiddletonAssistant Sports Editor

By the time the two met and embraced at the cen-ter of the field, the celebration was in full swing.Once again it was student besting teacher, and

the celebration of NC. State’s 17-7 win over Flori-da State swirled around Bobby Bowden and his for-mer assistant Chuck Amato as they met followingthe contest.A majority of Carter—Finely Stadium’s sold-out

crowd had spilled over onto the playing surface tocreate a mass of red. The goalpost in the north endzone was wavering on its last bit of support beforeit finally came crashing down with the help ofWolf—pack linebacker Roger Pollard and safety VictorStephens.After losing the last three games following a 9-0

start, the Pack (10—3, 5-3 ACC) broke that skid bydominating the Seminoles like they had never beendominated before in an ACC contest. Ironically,FSU clinched a 10th league title with the loss thanksto a Virginia pasting of Maryland. The Pack fin—ished the season with a strong statement to bowlscouts, probably earning a trip to the Peach or GatorBowl.“To beat Florida State for the second time in two

' years, it’s unbelievable,” said Amato. “I don’t meanthat in a negative sense to them because you knowhow I feel about Bobby Bowden and all those peo-ple down there.”

State outgained the Noles by 185 yards, doubledtheir time of possession, rushed for 191 yards andheld them without an offensive touchdown — allthings Amato attributed to the leadership of hissenior class.

. “What a great tribute to a senior class that we’regoing to truly miss,” said Amato. “Truly tremen-dous leadership. We always talk about seniors notletting us lose. It’s a ‘Bowdenism.’ The seniors would-n’t lgt us lose.” g

Initially, the first possession of the game suggest—ed nothing of the sort. FSU drove down the fieldbehind the arm and legs of sophomore quarter—back Adrian McPherson, who showed off tremen-dous speed and passing accuracy by easily directingthe Noles all the way to the Pack’s 16—yard line.Back-to-back sacks by seniors Dantonio Burnette

and Shawn Price forced the Noles to bring onChance Gwaltney to punt. Gwaltney bobbled a per—fect snap and had his attempt blocked by IerrickHall.The Pack took over and drove inside the 5-yard line

before stalling. Adam Kiker nailed a 21—yard field goalto open the scoring and give State the lead.After a second FSU punt, State again drove into

field goal range. Kiker lined up for a field goal onfourth-and—7, but this time Amato unveiled sometrickery that had holder Chris Young take the snapand scamper through a hole in the line.Young was then stripped of the ball by Allen Au-

gustin, and teammate Michael Boulware scooped upthe fumble and raced 84 yards to the end zone to giveFSU the lead in front of a stunned crowd.After the teams traded punts, the Pack refused to

go into the locker room without the lead. Startingat its own 22-yard line, Rivers threw a 27—yard passto Dovonte Edwards and then threw the key blockthat sprung running back Josh Brown all the waydown to the FSU’s 1-yard line.On the play, Rivers line up at wide receiver while

center Jed Paulsen snapped the ball directly toBrown, who then ran 60 yards up the left sideline.TA. McLendon ran in for the score on the next play

for his 16th touchdown ofthe season, tying a schooland ACC freshman record.

State’s 10-7 halftime lead would hold through thethird quarter before State drove 82 yards down tothe Noles> 1—yard line with Rivers picking apart theFSU defense that was content to sit back in cover-age rather than blitz.“Tth didn’t blitz hardly any because they thought

(Top)N.C. State players Austin Herbert (30), Shawn Price (56) and Brian Clark (19) celebrate the Gator Bowlvictory over Notre Dame. (Bottom) Jerricho Cotchery tries to extend for a touchdown against Notre Dame.(Top) Staffphoto by Matthew Huffman (Bottom) Staffphoto by Tim Lytv/nenko

they could get enough pressure with their frontfour,” said Rivers.But they didn’t. Rivers was sacked twice, but fin—

ished 18~for-27 for 171 yards and no interceptions.The shifting and use of motion by the offense lookednearly identical to the unit that Rivers led to a 34-28 State win a year ago.“Offensively, we did kind of what we did last year

by controlling the game,” said Rivers. “It was thesame game plan as last year, and we got our streakgoing against them now.”

