The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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JULY/AUGUST 2022 ■ 57 in fact, was from North Carolina and was a former assistant coach at State under Tom Reed. That didn't mean he felt all warm and fuzzy toward the team in Raleigh. In fact, before the two teams even left their hometowns, Willingham and his defensive coordinator, Kent Baer, ac- cused Amato and his offense of cheating because of a quick-substitution forma- tion the team had run all year in which four subs ran onto the field after the offense broke its huddle and four new players were in place before the ball was snapped. Willingham began lobbying the Con- ference USA officiating crew about the formation well before the game. Amato convinced ACC coordinator of football officials Tommy Hunt to publicly state that it was perfectly legal, noting that twice State had been flagged for hav- ing an illegal formation, and both times those flags were waved off. Still, the situation rubbed Amato the wrong way, especially when Willingham called into question the sportsmanship of the maneuver. The acrimony of the week spilled over into the game. In the first quarter, with the Irish seemingly headed for a touch- down, Burnette knocked Irish quar- terback Holiday out of the game with a separated shoulder. The Wolfpack scored three touch- downs in the second quarter, two rush- ing by McLendon and a 9-yard pass from Rivers to Cotchery. The first of those drives covered 96 hard-fought yards to give NC State a lead it never gave up. Notre Dame added another field goal after a goal-line stand, but the Wolfpack answered with a touchdown on a 7-yard pass from Rivers to All-ACC tight end Sean Berton. Notre Dame played sloppily all day, committing three turnovers and five personal fouls in a game that featured a combined 19 penalties. One of those penalties was late in the game, when Amato ran onto the field to argue that Notre Dame broken its huddle with 12 players, an infraction that wasn't called. It was exactly the violation Will- ingham and his staff had accused the Wolfpack of earlier in the week. The penalty gave Notre Dame a first- and-goal on the NC State 1-yard line. Amato took all of his grateful walk-ons and substitutes out of the game and put his first-team defense back on the field. It stuffed the Irish on four consecutive plays with less than a minute remain- ing and prevented them from entering the painted end zone, as it had done all day long. The final score, 28-6, didn't seem to indicate just how much the Wolfpack dominated the game. "We expected to win this game," Ber- ton said afterward. "But we didn't ex- pect it to be this easy." Twenty Years Later You can't talk to anyone affiliated with the program during those first four years of Amato's tenure without mentioning something about the Gator Bowl vic- tory 20 years ago. Terrence Holt says he doesn't remember a better day in his life. Johnson, the oft-injured defensive back who intercepted the three passes, carries memories of the game every day to his office at Oklahoma State, where he is the director of football operations. "It was such a satisfying win," he said. "Not for anything I did, but because that whole week, all we heard was that the game was about Notre Dame and some other team. No one talked about our de- fense at all." Rivers and Cotchery, now that they are finally done with their NFL careers after a combined 419 games, reminisce about the game and the 2003 Tangerine Bowl every time they connect in person or by phone. Burnette became a hero that after- noon, not only to his teammates but also to the current generation of Wolfpack players. He's now NC State's strength and conditioning coordinator, while for- mer teammate Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay is an assistant coach for the Wolfpack secondary. "We wanted to make one last state- ment," Burnette said of the final game of his career. "It seemed like we were the 'other team' all week. It was Notre Dame this, Notre Dame that. "We thought we had something to prove, not just against the Irish but to the nation. People have said we were a fraud, that we didn't play anybody, that we were a fluky team, even though we knew we were a good team. "What do they say now? We just smacked Notre Dame around. What do they say now?" Finally, McLendon has vivid and poi- gnant memories of his debut season in college football. He was one of a long line of NC State rookies to win ACC Freshman of the Year honors after rush- ing for 1,101 yards and 18 touchdowns. "It was a ride I'll never forget," he said. ■ Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. Philip Rivers was named Gator Bowl MVP after completing 23 of 37 pass attempts for 228 yards and 2 touchdowns against Notre Dame. PHOTO BY MIKE PITTMAN 2002 WOLFPACK FOOTBALL Coach: Chuck Amato Captains: Sean Berton, Terrence Holt, Dantonio Burnette, Shane Riggs Record: 11-3 (5-3 ACC) Final Rankings: AP, No. 12; Coaches, No. 11 Date Opponent Result Aug. 24 NEW MEXICO W, 34-13 Aug. 31 EAST TENNESSEE STATE W, 34-0 Sept. 7 at Navy W, 65-19 Sept. 14 WAKE FOREST W, 32-13 Sept. 21 at Texas Tech W, 51-48 (OT) Sept. 28 UMASS W, 56-24 Oct. 12 UNC W, 34-17 Oct. 19 DUKE W, 24-22 Oct. 24 at Clemson W, 38-6 Nov. 2 GEORGIA TECH L, 24-17 Nov. 9 at Maryland L, 24-21 Nov. 16 at Virginia L, 14-9 Nov. 23 FLORIDA STATE W, 17-7 Jan. 1 vs. Notre Dame* W, 28-6 * Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, Fla.