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WRALSportsFan

O'Brien in Good Spirits Heading Into Clemson

By Langdon Morris

Sep 20, 2007

Despite the constant rain and dreary skies covering Dail practice field Thursday, coach Tom O’Brien was all smiles as he walked off the field.

Now that the “800 pound gorilla” of getting his first win and snapping the nine-game losing streak that preceded him as head coach is off of O’Brien’s back, he looks forward to ACC competition with a bit more excitement in his eyes.

“Anytime you win there’s a little pop in your step,” O’Brien said. “You know, you come to practice and you’re smiling. They won a game, they worked hard last week and it led to a victory.”

What particularly has O’Brien smiling is the way in which his team responded to the win, working hard and looking to repeat its success.

“It made us work, I think, even harder this week in practice,” O’Brien said. “And that’s what we’re trying to get across to this football team, that what you do out here during the week is actually just going to carry over on Saturday. Hopefully we’re getting that message across.”

The Pack defense will have the task of shutting down the dynamic Clemson running back duo of C.J. Spiller and James Davis. O’Brien said this is the main defensive concern, as State has allowed an average of 216 rushing yards in its three contests this season.

“You’ve got to tackle them, and that’s the biggest thing,” O’Brien said. “Spiller has great speed and Davis has great speed and has some power to him too, so tackling is going to be the key against those guys on Saturday.”

And though defensive coordinator Mike Archer is new to the ACC, the Kentucky defense that he orchestrated last season found a way to hold Clemson to 130 rushing yards in route to a 28-20 victory in last season’s Music City Bowl.

“He’s playing a little different here than he did at Kentucky, and I think that’s dictated by our personnel,” O’Brien said of Archer. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t be successful.” “Those guys are great backs. You know, in the last couple weeks people have kept them in check, so we’ve got to make sure we do a good job on them and hopefully we can keep them under wraps.”

And despite that the Pack enters a tough stretch its next three games against Clemson, Louisville and Florida State, O’Brien seems happy about the challenge.

“That’s the way it is in the ACC,” O’Brien said. “It’s a challenge for our team, but I think we’re up to the challenge. We’ll find out Saturday.”