O'Brien, Pack Embrace ECU Rivalry

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O'Brien, Pack Embrace ECU Rivalry

NC State head coach Tom O'Brien waits to lead his team on to the field for their game against Louisville on September 29, 2007.

By Langdon Morris

Oct 19, 2007

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Raleigh, N.C. — In the past, State fans have denied acknowledging ECU as a major rival and embraced UNC as their greatest foe instead.

But with the bitter taste of a 21-16 home loss to East Carolina last season lingering, the N.C. State football team is now embracing the rivalry that sent its former coach packing for Florida.

“Any time you lose to a team, the next year you want to get them back,” junior safety DaJuan Morgan said. “When we go into that game, it’s like payback. We have to win this one.”

Coach Tom O’Brien said he realized soon after arriving at State that the ECU game was “important” to the players and administration.

“I understand what a rivalry game is, and I’m sure that we’ll figure it out this week,” O’Brien said. “I got to get a sense from the team. It was pretty obvious as I went around on the pork circuit this summer that this is a pretty important game.”

According to O’Brien, he is prepared for the rivalry game after playing and coaching many rivalries in his career. He also said that the ECU rivalry is anything but one-sided.

“I played in the Army-Navy game and coached it. I played at Virginia when we played Virginia Tech every year,” O’Brien said. “Obviously, anything with ‘Carolina’ in it is obviously a rivalry game here. I think that’s good. If they’re excited, then we ought to be excited.”

Though State leads the series against ECU 14-10, this will be only the second time the two have faced off in Greenville. In the first meeting in Greenville, ECU won 23-6.

Quarterback Daniel Evans said he remembers attending the game with his father, Johnny Evans, a former NCSU quarterback. He also remembers the rowdiness of the ECU and State fans.

“I know it will be loud down in Greenville,” Evans said. “When I was younger watching N.C. State play, I remember how loud it was and how crazy they are about football. So, it should be fun.”

Evans said the number of ECU fans in Raleigh last season motivated the team, and hopefully motivated State fans think the rivalry is worth traveling for.

“It was tough. It got us kind of fired up,” Evans said. “That was kind of our rallying cry, that they got this many people in our house. It made it that much more disappointing to lose. We definitely remember that, and hopefully we can travel well down there.”

And according to Evans, the ECU game is the second-biggest rivalry on the schedule—right behind Carolina.

“Just because of the proximity, just from the fans all knowing each other and talking about it at work all week and all year, and all the players having played in high school with and against each other, I definitely think it’s up there with it [the Carolina rivalry],” Evans said.

Most Recent Comments

I hope I'll be TELLIN' IT tomorrow in Greenville!!! :)

TELL IT, TRUTHBKNOWN!!!!!!!!!

In all honesty, I believe ECU is going to hand State's "posteriors" to them. I'm hoping for the best and expecting the worst. But this is not State's year, and truthfully, we probably can't expect much more for another 2-3 years as Tom O'Brien slowly replaces Amato's leftovers with his own recruits.

Having said all that, GO PACK!!! Smack 'em in the mouth and make me a liar!!!

NC State beats ECU 27-14. You heard it here first!!!

RED!!!!

GOLD!

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