Tony Haynes: Pat the Playmaker
Thomas steps up when it counts most.
Nov. 12, 2003
Tony Haynes Archive
By Tony Haynes
Maybe Pat Thomas is just a lucky, a guy who happens to be in the right place at the right time when it counts most. But perhaps it's more than just a coincidence that NC State's junior linebacker has made some of the most important plays in a Wolfpack season that again looks promising. In fact, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that Thomas is one of the biggest reasons the Pack has resurrected itself to win four games in a row, a streak that has brought this team right back into the thick of the ACC race.
If you go back and examine the waning moments of NC State's last four games, you'll find Pat Thomas making timely plays that ultimately produced victories. It all started in a non-conference contest against Connecticut back on the 11th of October. With the game tied at 10-10 early in the third quarter, a blitzing Thomas blindsides Huskies quarter back Dan Orlovsky, forcing a fumble that is returned for a touchdown by Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay. Fast forward to the fourth quarter with the game tied again. Aughtry-Lindsay intercepts Orlovsky and returns the ball 56 yards for the winning points. And who causes the wayward throw? Pat "The Playmaker" Thomas had hit the quarterback just as he released the ball.
Five nights later, Thomas was at it again in a Thursday evening clash against Clemson. In just two plays late in the fourth quarter, he almost single-handedly prevented the Tigers from scoring what would have potentially been the winning points in a game that NC State went on to capture 17-15.
With less than five minutes to play, Thomas snuffed out Clemson's last drive when he sacked the quarterback on second down before tipping a third down pass that was intercepted by cornerback Dovonte Edwards.
The very next week, the Wolfpack was involved in yet another tight battle with Duke when Thomas was Johnny on the spot again. With the Blue Devils trying to mount a late rally, Thomas dumped quarterback Adam Smith, forcing a field goal instead of a touchdown that could have pulled Duke closer. The Pack went on to prevail 28-21.
And finally, there was that classic battle with Virginia back on November first. On a night when neither defense could get key stops, Thomas stepped up and sacked quarterback Matt Schaub with just over two minutes left, a play that would force a Virginia punt that preceded the Wolfpack's game-winning drive.
Now with a huge game against Florida State looming this weekend, the Miami native will be looking to keep his uncanny streak of big, clutch plays alive.
"Coming into this year, I wanted to make the big plays and the big stops," Thomas said. "I wanted to fill up the stat sheet. I don't think I've done everything that I've wanted to do, but I think I've had a great season so far."
He's been especially great at crunch time.
Offensive Explosion: Even though it has been missing several key players most of the season, the 2003 NC State offense led by quarterback Philip Rivers could go down as the most productive unit in school history. Having already scored 365 points in 10 games, the Wolfpack is averaging 36.5 points per game, a figure that is currently ahead of the school mark set by the 1972 squad, which averaged 34.1 points per contest.
Because last year's team played in a total of 14 games, its school record of 5,485 total yards probably won't be eclipsed anytime soon. Interestingly, however, this Wolfpack squad is actually averaging 6.4 yards per play, which, if it holds up, will also be a new school record (the 1998 team averaged 6.0 yards per play).
And depending upon what happens the rest of the way, a new record for total offense is also within reach this season. The 1998 offense, paced by Jamie Barnette and Torry Holt, averaged 442.8 yards per contest, an impressive figure that has held up through the Rivers era. With two and probably three games remaining, the 2003 unit is averaging 435 yards per game, meaning it is certainly within striking distance of the school mark.
With 3,401 passing yards already, this year's team is just 67 yards shy of eclipsing the record set in 14 games last season.
In the latest ACC statistics, the Wolfpack leads the league in total offense, pass offense and scoring offense.
Trying to mirror Noles
By NED BARNETT, Staff Writer
N.C. State football fans embrace Chuck Amato as one of their own. He played for N.C. State. He was an assistant to Lou Holtz and the late Bo Rein. He was a pal of Jim Valvano.
But Amato spent a lot more of his life on a different campus, absorbing a different culture, developing other loyalties. He's an alumnus of N.C. State, but he's also a product of Florida State, the school at which he coached for 18 years under Bobby Bowden.
Since he took over the N.C. State football program in 2000, Amato has worked to add a Seminole streak to the Wolfpack. He arrived in Raleigh after FSU's 12-0 national championship season and wasn't shy about declaring his new team too fat, too slow and too easily intimidated. He wondered whether any State players could start for the Seminoles.
Manny Diaz, an FSU graduate and N.C. State linebackers coach who came north with Amato, said the head coach changed schools but not approaches.
"When we came here, [FSU] was the industry standard," Diaz said. "There were all kinds of ways to be successful, but that was the way Chuck knew the best."
Amato brought in a former Florida State nose guard, Todd Stroud, as strength and conditioning coach. He made N.C. State players leaner.
Amato took it upon himself to make them meaner. Then he set out for Florida with a goal of pulling 10 recruits a year out of the mother lode of talent he once mined for Florida State.
Four years later, is N.C. State starting to look like Florida State? Amato weighed the question like a man who would never say "yes."
