Wolfpack looking forward to another shot at Demon Deacons

RALEIGH, N.C. - North Carolina State defensive coordinator Reggie Herring studied the tape four times. Each viewing left him feeling worse and worse.<br> <br> ``You can get pretty nauseated watching it,&#39;&#39; he said Monday. ``It&#39;s pretty disgusting.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The offending video came from the Wolfpack&#39;s loss last season to Wake Forest, a 38-24 rout that Herring described as ``embarrassing&#39;&#39; and he wasn&#39;t even a member of the coaching staff at the time.<br> <br> He joined N.C. State in the offseason.<br> <br> ``Last year, they physically beat our front four to a pulp,&#39;&#39; Herring said. ``Their receivers beat our defensive backs one-on-one. They totally dominated our defense last year.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> At the time, the Wolfpack was ranked 14th and one week away with a game at Ohio State. A victory over the Demon Deacons was supposed to be a mere formality, even though they were playing without injured tailback T.A. McLendon.<br> <br> It didn&#39;t turn out that way. Wake Forest scored 21 consecutive points in the second quarter to take control, and finished the game with 202 yards rushing.<br> <br> On Saturday, N.C. State gets a chance for payback.<br> <br> ``I&#39;m going out to win, and I&#39;m going out there for revenge,&#39;&#39; McLendon said. ``I&#39;m going to go out there and I&#39;m going to show them what they were missing last year.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The Wolfpack (2-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) are coming off their best performance of the season, a dramatic 17-16 victory at Virginia Tech. They held the Hokies to only 192 yards of total offense, and it&#39;s the first time since 1965 they&#39;ve held three straight opponents to less than 200.<br> <br> Herring&#39;s unit leads Division I-A in total defense and pass defense.<br> <br> ``You know what that No. 1 means?&#39;&#39; Herring said. ``It means you&#39;re one game away from being No. 75. It&#39;s our job as coaches to not let these guys get too high or too low.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Against Virginia Tech, N.C. State finished with 10 sacks and dominated the first three quarters. Duplicating that performance might be hard against Wake Forest (3-1, 1-1), which relies on speed and misdirection in much of its offense.<br> <br> ``They do some crazy things,&#39;&#39; Wolfpack defensive end Manny Lawson said. ``If you lose focus, you&#39;ll think somebody will have the ball, and they&#39;ll run right by you. That happened to me.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> He was hardly alone, and Herring didn&#39;t believe the excuse that N.C. State had several young players on defense.<br> <br> ``The bottom line is, they just looked tougher,&#39;&#39; he said. ``If you hit somebody in the mouth, does it matter if you&#39;re 22 or 20 years old?&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The Wolfpack appeared tougher than Virginia Tech, rushing for 145 yards and making the plays when it counted. Of course, they also had their own struggles on offense, and starting quarterback Jay Davis was benched for much of the second half.<br> <br> Marcus Stone, who played the third series of the game as planned, went all but one possession in the final two quarters. His numbers were less than impressive 2-for-7 for 14 yards but he ran the team efficiently enough to keep the lead.<br> <br> The duo will again share time against Wake Forest, with Davis keeping his starting spot.<br> <br> ``I&#39;m an offensive coordinator, so of course I want to score 100 points and have a thousand yards every game,&#39;&#39; Wolfpack offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone said. ``But in the end, I still want to win the game. To be honest, I think we&#39;re going to need both of them.&#39;&#39;