The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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lar season is complete, we release a final top 25, highlighted by the emergence of a star at cornerback. P 1. Cornerback David Amerson Amerson flashed his potential as a true freshman when he earned a starting job after just four games, but few could have forecasted the type of campaign Amerson enjoyed in 2011. The sophomore tied an ACC record set by former UNC cornerback Dre Bly in 1996 for most interceptions in a year with 11. He broke the school mark held by Art Rooney since 1938, and his total was four more than any other player in the country. BY MATT CARTER rior to the beginning of the season, The Wolfpacker predicted the top 25 most important players for NC State in 2011. Now that the regu- two stops for loss, one sack, two quar- terback hurries, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery, and also picked up a blocked field goal. Manning finished the year with 77 tack- les, including a team-high 11.5 for loss and 5.5 sacks. He was named second-team All- ACC, just missing out on first-team honors by four points. 3. Quarterback Mike Glennon For a first-year quarterback, Glennon, a redshirt junior, more than held his own. He completed 262 of 420 passes, a 62.4 per- cent completion rate, for 2,790 yards with 28 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions. Glennon saved his best for last, complet- ing 36 of 55 throws for 306 yards with five touchdowns and only one pick while lead- ing NC State to its greatest comeback win ever, a 56-41 triumph over Maryland after Cole was honorable mention All-ACC this year. 5. Defensive tackle Markus Kuhn Before the season, head coach Tom O'Brien labeled Kuhn a potential break- through performer, and the fifth-year senior lived up to expectations. Kuhn had to carry the load when his partner in the interior of the line, fifth-year senior J.R. Sweezy, went down in the pre- season with a foot fracture that sidelined him for the first four games of the year. Kuhn notched 20 stops, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, six quarterback hurries and a pass breakup in those four contests. Through eight games, Kuhn was leading the Pack with 3.5 sacks. He finished the season with 47 tackles, including 7.5 for loss and the 3.5 sacks. He also had 12 quar- terback hurries and a pair of pass breakups. Sophomore Cornerback David Amerson Heads Up The List Of NC State's Best In 2011 THE TOP 25 Amerson won the 2011 Jim Tatum Award, awarded by the Columbus Touch- down Club to the country's top secondary player, and was selected as a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, also given to the nation's top defensive back. Amerson finished the season with 51 tackles, including one for loss, plus the 11 interceptions, one of which he ran back for a score, and a team-high four pass break- ups. 2. Linebacker Terrell Manning Manning's impact may best be measured by the two games he did not play this sea- son. He missed the Cincinnati and Georgia Tech contests with a knee injury. The Pack gave up 89 points total against those squads and allowed 793 yards of total offense. Manning, a redshirt junior, really began to make strides late in the season. In the fi- nal five games, Manning posted 10 tackles for loss, four sacks, three fumble recover- ies, one forced fumble, one interception and three quarterback hurries. He was honored as the ACC Player of the Week for linebackers after his perfor- mance in the regular-season finale win over Maryland when he notched seven tackles, This season, Amerson set a school record and tied the ACC mark with 11 interceptions, a total that also led the nation in 2011. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN trailing 41-14 in the third quarter. Glennon's five touchdowns tied a school record, and when his rushing score in the contest is added, he tied Philip Rivers' mark for total touchdown responsibility in a game with six. Glennon was second in the ACC in touchdown passes, fourth in passing yards per game (232.5) and seventh in passing efficiency (134.9 rating). 4. Linebacker Audie Cole In a year when injuries wrecked havoc on the front seven, the fifth-year senior was the steadying force for the Wolfpack defense. Cole played and started all 12 games, leading the team with 122 total tackles, including 10 for loss and four sacks. Cole added eight quarterback hur- ries, two pass breakups and three forced fumbles. Cole was named a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, given to the nation's top linebacker. He led State in tackles in five games, and on six occasions he reached double figures in tackles, including back- to-back 16-hit efforts at Cincinnati Sept. 22 and versus Georgia Tech Oct. 1. It is the third consecutive season that Cole led NC State in tackles, and his 122 total this season is the most for a Wolf- packer since Stephen Tulloch had 149 in 2005. He had more sacks this year than his previ- ous three seasons combined (three). His tackles and hits for loss totals also repre- sented career highs. 6. Safety Earl Wolff Wolff, a redshirt junior, gave Cole a run for his money as the leading tackler on the team. Wolff finished with 107 tackles, including one for loss. He also added three pass breakups, three forced fumbles and a pair of interceptions. He had double-digit tackle totals in five separate games and led the squad with 10 hits at Wake Forest Sept. 10. Wolff was named honorable mention All-ACC for his efforts. 7. Center Camden Wentz The junior led NC State with 856 plays from the line of scrimmage in 2011. The fact that he did not give up a single sack, the only regular along the offensive line to do so, makes his play even more impres- sive. Wentz was nominated for the All-ACC team. 8. Running back James Washington The Pack needed to find a way to replace the expected feature back in the offense, sophomore Mustafa Greene, when Greene broke his foot in the spring and eventually JANUARY 2012 ■ 23