"There aren't many teams in America that look like that team we're going to face Saturday," he said.
He set Florida State as an ultimate goal that would motivate the Wolfpack for years. He didn't expect to start with a 2-1 record against that ideal. After State's rocky start this season, another win over FSU (8-2, 6-1 ACC) could put the Wolfpack (7-3, 4-2) in position to gain a share of the ACC championship.
Even if the Wolfpack has gotten past the Seminoles on given days, Amato said his program still trails. The missing element, he said, is depth. FSU can stockpile talent by redshirting freshmen, while State has had to use its freshmen to patch gaps.
N.C. State may not be Florida State's mirror image yet, but the similarity is growing. When the Seminoles line up against the Wolfpack in Tallahassee, Fla., they'll see plenty that they recognize. They'll see speed at all positions. They'll see Floridians. And they'll see a team that expects to win in Doak Campbell Stadium.
Amato brought a new attitude, an emphasis on conditioning and swarming defense from FSU, but what he has mostly brought are players. In 1999, the Wolfpack roster listed two from the Sunshine State. This year, the roster included 30 Floridians.
Of 18 newcomers to the program, 10 are from Florida.
Chris Demarest, N.C. State's safeties coach who also came to Raleigh with Amato, said the Florida influx has helped N.C. State feel it can match the ACC's best program.
"When you played Florida State, there was the intimidation factor. They played with a swagger and had a deep belief they were going to win," Demarest said. "Now they're looking across the field [at N.C. State players] and saying, 'I played him in high school, and his school beat mine.' Our guys feel like, 'You can't beat me.' It's an attitude that's rubbing off even on the kids who aren't from Florida."
For N.C. State's Floridians, playing FSU is a special motivation. N.C. State fans consider North Carolina their archrival, but the Florida players see Florida State in that role. "It's my personal rivalry," said State's Pat Thomas, a junior linebacker out of Miami who has never lost to FSU.
The rivalry is especially intense for those whom FSU passed over.
"A lot of kids who are not recruited play at higher level when they play against [FSU]," Demarest said. "They want to show, 'This is the kind of player I am.' "
Four years into lifting State to the standards he learned at FSU, Amato was asked whether State has any players who could start at FSU now. He smiled and said, "A couple, a couple."
Diaz said the players themselves put the number higher.
"The most important thing is a lot of kids believe they could start with anybody," Diaz said. "You can't underestimate the importance of attitude. When our kids look across at Florida State, there's going to be respect, but there's not going to be an ounce of fear."
Thomas steps up when it counts most.
Nov. 12, 2003
Tony Haynes Archive
By Tony Haynes
Maybe Pat Thomas is just a lucky, a guy who happens to be in the right place at the right time when it counts most. But perhaps it's more than just a coincidence that NC State's junior linebacker has made some of the most important plays in a Wolfpack season that again looks promising. In fact, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that Thomas is one of the biggest reasons the Pack has resurrected itself to win four games in a row, a streak that has brought this team right back into the thick of the ACC race.
If you go back and examine the waning moments of NC State's last four games, you'll find Pat Thomas making timely plays that ultimately produced victories. It all started in a non-conference contest against Connecticut back on the 11th of October. With the game tied at 10-10 early in the third quarter, a blitzing Thomas blindsides Huskies quarter back Dan Orlovsky, forcing a fumble that is returned for a touchdown by Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay. Fast forward to the fourth quarter with the game tied again. Aughtry-Lindsay intercepts Orlovsky and returns the ball 56 yards for the winning points. And who causes the wayward throw? Pat "The Playmaker" Thomas had hit the quarterback just as he released the ball.
Five nights later, Thomas was at it again in a Thursday evening clash against Clemson. In just two plays late in the fourth quarter, he almost single-handedly prevented the Tigers from scoring what would have potentially been the winning points in a game that NC State went on to capture 17-15.
With less than five minutes to play, Thomas snuffed out Clemson's last drive when he sacked the quarterback on second down before tipping a third down pass that was intercepted by cornerback Dovonte Edwards.
The very next week, the Wolfpack was involved in yet another tight battle with Duke when Thomas was Johnny on the spot again. With the Blue Devils trying to mount a late rally, Thomas dumped quarterback Adam Smith, forcing a field goal instead of a touchdown that could have pulled Duke closer. The Pack went on to prevail 28-21.
And finally, there was that classic battle with Virginia back on November first. On a night when neither defense could get key stops, Thomas stepped up and sacked quarterback Matt Schaub with just over two minutes left, a play that would force a Virginia punt that preceded the Wolfpack's game-winning drive.
Now with a huge game against Florida State looming this weekend, the Miami native will be looking to keep his uncanny streak of big, clutch plays alive.
"Coming into this year, I wanted to make the big plays and the big stops," Thomas said. "I wanted to fill up the stat sheet. I don't think I've done everything that I've wanted to do, but I think I've had a great season so far."
He's been especially great at crunch time.
