A Look Back
After starting the season at 2-4, NC State bounced back to win five of its last six games to finish at 7-5 overall and in a three-way tie for fourth in the Atlantic Division with a 3-5 mark … with a 14-0 win over South Florida in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, the Wolfpack registered its third straight bowl victory … made its fifth bowl appearance in the last six seasons under head coach Chuck Amato … led all schools with three players earning All-ACC first-team defensive accolades … ranked third in the league in total defense allowing 298.7 yards per game – marking the third time in the last four seasons the Wolfpack defense ranked in the top three in the ACC.
Who’s Gone
NC State loses 11 starters (six offense, five defense) from a year ago including the top three receivers and four of the five leading tacklers … TE T.J. Williams and wide outs Tramain Hall and Brian Clark combined for 89 catches, 1,287 yards and 10 touchdowns … the defense will be without the services of Marcus Hudson (35 career starts), Mario Williams (34), Oliver Hoyte (33), Manny Lawson (25) and Stephen Tulloch (18), the leading tackler for NC State in 2005 with 134 … Williams will leave NC State as the career and single season leader in sacks (25.5/14.5) and tackles for loss (52/24), respectively.
Senior Cornerback
AJ Davis
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A Look Ahead
Seventh-year head coach Chuck Amato will welcome back 12 starters including five on the offensive side of the ball and specialist John Deraney … the defensive unit returns a fairly young squad with six starters who have combined for 74 career starts … the focal point of the offense will be in the middle with the return of QB Marcus Stone, tailbacks Andre Brown and Toney Baker as well as Leroy Harris, who has made 33 career starts at the center position … on the defensive side, LB Lerue Rumph is the top returning tackler, registering 43 stops last year.
Numbers
5 – Marcus Stone earned his first career start at QB in the seventh game of the 2005 season leading the Wolfpack to five wins in six games including a road win at Florida State and a win over South Florida in the Meineke Car Care Bowl … Stone became just the fourth Wolfpack player to start at QB in the last 111 games.
5.4 – In the first five games of the 2005 season, TB Andre Brown averaged 3.2 yards per carry, tallying 42 rushing yards on 13 attempts … the last six games told another story as Brown posted 5.4 yards per carry, rushing 116 times for 625 yards.
29.1 – Specialist Darrell Blackman led the league and ranked sixth nationally in kickoff returns (29.1) … Blackman had 582 yards in kickoff returns last year, the fifth-highest single-season total in school history … enters his junior season as the Wolfpack’s career leader in kickoff return average at 28.4.
40.9 – John Deraney has handled all of the team’s kicking duties each of the past two years ... the team’s leading scorer in each of the past two years, making good on 28-of-42 field goal attempts and averaging 40.9 yards on punts.
85 – The Wolfpack defense ended the 2005 campaign holding the opposition to no more than 85 yards on the ground in five of the last seven games.
2,676 – Toney Baker, Andre Brown and Darrell Blackman combined for 2,676 total yards last season, accounting for 53 percent of the team’s total all-purpose yardage … in all, the trio accounted for 95 percent of the team’s rushing yards (1,416 of 1,493) and 93 percent of the team’s kickoff return yards (805 of 864).
Chuck Amato, a 1969 NC State graduate, coached the first 11-win season in school history, and became only the fourth coach in ACC history to take his first four teams to bowl games. Amato is 46-28 as a head coach, including a 23-25 mark in league play and a 4-1 record in post-season play since being named the 32nd head coach at NC State on January 6, 2000. He came to NC State after spending 18 years in the Florida State program, including the last 14 as an assistant head coach. He has been a part of 11 ACC championships, one as a player at NC State (1965), two as an assistant coach for the Wolfpack (1973, 1979) and eight consecutive at Florida State (1992-1999). Amato’s defensive squads ranked in the top 10 nationally in rushing defense in seven of his last eight years at FSU and in 2004 his Wolfpack defense led the nation in total defense allowing 221.4 yards per game. In 2005, he coached the ACC’s first-ever first overall pick in the NFL draft, defensive end Mario Williams. Amato was a three-year letterwinner in football and wrestling for the Wolfpack, playing on the gridiron for the legendary Earle Edwards. He played on the 1965 squad that earned an ACC co-championship and posted two undefeated seasons as a wrestler, earning two ACC titles. Following his graduation from NC State, Amato spent two years as an assistant coach at his prep alma mater, Easton Area High School. In 1971, he began a nine-year stint as an assistant with the Wolfpack, working under Al Michaels, Lou Holtz and Bo Rein. He served as a graduate assistant in 1971 and 1972, coached the defensive secondary from 1973-75, and was the defensive coordinator and linebacker coach from 1976-79. Prior to joining the FSU staff, Amato spent two seasons at the University of Arizona (1980-81).
