Sept. 20, 2005

Senior Wide Receiver Wallace Wright

On the UNC rivalry with North Carolina State
"The emotions will be flying. This is the rivalry that everyone comes to see. We are just going to bring it and we will be ready to go. Enough said about that."

Do you see NC State as the biggest game for you guys?
"State is definitely the biggest game of the year for us. It's also the third game of the season and we are just trying to win our third game."

Is it tough to channel that emotion during the week leading up to the State game so that you don't get too high?
"Not at all, not at all. We just look at it as another team. We are 0-2 and we need to win one so NC State just happens to be the third game of the season."

The dropped passes in the Wisconsin game -- was there a common thread as to why there were so many? Were you guys trying to run before you caught the ball?
"We just have to do a better job. We have to practice well. We have to try to have a good week during practice. We do a lot more ball drills now, so everyone knows we had a bad game. We just try to make plays and catch the ball before we run with it."

What are you doing this week in practice to help clear up the problems?
"Yesterday we sat down and we watched the Wisconsin game and we graded each position no matter if you were in the game or not and we found that there was a lot of room for improvement. Today is Tuesday so we start preparing for real today."

Does it make for a special game for you given that when you look across the field you are going to see guys that played in high school with and against?
"Oh yes, it makes for an interesting game."

Senior Defensive Tackle Chase Page

Concerning the Wisconsin game
"It was a good effort by our defense. That one drive in the fourth quarter we should have not let happen. We should have held then to zero points and the final score should have been three to zero. We will definitely try to build on that experience and we will try to play even better this week."

The offense you will face this week is a totally different offense than the one you faced last week. Being that you are a defensive guy what does that change for you?
"Well, they run a lot of zone and they throw a lot of passes and we are going to get to the point where we are going to rush the passer a lot more, so we are going to play off that."

A lot of those passes are quick timing passes so it is hard to get to the quarterback on those passes so you just have to keep plugging away, right?
"Right, even if you don't get the sack you can get in the quarterback's face and get a hand up and obscure his vision a little bit and maybe get him to throw a bad pass and we can get the ball back."

NC State has had some problems on their offensive line or at least they did last year. What do you know about their offensive line?
"Well, they threw a lot against Virginia Tech and they ran the ball a lot against Eastern Kentucky, so I think we are going to get to see their entire offense. Their offensive line is pretty good and they are pretty talented. They have a good center who has been playing for awhile. But we are looking forward to playing them and it is going to be a battle like it always is."

NC State can bring in three or four running backs during a game. Does that make it more difficult to judge what they are going to do?
"No, a running back is a running back, and NC State has some good running backs. It really doesn't matter who it is, we are going to suit up and play the same way."