Offensive Explosion: Even though it has been missing several key players most of the season, the 2003 NC State offense led by quarterback Philip Rivers could go down as the most productive unit in school history. Having already scored 365 points in 10 games, the Wolfpack is averaging 36.5 points per game, a figure that is currently ahead of the school mark set by the 1972 squad, which averaged 34.1 points per contest.
Because last year's team played in a total of 14 games, its school record of 5,485 total yards probably won't be eclipsed anytime soon. Interestingly, however, this Wolfpack squad is actually averaging 6.4 yards per play, which, if it holds up, will also be a new school record (the 1998 team averaged 6.0 yards per play).
And depending upon what happens the rest of the way, a new record for total offense is also within reach this season. The 1998 offense, paced by Jamie Barnette and Torry Holt, averaged 442.8 yards per contest, an impressive figure that has held up through the Rivers era. With two and probably three games remaining, the 2003 unit is averaging 435 yards per game, meaning it is certainly within striking distance of the school mark.
With 3,401 passing yards already, this year's team is just 67 yards shy of eclipsing the record set in 14 games last season.
In the latest ACC statistics, the Wolfpack leads the league in total offense, pass offense and scoring offense.
Trying to mirror Noles
By NED BARNETT, Staff Writer
N.C. State football fans embrace Chuck Amato as one of their own. He played for N.C. State. He was an assistant to Lou Holtz and the late Bo Rein. He was a pal of Jim Valvano.
But Amato spent a lot more of his life on a different campus, absorbing a different culture, developing other loyalties. He's an alumnus of N.C. State, but he's also a product of Florida State, the school at which he coached for 18 years under Bobby Bowden.
Since he took over the N.C. State football program in 2000, Amato has worked to add a Seminole streak to the Wolfpack. He arrived in Raleigh after FSU's 12-0 national championship season and wasn't shy about declaring his new team too fat, too slow and too easily intimidated. He wondered whether any State players could start for the Seminoles.
Manny Diaz, an FSU graduate and N.C. State linebackers coach who came north with Amato, said the head coach changed schools but not approaches.
"When we came here, [FSU] was the industry standard," Diaz said. "There were all kinds of ways to be successful, but that was the way Chuck knew the best."
Amato brought in a former Florida State nose guard, Todd Stroud, as strength and conditioning coach. He made N.C. State players leaner.
Amato took it upon himself to make them meaner. Then he set out for Florida with a goal of pulling 10 recruits a year out of the mother lode of talent he once mined for Florida State.
Four years later, is N.C. State starting to look like Florida State? Amato weighed the question like a man who would never say "yes."
"There aren't many teams in America that look like that team we're going to face Saturday," he said.
He set Florida State as an ultimate goal that would motivate the Wolfpack for years. He didn't expect to start with a 2-1 record against that ideal. After State's rocky start this season, another win over FSU (8-2, 6-1 ACC) could put the Wolfpack (7-3, 4-2) in position to gain a share of the ACC championship.
Even if the Wolfpack has gotten past the Seminoles on given days, Amato said his program still trails. The missing element, he said, is depth. FSU can stockpile talent by redshirting freshmen, while State has had to use its freshmen to patch gaps.
N.C. State may not be Florida State's mirror image yet, but the similarity is growing. When the Seminoles line up against the Wolfpack in Tallahassee, Fla., they'll see plenty that they recognize. They'll see speed at all positions. They'll see Floridians. And they'll see a team that expects to win in Doak Campbell Stadium.
Amato brought a new attitude, an emphasis on conditioning and swarming defense from FSU, but what he has mostly brought are players. In 1999, the Wolfpack roster listed two from the Sunshine State. This year, the roster included 30 Floridians.
Of 18 newcomers to the program, 10 are from Florida.
Chris Demarest, N.C. State's safeties coach who also came to Raleigh with Amato, said the Florida influx has helped N.C. State feel it can match the ACC's best program.
"When you played Florida State, there was the intimidation factor. They played with a swagger and had a deep belief they were going to win," Demarest said. "Now they're looking across the field [at N.C. State players] and saying, 'I played him in high school, and his school beat mine.' Our guys feel like, 'You can't beat me.' It's an attitude that's rubbing off even on the kids who aren't from Florida."
For N.C. State's Floridians, playing FSU is a special motivation. N.C. State fans consider North Carolina their archrival, but the Florida players see Florida State in that role. "It's my personal rivalry," said State's Pat Thomas, a junior linebacker out of Miami who has never lost to FSU.
The rivalry is especially intense for those whom FSU passed over.
"A lot of kids who are not recruited play at higher level when they play against [FSU]," Demarest said. "They want to show, 'This is the kind of player I am.' "
Four years into lifting State to the standards he learned at FSU, Amato was asked whether State has any players who could start at FSU now. He smiled and said, "A couple, a couple."
Diaz said the players themselves put the number higher.
"The most important thing is a lot of kids believe they could start with anybody," Diaz said. "You can't underestimate the importance of attitude. When our kids look across at Florida State, there's going to be respect, but there's not going to be an ounce of fear."
It will be a no play for me. But I'll be rooting my:moon: of for you and the Boilers.