“It was the same game plan with a lot of shiftsthat we felt would confuse the defense,” said Ed-wards.That drive would stall, however, after Rivers threw

incomplete to a Wide open Sean Berton on fourthand 1. But on the next play thg Pack’s defense came

up with another big play when tackle Terrance Mar—tin pressured McPherson in the endzone and was heldby Bobby Meeks, resulting in a safety.Ierricho Cotchery returned the free kick to FSU’s

31 and Adam Kiker would again connect on a fieldgoal to give State an eight—point lead with 7:36 left.The Noles next drive was thwarted by a Greg Gold—

en sack on third down, and Bowden elected to puntthe ball away with just under six minutes remain—ing.Freshman Manny Lawson got through FSU’s line

untouched and blocked Gwaltney’s offerng out ofthe end zone for another safety to make it 17—7.

“I’ve said this so many times: Ifwe don’t dominatethe kicking game, we’re going to lose,” said Amato.SEE BOWL‘MPAGE 2A

N.C. State fans packed the Jacksonville Landing for a pregame pep rally. Wolfpack fans made their presence known not only at the game, but before and after it.Staffphoto by Matthew Huffman

Thousands ofN. C. State support—ers made the trip to Jacksonville tosee the Pack win its first GatorBowl.

Steve ThompsonSports Editor

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —— When N.C.State was selected to participate in theGator Bowl, bowl president Rick Catlettsaid that the number of fans the Wolf-pack would bring to the game had noimpact on the committee’s decision.

It may in future years.Bolstered by a win over Florida State to

finish out the regular season and the al—lure of a New Year’s Day bowl againststoried Notre Dame, State fans came toJacksonville, Fla., in droves. Throughoutthe week, Wolfpack cheers consistentlydrowned out those coming from NotreDame fans. Pregame festivities, such as the

New Year’s Eve pep rally, were so heavi-ly attended that the crowd was packedshoulder to shoulder at the expansiveJacksonville Landing.

“It seemed like all of Raleigh had mi-grated to downtown Jacksonville for NewYear’s,” said senior David Meyer.Over 28,000 tickets were sold through

the university to State fans, and thou-sands more were purchased independ—ently. The massive Wolfpack showinggave State a virtual home field advan-tage in its eventual 28—6 win over theFighting Irish.

“1 went down there with around eightor nine people,” said sophomore BillyAskey. “There were tons of State fansdown there. It felt like a home game. It wasa good feeling to know so many otherfans made an effort.”Even Wolfpack players were impressed

with the fan turnout. With minutes re-maining in the game, State players be-

eAS SOON AS IWALKED OUT ITHOUGHT, ‘WOAH,ARE WEAT CARTER-FINLEY OR SOMETHING?’ IT WAS A SEA OF REDOUT THERE,AND WE OWE IT TO THE FANS FOR THAT...

gan to pay homage to the thousands whohad traveled to witness a monumentalvictory for the program — running upand down the sidelines in front of a seaof red.“As soon as I walked out I thought,

‘Woah, are we at Carter—Finely or some—thing?” said Jerricho Cotchery. “It wasa sea of red out there, and we owe it to thefans for that.”In addition to helping cheer the Pack

to victory, the fans also helped the econ—omy of Jacksonville in a big way.When Wolfpack Athletics Director Lee

Fowler said in late November that Statecould likely bring 25,000 fans to thegame, Gator Bowl officials commented

that such a turnout could increase theeconomic impact from around $30 mil-lion to $40 million. With well over 35,000fans at the game, State fans likely ex—ceeded Gator Bowl officials’ expectations.‘ Establishing a reputation as a team thattravels well will pay dividends for Statein the future. Iowa was likely selected forthe Orange Bowl not only because theHawkeyes had a great year, but also be-cause Orange Bowl officials knew Iowafans would travel well. Also, a lesserClemson team was selected for the Tan-gerine Bowl ahead of a much more de—serving Virginia team due in large part toClemson’s reputation for having travel-ing fans and Virginia’s reputation for not.

