State's TE Hill out Saturday, QB Wilson out indefintely

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State's TE Hill out Saturday, QB Wilson out indefintely

N.C. State tight end Anthony Hill on July 31, 2008.

By Emily Seck

Sep 1, 2008

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Quarterback Russell Wilson is out indefinitely, N.C. State head football coach Tom O’Brien announced Monday afternoon. Wilson will not play in Saturday’s home opener versus William and Mary, and no date has been set for his return.

Wilson suffered a Grade 3 concussion in the second quarter of the Pack's season-opening loss to South Carolina, Thursday night. He spent the night in the hospital and was released the next morning.

“Russell is back into his regular daily routine, going to class and everything,” O’Brien said. “We’ll do whatever the doctors say he’s able to do. We don’t have any idea what Russell’s situation is, so we’re going to play [Daniel] Evans and [Harrison] Beck will back-up.”

Senior running back Andre Brown admitted that Wilson adds an extra dimension to the quarterback position.

“With Russell, there is the option to pull it back and run,” he said. With Daniel, he’ll just give it to me. He’s a threat with running. Daniel is not that mobile, but he’s capable.”

In addition to Wilson, tight end Anthony Hill is out for Saturday’s game with a chest injury. O’Brien did not give specifics about the injury, or a timetable for the former All-ACC performer's return.

Fortunately for N.C. State, right guard Curtis Crouch will return to the offensive line on Saturday, providing much needed depth at the position.

The loss of Wilson and Hill deals another blow to an injury-plagued Wolfpack that was shutout by the Gamecocks on Thursday.

O’Brien said the inexperience of the wide receivers was a big factor in the loss.

“Anybody involved in the passing game was not very good,” he said. “That concerns us right now and we have to work those things out. There was a bit of a ‘deer in the headlights’ look, especially for a lot of those kids on offense. They had problems getting open.”

O’Brien was pleased with the efforts of the defense, who stayed on the field ten minutes longer than the offensive personnel. The second-year head man cited turnovers as the underlying cause of the lopsided scoreboard.

“The defense was fine,” O’Brien said. “We finally hit our stride until we turned the football over. We can’t turn the football over, which we know. Turnovers with our backs to the goal-line made the difference.”

Brown was the one bright spot for the offense, rushing for 101 yards on 21 carries for his sixth career 100-yard game. Despite his best efforts, State was unable to put any points on the board.

“It was a long bus ride home,” Brown said. “It hurt to go out there and lose like that.
It hurts to be shut out twice. I still have that bitter taste form last year in my mouth - we are determined to get it turned around and will do what we have to do to get a win.”

Most Recent Comments

hey its true, he gets picked more than anybody else, he has the most pick 6's of anybody else too. Bad way to go out for Hill, have a bad first game back and then be out for the second... I thought we were on some program that would help prevent injuries, seems like we're getting 10 times more than we've ever had...

onyourheels: "daniel evans has changed his name to daniel apple because he gets picked so much."

Very, very funny.

peyton, if you CAN READ you would know from my post I DID NOT WATCH THE GAME, try reading slowly and try to comprehend what you read.

ironfist......The ESPN cocmmentators even mentioned both of the hits and commented there should have been a flag...what game were you watching?

I didn't watch the game so I don't know if there were late hits, but it does seem strange that no one has said anything about late hits except the few who posted about it. Sounds like someone looking for an excuse and it is not NC State football players or coaches.

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