This team was told its 3-0 opening meant little because two of the wins came against Southern Methodist and Arkansas State. Conference play in the ACC would end that party, some said. Instead, the party poured onto the field late Thursday night as the Wolfpack faithful stormed the end zone to carry off a goalpost as a victory trophy. A lot of people wouldn't have thought we would be that way before we started. The team didn't flinch, he said, and that reflects well on both the team and its experienced coaching staff.
Players emulate their coaches.
Freshman QB phenom Phillip Rivers said offensive coordinator Norm Chow preaches a kind of Zen balance when it comes to keeping cool under pressure. Rivers said the key to future success will be eliminating mistakes and learning to utilize the talents of all the Wolfpack players. The season opened with Amato saying he wanted his untested freshman quarterback to take as many snaps as possible in order to build a base of game experience that would be useful at some unspecified point in the future, some point when the team was ready to contend. There was plenty of work to do, after all, and Amato wanted to take it one step at a time. Rivers passed for 401 yards and five touchdowns, three of them in the final quarter.