JERRICHO COTCHERY

Regardless of its future impact, however,the Wolfpack turnout in Jacksonville wasimpressive.A number of seasoned sportswriters commented that this was themost biased crowd they had seen at abowl game in some time.The fact that the Pack was able to pull

out the win over the Irish made the ex-perience that much greater for State fans.“Jacksonville was the best bowl expe-

rience in my lifetime as a Pack fan,” saidjunior Charlie Whitehorne. “The city ofJacksonville and the Gator Bowl reallyput on a show. Not only did I have a goodtime, I probably had the experience ofmy life.”

BOX SCORE

1 2 3 4 FINALN.C. STATE 0 21 O 7 28NOTRE DAME 3 O 3 O 6

N.C.STATE NOTRE DAMEFIRST DOWNS 21 23RUSH ED-YARDS 26-62 38-86PASSING YARDS 255 200SACKED-YARDS LOST 1-8 2-16RETURN YARDS 36 20PASSES 25-41-0 23-44-3PUNTS 5-43.2 4-30.3FUMBLES-LOST 1-0 0-0PENALTIES-YARDS . 10-87 9-90TIME OF POSSESSION 26:57 33:03

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST QUARTERNOTRE DAME - FG, NICHOLAS SETTA 23 YD, 10:48. NOTRE DAME 3—0SECOND QUARTERN.C. STATE -T.A. MCLENDON 2YD RUN (ADAM KIKER KICK), 0:57. N.C.STATE 7—3N.C. STATE —T.A. MCLENDON 3YD RUN (ADAM KIKER KICK),9:58. N.C.STATE 14—3N.C. STATE —JERRICHO COTCHERY 9YD PASS FROM PHILIP RIVERS(ADAM KIKER KICK), 13:44. N.C. STATE 21-3

THIRD QUARTERNOTRE DAME — FG, NICHOLAS SETTA 41 YD, 13:16. N.C. STATE 21-6

FOURTH QUARTERN.C. STATE - SEAN BERTON 7 YD PASS FROM PHILIP RIVERS (ADAM KIK-ER KICK), 4119. N.C. STATE 28-6

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING — N.C. State —Philip Rivers 7—22, Josh Brown 7—18,T.A. McLen—don 11—18, Sean Berton 1—4. Notre Dame—Ryan Grant 21-68, Rashon Pow—ers—Neal 5-16, Mike McNair 4—8, Arnaz Battle 2—6, Carlyle Holiday 2—3, PatDillingham 4—MINUS 15.PASSING N.C. State —Phi|ip Rivers 23-37—228- 0, Bryan Peterson 2—3-27- 0, —Team 0-1-0— 0. Notre Dame —Pat Dillingham 19—37—166— 3. CarlyleHoliday 3622— 0.Joey Hildbold 1—1—12- 0.RECEIVING — N.C. State —Jerricho Cotchery 10—127, Sean Berton 5—40,Joseph Gray 1—24, Sterling Hicks 1—19, Bryan Peterson 2—16,T.A. McLen—don 3—16, Dovonte Edwards 3-13. Notre Dame —Arnaz Battle 10-84, OmarJenkins 3-42,Jared Clark 4—41, Maurice Stovall 3-25, Ronnie Rodamer 1-5, Gary Godsey 1—5, Rhema lVchnight 1—minus 2.A—73,491

T.A. McLendon was stifled by the Notre Dame defense for most of the game,though he was able to score two touchdowns for the Pack.Staffphoto by Tim Lytvinenko

WINCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A

Special section designed by Mark McLawhornbased on a concept by Thushan AmarasiriwardenaCaptions by Jerry Moore and Steve Thompson

“We blocked two punts and got a piece of thethird. That was big.”FSU gained 65 of its 177 total yards on a

semi—meaningless final drive. State finishedwith 40:26 of possession time compared to19:34 for FSU, something that hurt State dur—ing its losing streak.

