An ACC assistant football coach familiar with both former N.C. State coach Chuck Amato and his successor Tom O'Brien was asked over the summer about the complexity of O'Brien trying to win with Amato's players.

"Rabbits and fire hydrants," the coach said. "Chuck likes rabbits. Tom likes fire hydrants.

"It's not going to be an easy adjustment. It's one of the most extreme examples I've ever seen in terms of the difference between the old guy and the new guy. Tom is a good coach, so he'll get it figured out, but it's probably going to take a little while."

The coach used the "rabbits" and "fire hydrants" terms to illustrate one of the many differences in philosophy between Amato and O'Brien. A "rabbit" is a cornerback who has tremendous quickness and speed, and does a good job in man-to-man pass coverage, but is not a very sturdy tackler. A "fire hydrant" at cornerback has the opposite strengths and weaknesses. He's usually a bigger, thicker athlete, someone who can tackle more like a safety but who is not nearly as speedy and bouncy as a "rabbit" in pass coverage.

During its 1-5 start, the Wolfpack ranked among the worst teams in the nation at stopping the run. In particular, opponents were getting huge chunks of yards on basic sweep plays, which put pressure on cornerbacks to play physically against the run. The same corners who played almost entirely man-to-man coverage under Amato had completely different responsibilities under O'Brien.

"They did not play much zone coverage before we got here," O'Brien said. "It was mostly, 'snap, turn and run (with the receiver).' The way we do things, those same players have a lot more responsibilities against the run, and they've had to adapt to zone coverages."

The Pack went through six cornerbacks (for two spots) before settling on junior Jeremy Gray and redshirt freshman DeAndre Morgan. A 6-2, 186-pounder, Gray is the Wolfpack's best tackler among the cornerbacks.

"Jeremy's the guy playing in the boundary, and he's got to run support like they probably never have done before," O'Brien said. "He's done the best job of any corner we've had."

After yielding 226.5 yards rushing per game during its 1-5 start, State gave up just 72 in its 34-20 win at East Carolina and 94 in its 29-24 victory over Virginia. That defensive turnaround, along with the prolific passing of quarterback Daniel Evans, now has the Wolfpack (4-5, 2-3 ACC) back in the running for a bowl bid.

The State cornerbacks have improved their pass coverage, too, as they have become more comfortable with coordinator Mike Archer's various zone packages. Miami rushed for more than 300 yards last week, but the Wolfpack completely shut down the Hurricanes' passing game (1-14, 84 yards) and grabbed three interceptions.

"We're playing better in our zones," O'Brien said, "and what we're trying to get accomplished on defense."

After generating a total of just two turnovers in its first five games against Division I-A opponents (all losses), the Pack has seven in its last three games (all wins).

"We're doing the same things we've always done (in practice)," O'Brien said. "Maybe they've finally bought into what we're trying to do and doing a better job at it."