Season opens for T.V. viewers

Senior linebacker Justin Smith applied a saying to his assessment of what the football team is feeling as it starts the season.\n"Pressure is what turns coals into diamonds."\nDespite statements from the team about being ready for the season opener at North Carolina State, the Hoosiers face underlying pressure. \nThe match-up is the featured ESPN Thursday night football game kicking off at 6:30 p.m. The defense has made position adjustments to create speed and strength, and its first test will be nationally televised. Senior Antwaan Randle El will be making his debut at wide receiver before millions of critics.\n"Our defensive guys are really hyped up and ready to go, because it's their chance to go out and make a statement," Randle El said.\nThe last time the two teams met, IU had the lead until the final five minutes of the game. Despite leading 38-26 down the stretch, the Hoosiers lost the game.\n"(This game is) real important," Randle El said. "A big part of us last year was losing that first game, and then coming out and losing another heartbreaker to Kentucky. Right now, we have to focus in on the first game and winning that game."\nIf the loss to the Wolfpack last year set in motion the last-minute losing trend of the Hoosiers, for N.C. State it was only the beginning. N.C. State finished last season 8-3, went to the MicronPC.com bowl game and defeated Minnesota, its second Big Ten opponent of the year.\nThe Wolfpack returns most of its top starters from last year, including quarterback Philip Rivers. Rivers, the ACC 2000 Freshman of the Year, orchestrated the comeback run against IU last season.\n"He played a lot better later in the season than earlier, so he's going to be even better (this time)," senior linebacker Kemp Rasmussen said. "That year of experience is going to make him a better quarterback. But that's something we've been working on; getting a better pass rush. He throws a lot of three-step drops and if we can get in his face, and distract him, it will make it tougher for him to pass the ball."\nBoth teams had strong offenses that averaged more than 30 points per game during the 2000 campaign, while feeling woes on the defensive side, where each gave up more than 25 points per contest.\n"They're plus or minus a guy," Cameron said. "But everyone lost some critical guys and you make those additions with kids you redshirted or junior college players. You know, we've done that. I know they've done that. We expect them to be the same kind of football team that they were a year ago, if not better."\nN.C. State made similar recruiting efforts during the off-season by bringing up junior college players to fill vacancies in the line-up. IU expects to see valuable time out its junior college players, including junior defensive backs Antonio Watson and Willie Northern, who will be in the rotating lineup.\nBut whatever similarities from last year that followed the teams into this year, the opening loss is not in the Hoosiers' minds.\n"I don't want revenge," starting fullback Jeremi Johnson, a junior, said. "I just want to go out and have a great game in every aspect of the game"