3

“To sit on the sidelines like that is so frus-trating,” said Berton. “We had to do it in theGeorgia Tech game; it frustrated the livingdaylights out of us and made us feel morepressured.”With the victory, the Pack now owns three

of the five ACC losses the Noles have sufferedand likely assured itself of landing its mostlucrative bowl bid under Amato.A decision about the bowl will likely not be

i

made until next Monday, according to PeachBowl representative Chuck Edwards.Edwards said the committee cannot decide

on a team until all teams have completed theirgames. Maryland and Virginia, the Pack’s con-tenders for the two bowl games, each haveone game remaining.

“It’s out of our hands now, all we can do issit back on the couch, have a beer and watchESPN,” said Berton.

GAME-BY—GAME REPORT

N.c. STATE 34NEW MEXICO 14

Result

RIVERSI276)MCLENDON(79)

Leading Passer (yards)Leading Rusher (yards)Leading Receiver (yards) COTCHERY (108) EDWARDS (53) PETERSON (152) COTCHERY (90) COTC

Result N.C. STATE 24 N.C. STATE 38 GA.TECH 24 MARYLAND 24 VIRGDUKE227: . CLEMSON6 ' NCTAT "

RIVERS(364)MCLENDON(50)

Leading PasserLeading Rusher

N.C. STATE 34ETSU0

RIVERS(145)GOLD'E"N"”‘(66)

RIVERS 529) _,,, : _;MCLENDON<178)MCLENDON149)

N.C. STATE 65 N.C. STATE 32NAV¥.;_1972¢2,

RIVERS (.10) RIVEGOLDEN(88) GOLDEN(53)

BRova<70)

N.C. STATE 51TEXA TECH 48 UMASS;24

MCLENDON(75)

// 3A

N.C. STATE 34UNC 1

N.C. STATE 56

RS (1,01) 1 . RIVER (170)MCLENDON (150) MCLENDON (117) MCLENDON (164)

HERY (145) PETERSON (61) HICKS (63)

INIA 14 N.C. STATE 17 N.C. STATE 24

MCLENDON (114) RIVERS (22)Leading Receiver COTCH ERY (174) WILLIAMS (29) COTCH ERY (129) COTCH ERY (144) COTCH ERY (108) EDWARDS (52) COTCH ERY (127)

Rushing GP Att Gain Loss Net Avg TD Long Avg/G Kick returns No. Yds Avg TD LongT.A. McLendon 13 245 1200 99 1101 4.5 18 65 84.7 Gregory Golden 16 359 22.4 0 41Josh Brown 14 123 540 57 483 3.9 2 60 34.5 Lamont Reid 14 424 30.3 2 97Gregory Golden 13 60 280 15 265 4.4 3 26 20.4

Scoring TD FGs XP PointsPassing GP Effic Att—Cmp-Int Pct Yds TD Lng Avg/G T.A. McLendon 18 0 0 108Philip Rivers 14 141.07 418-262—10 62.7 3353 20 88 239.5 Philip Rivers 10 0 O 60Jay Davis 5 75.75 19-9-1 47.4 88 0 21 17.6 Austin Herbert O 5 38 53Bryan Peterson 14 53.35 8-2-0 25.0 27 0 24 1.9 Jerricho Cotchery 8 0 0 48

