Amato Talks, Injuries Mount As State Readies for 'Noles

Coach Tom O’Brien’s first year in Raleigh already looked snake bitten when all-ACC tight end Anthony Hill tore his knee over the summer and Toney Baker did the same during the season’s first game.

As if the year wasn’t going roughly enough for N.C. State, with a defense that has given up almost 250 rushing yards per game and an offense that has more turnovers than scoring drives, new injuries continue to haunt the Wolfpack each week. Among the latest victims is starting quarterback Harrison Beck.

Beck is out for this Saturday’s match-up with Florida State with a separated shoulder, and his status will be looked at from week-to-week.

“Anything that is week-to-week is indefinite for me because you never know when it’s going to be,” O’Brien said. “Whenever he’s able to get back and throw and feel comfortable doing it, then he’ll be able to get back and play.”

Beck was hurt during a play on which he was sacked and called for intentional grounding. The redshirt sophomore stayed in and on the next play completed a 53-yard pass to Donald Bowens. Then he left the game.

The injury means Daniel Evans, who threw a touchdown pass four plays after taking over for Beck, will be back as starter as the team makes the trip to Tallahassee.

It will be Evans’ first start since losing the job after the opener against Central Florida.

“I never lost confidence in [Evans], it was just a question of who we thought was the best quarterback,” O’Brien said. “[Evans has] been better the past couple of weeks than he was the first half against Central Florida.”

Another player who exited the Louisville contest early, tight end Marcus Stone, is listed as questionable for the Florida State game, nursing an ankle sprain.

“We’re getting awfully short, but that’s the way it is. We’ve can’t do anything about it except go out there and work as hard as we can with the guys who are healthy,” O’Brien said.

Almost every position group on State’s roster has had at least one member miss valuable time with injury this year – the exceptions being the wide receivers, linebackers and secondary.

Preseason all-ACC defensive tackle DeMario Pressley has missed two games after undergoing knee surgery. In his absence, junior John Bedics got a few starts, but he, too, went down and is listed as probable for a return this week.

John’s brother, starting fullback Pat Bedics, has undergone knee surgery and will miss his second straight game this Saturday.

Sophomore offensive tackle Jerrail McCuller has also been scheduled for knee surgery and is out this weekend. McCuller was slated as the starter in preseason, but has yet to work his way back into the lineup after falling behind with the coaching staff after he was charged with DUI.

Starting long snapper Corey Tedder, one of the few players who is out for an area other than the knee, missed the Louisville game with a broken hand and is out for the season.

There’s been added insult to the injuries, as the losses accumulate for the Pack. But O’Brien remains confident that these hard times are just part of a program’s growing pains.

“It seems like whenever you start a program, especially if things aren’t going too well, guys end up getting hurt,” O’Brien said.

“Whether it seems that way, whether it’s imagined or fictitious, I think that’s the way it’s been with what we’ve gone through beginning parts of programs. It doesn’t stay around. It’s going to turn around some time, just like everything else turns around.”