Sept. 11, 1999
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The questions about North Carolina State's offense have
ended -- for now.
SportsLine wire reports
The 23rd-ranked Wolfpack and Jamie Barnette produced the offensive tuneup
that was needed, building a 31-point halftime lead en route to a 38-9 victory
over William & Mary on Saturday night.
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Game summary T O P N E W S
"We were crisp, we threw the ball crisply, we just looked better running the ball," Wolfpack coach Mike O'Cain said of an offense that ran up 451 yards. "That had to do with some of the competition, too. They are not a Florida State, they are not a Texas or a South Carolina.
"But at the same time it was important that we went out and moved the ball down the field consistently."
The Wolfpack (3-0) beat Texas and South Carolina the two previous weekends to crack the Top 25, but had mustered only a combined 13 first downs and 268 yards and wanted a good showing heading to No. 1 Florida State next Saturday.
N.C. State got it. The Division I-AA Tribe (0-2) was no match from the start for the Wolfpack, which won its first three games for the first time since 1994.
"We needed to have a good night offensively so you'll quit writing about how bad our offense looked," O'Cain told reporters after the game. "Sometimes the more you hear about it and the more you read about it then it becomes something you carry around with you. It was good to get out here and get that monkey off our back."
Some of his players agreed.
"More than anything this gets people off our backs about the offense not playing to its potential," said offensive lineman Todd Boyle. "Hopefully, this will be a starting point for a good offensive season."
The Tribe fell to 0-2 for only the second time since 1981, managing only a career-best three field goals from Brett Sterba.
"I thought the first quarter of the game we didn't play with intensity," said William & Mary coach Jimmye Laycock. "I don't know if it was effort or if it was shell shock or something like that."
The only thing the Wolfpack didn't do was block a punt for a score. N.C. State blocked four kicks, three for TDs and one for a safety, in its previous two games.
Daron Pope's pass was intercepted by N.C. State cornerback Tony Scott 56 seconds into the game and the rout was about to begin.
Barnette, who threw for only 83 yards in N.C. State's two previous victories, was 12 of 15 for 192 yards in the first half alone and finished with 237 yards before being relieved late in the third quarter.
"The thing that was missing from our offense the past two weeks has been our passing game," said O'Cain. "We're only as good as we're able to balance people up. We're not going to line up and knock people off the ball time after time. We didn't do it tonight and we won't do it next week. We have to be balanced."
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| N.C. State's Jamie Barnette throws for almost 200 yards in the first half alone. (AP) |
Barnette's 2-yard pass to tight end Andy VanDerVeer on a broken play after Scott's interception opened the scoring, and Barnette's 15-yard keeper up the middle gave N.C. State a 31-0 lead 5:35 before intermission.
Barnette also connected with Koren Robinson on a 53-yard pass play to set up Ray Robinson's 7-yard scoring run, and he accounted for 64 of the Wolfpack's 80 yards on the team's fourth scoring march.
N.C. State scored on its first five possessions and amassed 311 yards in the opening 30 minutes.
Barnette's passing total moved him over 7,400 yards and into sixth place on the Atlantic Coast Conference career list.
The victory may prove costly for the Wolfpack as Robinson sprained his right ankle in the second quarter and did not return. Last year's ACC rookie of the year was bothered by a bad left ankle before the season.
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