Bryan Peterson 6 0 0 36Receiving GP No. Yds Avg TD Long Avg/GJerricho Cotchery 14 67 1192 17.8 7 72 85.1 Field goals FGlVl-A Pct 01-19 20—29 30-39 40—49 50+ Lg BlkBryan Peterson 14 42 559 13.3 6 88 39.9 Austin Herbert 5-9 55.6 0—0 3-3 1-4 1—1 0—1 43 2T.A. McLendon 13 42 354 8.4 O 25 27.2 Adam Kiker 5-7 71.4 0-0 3—4 1-2 1-1 0-0 44 0Sterling Hicks 14 37 510 13.8 2 53 36.4Dovonte Edwards 12 26 289 11.1 1 29 24.1 Punting No. Yds Avg Long TB F0 120 Blk

Austin Herbert 61 2268 37.2 51 4 3 13 0Total Offense G Plays Rush Pass Total Avg/GPhilip Rivers 14 475 100 3353 3453 246.6 Defensive leaders GP Solo Ast Total TFL/Yds Sacks-YdsT.A.McLendon 13 245 1101 O 1101 84.7 Dantonio Burnette 13 77 59 136 17-64 9-48Josh Brown 14 123 483 O 483 34.5 Andre Maddox 14 91 30 121 5—39 4-37

Pat Thomas 14 56 47 103 11—39 3—21Terrence Holt 14 67 33 100 2-9 1—8

Interceptions No. Yds Avg TD Long EAughtry-Lindsay 14 45 39 84 3—15 1—12Rod Johnson 4 67 16.8 0 36Terrence Holt 3 12 4.0 0 12Marcus Hudson 3 5 1.7 o 5

o N.C. State packed Alltel Stadium for the Toyota Gator Bowl. Photo courtesy Michael Pittman

USA TODAY/ESPN

TOP 25 COACHES’ POLL

1.0hio State (61) (14—0) 1,525 22.MIami Fla. (12-1) 1,451 13.Georgia (13—1) 1,378 44.Southern Cal. (11—2) 1,362 55.0klahoma (12-2) 1,244 86.Kansas State (11-2) (1,230 67.Texas (11—2) 1,356 98.Iowa(11—2) 1,105 39.Michigan (10-3) 1,011 1110.Washington State (10—3) 932 711.N.C. State (ll-3) 876 1712.Boise State (12-1) 808 1513.Maryland (11—3) 803 1814.Virginia Tech (10—4) 644 1915.Penn State (9—4) 619 1016.Auburn (9—4) 579 2217.Notre Dame (10-3) 525 1218.Pittsburgh (9-4) 486 2319.Marshall (11-2) 333 2420.West Virginia (9—4) 297 1321.Colorado (9—5) 291 1422.Texas Christian (10—2) 274 N R23.Florida State (9-5) 219 1624.Florida (8-5) 145 2025.Virginia (9-5) 141 NR

DROPPED OUTNo.21 Colorado St, No.25 LSU

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTESBoston College 129, Colorado State 100, Texas Tech 60, South Florida28, LSU 25, Fresno State 19, Oklahoma State 17, Hawaii 8, Minnesota6, Air Force 4, Wisconsin 4, Bowling Green 2, North Texas 2,Tennessee2, UCLA 1

AWARDS RECEIVED BY N.C. STATE PLAYERSSEAN BERTONFirst—team All ACC

DANTONIO BURNETTEFirst-team All ACCThird—team All American (College Football News)Fourth-team All American (Sporting News)Four-time ACC Defensive Lineman of the WeekGoverners’ Award (team MVP)

9 CHRIS COLMERSecond—team All ACCOne-time ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week

JERRICHO COTCHERYFirst-team All ACC

TERRENCE HOLTFirst-team All ACCFirst—team All American (Sporting News)Second-team All American (College Football News, CNN/SI)Mosi Tatupu National Specialist of the Year Award finalistfin Thorpe Award semifinalistThree-time ACC Defensive Back of the Week

