The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/81131
■ PACK PERSPECTIVE Secondary Strength be as good as the one that led the nation in total defense in 2004, allowing just 221.4 yards and 19.7 points per game. But that team had a losing record. Sometimes a team's performance doesn't reflect its statistics, and vice versa. However, one of the primary reasons for P the optimism that O'Brien and his staff can take from the recently concluded spring practice and the annual Kay Yow Spring Game at Carter-Finley Stadium is that, ex- cept for lack of experience and depth at linebacker, he has the components of an exceptionally strong defense to go with a productive offense headed by a veteran quarterback and good special teams. Those were all unknowns going into last season, when all anyone could talk about was the Wolfpack's quarterback situation. That's not an issue now with fifth-year se- nior Mike Glennon firmly and confidently under center. If O'Brien and his team — which has won back-to-back postseason bowls and participated in the postseason three of the last four years — can survive its an- nual fight with injuries the Wolfpack has a chance to be back where it was at the end of the 2010 season: a challenger for the Atlantic Division's berth in the ACC Championship game. "We are going into camp with a lot of confidence," said cornerback David Amer- son, whose All-American performance as a sophomore was a key factor in the Wolf- pack's successful 8-5 season and its victory over West Virginia in the Belk Bowl. Amerson's gaudy total of 13 intercep- tions was six more than any other defensive player in the nation, earning him first-team Walter Camp All-America honors, a finalist spot for the Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back and more accolades than any Pack defensive player since per- haps Mario Williams. Defensive confidence can be a tricky thing. Chuck Amato knew he was going to have a great defense in 2004, with first- round draft picks Williams and Manny Lawson on the defensive front. But that team had little offensive depth and, coming off the Philip Rivers era, a severe lack of offensive confidence. As good as the defense was, it couldn't score enough points to give the Wolfpack a winning record. That was just as frustrat- 78 ■ THE WOLFPACKER which looks ready for a big season in 2012. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN ing as previous years when the offense, with Rivers and Jerricho Cotchery, couldn't score enough points to offset a lack of de- fensive depth and experience. The only time the Pack really managed to be well-rounded was in the record- breaking 2002 season, when the defense was sneakily better than the offense and the Pack finished with a school-record 11 victories, including a beatdown of Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl. The 2012 defense, however, will have something the Pack hasn't had in more than two decades — a secondary that can cover the entire field like a rolled-out tarp. Amer- son is easily the Wolfpack's most decorated defensive back since strong safety Jesse Campbell. As a junior in 1990, Campbell earned All-America honors for his play in the sec- ondary and was one of the ACC's most feared defenders. What made him so good his final two seasons, however, is the same thing that will determine just how good Amerson is this year, when teams will nat- urally avoid throwing in his direction: his supporting cast. Campbell was the headhunter in the Cornerback David Amerson grabbed an inter- ception in the spring game, but he is not the only playmaker in the Wolfpack secondary, BY TIM PEELER erhaps the defense that head coach Tom O'Brien puts on the field this fall won't secondary, but fellow safety Fernandus "Snake" Vinson was similarly tough. And cornerbacks Sebastian Savage and Joe Johnson were good lock-down corners who protected the edges. NC State was ranked in the top 10 na- tionally in points and total offense allowed that season and managed to shut down its primary opposition in the All-American Bowl, a senior quarterback from Southern Mississippi named Brett Favre. Amerson, too, has a veteran supporting cast, with redshirt senior C.J. Wilson at the other corner and redshirt senior Earl Wolff and senior Brandon Bishop at the two safeties. They can't completely make up for the lack of depth and experience that worried O'Brien during the spring, but they can certainly be a good safety net while redshirt senior linebacker Sterling Lucas helps shepherd young players such as sophomores Rodman Noel, Michael Peek and Brandon Pittman. "The linebackers we have are athletic," Amerson said. "They've just got to get into the scheme of the defense and get confident." Fortunately, the Wolfpack has a cou- ple of assistants on defense who have a proven track record of handling just such transitions, with newly named associate head coach for defense and linebackers Jon Tenuta and defensive coordinator Mike Archer. Wolff showed in the spring game that he will also have to be reckoned with, in- tercepting a Glennon pass and returning it 46 yards for a touchdown. Amerson also chimed with an interception of his own. "Those kids in the secondary have really grown up a lot," O'Brien said at the conclu- sion of spring practice. "That have showed that in a lot of ways." It wasn't that long ago that O'Brien was peppered with questions about how his veteran linebacking corps with Audie Cole and Terrell Manning was going to have to protect his green secondary. That changed quickly during the course of last season, when Amerson became a young superstar. The defense will have most of August to get the linebackers up to speed. When the season starts with the Wolfpack's appear- ance against Tennessee in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game, it will be the secondary's chance to return the favor by giving the line- backers a little time to perfect their trade. ■ You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.