T.A. MCLENDONFirst-team All ACCACC Rookie of the YearFirst-team freshman All American (Football Writers Associa-tion, Sporting News)Four-time ACC Rookie of the WeekOne—time ACC Offensive Back of the Week

SHAWN PRICETwo-time ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week

LAMONT REIDOne—time ACC Special Teams Player of the Week

SHANE RIGGSHonorable-mention All ACC

PHILIP RIVERSGator Bowl MVPSecond-team All ACCTwo-time ACC Offensive Back of the WeekCNN/SI National Player of the WeekDavey O’Brien Award semifinalist

‘AP TOP 25 POLL

1.0hi0 State (71) (140) 1,775 22.Miami Fla. (12-1) 1,693 13.Georgia (13—1) 1,598 44.Southern Cal. (ll-2) 1,590 55.0klahoma (122) 1,476 86.Texas (11—2) 1,363 97.|<ansas State (112) 1,356 68.Iowa (11-2) 1,334 39.Michigan (10—3) 1,182 1210.Washington State (10~3) 1,085 711.Alabama (10-3) 988 1312.N.C. State (11—3) 943 1713.Maryland (11-3) 844 2014.Auburn (9—4) 821 1915.Boise State (12—1) 692 1816.Penn State (9—4) 675 1017.Notre Dame (10—3) 657 1118.Virginia Tech (10~4) 544 2119.Pittsburgh (9-4) 520 2420.Colorado (9—5) 307 1421.FIOrIda State (9-5) 291 1622.Virginia (9—5) 250 N R23.Texas Christian (10-2) 231 N R24.Marshall (11-2) 201 NR25.West Virginia (9—4) 195 15

DROPPED OUTNo.22 Florida, No.23 Colorado St, No.25 Arkansas

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTESFlorida 120, Texas Tech 80, Oklahoma State 73, Boston College 52,Colorado State 44, LSU 38, South Florida 27, Wisconsin 15, Minneso-ta 4, Arkansas 3, Air Force 2, Hawaii 2, Purdue 2, Fresno State 1,North Texas 1

6‘

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE

YEAR: DANTONIO BURNETTE

Matt MiddletonAssistant Sports Editor

The N.C. State defense ended the yearby not allowing a single touchdown toboth Florida State and Notre Dame. Itwas the team’s best defensive unit in quitesome time, and State was easily rankedas the top defensive team in the confer-ence statistics.Standing at the forefront of that squad

was Dantonio Burnette, the man whohad always been told he was too shortto succeed athletically.Instead, Burnette will leave the Wolf—

pack program as the school’s second-leading career tackler behind only LevarFisher, after filling the very shoes of Fish—er to assume the leadership role of thePack’s young linebacking corps.“Thunder Dan” finished 2002 as a first-

team All—ACC selection, runner—up forACC defensiVe player of the year and wasthe four-time ACC defensive lineman ofthe week.With a penchant for delivering thun-

derous hits on unfortunate opposingplayers, he delivered perhaps his mostmemorable hit in his final game as aWolfpacker.Burnette knocked Notre Dame starting

quarterback Carlyle Holiday out of thegame with a vicious one-on—one blowthat left the Fighting Irish total offenseleader down on the field.In Burnette’s next stop he will once

again have to prove his doubters wrong,this time on football’s grandest stage: theNational Football League.“They say he’s too short, but they

should take a look at him,” said his de~

Dantonio Burnette’s hit on CarlyleHoliday delivered an early message.Photo courtesy Michael Pittman

fensive—minded head coach Chuck Am-ato. “You can’t measure heart.”And the heart of the 5—foot-10-inch

Burnette was a major reason the 2002N.C. State team was the most prolificgroup of winners in school history.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE

YEAR:JERR|CHO COTCHERY

Jerricho Cotchery caught 10 passes for 127 yards against Notre Dame.Staffphoto by 77m Lytv/nenko

Steve ThompsonSports Editor

When the national media spoke of theN.C. State offense, the names of PhilipRivers and T.A. McLendon were the mostcommonly heard. Perhaps the most vi—tal cog in the Wolfpack’s offense this year,however, was junior wideout JerrichoCotchery.Cotchery capped an already spectac—

ular season with a dominating per-formance against the vaunted NotreDame secondary. He caught 10 passesfor 127 yards against the Fighting Irish,adjusting to balls thrown high, low, infront or behind.But that was nothing new for Cotchery.

He entered the season playing secondfiddle to senior Bryan Peterson, butquickly grew into River’s No. 1 target as

Peterson was hobbled by injury. His surehands and propensity to make the bigcatch drew the attention of opposing de—fenses as the season went along, but eventhis did not slow him down.He finished the season leading State in

receiving for four of the last five games.Overall, he was State’s receiving leadereight times in the 13 games. In additionto the Notre Dame contest, Cotcheryalso recorded more than 10 catchesagainst Maryland.Cotchery’s 67 receptions and 1,192 re—

ceiving yards set Wolfpack records for ajunior. Only Torry Holt’s 1998 seasontopped the performance delivered byCotchery this year. He also became onlythe third Wolfpack receiver to top the1,000—yard mark in a season, joining Holtand Koren Robinson in that exclusivelist. His accomplishments earned himfirst-team All—ACC honors.

UNSUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR:SEAN BERTON

Steve ThompsonSports Editor

When Sean Berton’s name was calledduring last year’s Tangerine Bowl, mostState fans had never heard of him. Thisyear, however, Berton proved himself tobe a vital contributor to the State offense.Berton began his career at West Vir-

ginia, establishing himself as the Moun—taineers’ starting tight end during the2000 season. When head coach DonNehlen left following the 2000 season,Berton transferred to N.C. State.During this season, Berton played as a

jack—of-all-trades for the Pack, playingtight end, fullback and wideout. Behindhis blocking, the N.C. State running gameflourished. Berton was a co-winner ofthe Jim Ritcher award, given to State’s

most valuable offensive lineman.When he missed the Duke game due

to injury, State’s running game musteredonly 63 yards. Many pointed to Berton’sabsence as being a key reason for thatdecline.In addition to blocking, Berton also

was a threat in the passing game. He wasthe sixth-leading receiver on the team,catching 25 passes for 215 yards and twotouchdowns. His final touchdown of theseason, a seven-yard strike from PhilipRivers in the Gator Bowl, closed thebooks on State’s season.While Berton’s name didn’t get the no-

toriety that many offensive stars got, hewas highly respected within the league.He was selected to the first—team All ACCteam. Sean Berton celebrates with the N.C. State fans after scoring State’s final

touchdown against Notre Dame.Staffphoto by Matt Huffman

PLAY OFTHEYEAR:T.A. MCLENDON

Matt MiddletonAssistant Sports Editor

The game came down to a last-secondfield goal. And it shouldn’t have. It wentinto overtime. And it shouldn’t have.But those were probably the last things

on T.A. McLendon’s mind Saturday af-ternoon on Sept. 21 in Lubbock, Texas,when he took a third—down pitch fromPhilip Rivers, turned up field and dovefor the left corner of the end zone toscore his fifth and final touchdown.The game—winning touchdown. The

one that tied Stan Fritts’ 30-year—oldschool record. And the one that pre-served N.C. State’s perfect record, whichwould remain intact for well over amonth.With its team up 38-17 entering the

fourth quarter, few Pack fans would be-lieve that Texas Tech would come all theway back to actually have a chance towin the game with just a 39—yard fieldgoal.But Robert Treece’s kick sailed just

wide and the game went into overtime,setting the stage for McLendon’s dra-matic heroics.McLendon, who would go on to set

the school record for touchdowns in aseason ( 18) as a true freshman, rushedfor the last eight of his 150 yards on atoss sweep to the short side of the field,just breaking the pylon in front of theraucous Red Raider crowd before beingmobbed by his teammates.

State would go on to win its next fourgames, but no play was more instru-mental in this record~breaking seasonthan McLendon’s eight—yard scamper. Aloss would have been devastating afterholding such a large lead, but an emo-tional overtime win carried the team’smomentum even further down the road. T.A McLendon’s run vs.Texas Tech provided early season momentum a.» N.C. State. Staffphoto by Matt Huffman

FUTURE

LOOKS BRIGHT

Even while theplayers were cele—brating their 28-6Gator Bowl winover Notre Dame,manywere able tosee how big of awin it would befor the future ofthe program.Seniors Sean

Berton and Dan-tonio Burnette

both commented on how the programwill be able to build off this Win. Sopho-more cornerback Marcus Hudson evenstated that this win would catapult theteam to a run at the national champi—onship.What was once a pipe dream for N.C.

State fans is now within reach.Next year, the Pack returns the ma-

jority of its skill players on offense, andan impressively talented, if young, de-fense should be able to make up for themassive defensive losses. An early sea-son challenge against national champi-on Ohio State could set the stage for a runat the national crown. Even if the Packloses in Columbus, Ohio, State will havethe firepower to contend in the ACC.Key returnees for State include quar-

terback Philip Rivers, running back T.A.McLendon and wideout Jerricho Cotch-ery. In addition, starting offensive line—men Chris Colmer, Jed Paulsen and SeanLocklear all return, and the entire re-ceiving corps minus Bryan Peterson alsoreturns.Longtime State recruit Tramain Hall

and partial qualifier Richard Washing-ton will both be skillful additions to nextyear’s offense. The Pack has also beenhighly successful on the recruiting trail,receiving oral commitments from run—ning back Darrell Blackman and havingoffensive linemen Yomi Ojo and Der-rick Morris. Rivers will also be able tomentor incoming quarterback MarcusStone, who was Pennsylvania’s Player ofthe Year (beating out Blackman).State will be hit hardest on defense,

where it will lose its entire defensive linein addition to first-team All ACC selec-tions Terrence Holt and Dantonio Bur-nette. A number ofplayers will be askedto step into starting roles ——~ SheldonLewin, Dwayne Herndon, Chip Crossand Manny Lawson. Terrence Chapmancould also help the defensive line as hereturns from suspension.State does'return most of its defensive

backfield, and the Pack will welcome A].Davis back from his broken leg.

State’s recruiting has also paid manydividends on the defensive side, and anumber of players should see immedi-ate playing time. The gem of this re—cruiting class thus far is defensiveendMario Williams, who was with State forthe Gator Bowl. The 6-foot-5-inch, 250-pound linebacker announced that hewas coming to State to win a nationalchampionship.Other recruiting gains include De-

marcus Tyler, Stephen Tulloch, RaymondBrooks, LeRue Rumph, Garland Heathand Ernest Jones. State is still in the mixfor many other top-rated recruits.With all its talent, State will be a ma-

jor player in the much—improved ACC.State will be challenged by a Marylandteam that has 21 wins in the last twoyears, a Virginia team that returns near-ly all of its players off this year’s 9-5squad and a Florida State team ready to 'return to its winning ways. The Pack willhave the luxury ofplaying Maryland andVirginia at home.Out of the conference, State will face

Texas Tech, Connecticut and WesternCarolina at home, in addition to thegame against the Buckeyes. Ifa few ques-tion marks can fall into place (like thisyear’s running back and offensive linequestions did), then State could easilymake a run at both the ACC and na-tional titles.

SteveThompson

Steve’s Early Preseason ACC picks:1. N.C. State2. Maryland3. Virginia4. Florida State5. Georgia Tech6. Clemson7. Wake Forest8. Duke9. North Carolina

Steve Thompson’s columns run everyThursday. He can be reached at 515—24‘1or sbthomps@unity. ncsu.edu.

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