Take two standout quarterbacks, add two shaky defenses, and you have the ingredients for a high-scoring football game.
That’s exactly what Tom Mickle wants.
Mickle, executive director of Florida Citrus Sports, made sure to highlight the matchup of North Carolina State’s Philip Rivers and Kansas University’s Bill Whittemore during a news conference Saturday when KU formally accepted a bid to the Tangerine Bowl.
“You had a great season and a great turnaround,” Mickle said to KU coach Mark Mangino. “Now that your quarterback, Bill Whittemore, is back healthy, we think it will be a great offensive show with he and Philip Rivers, and of course your whole team. We’re looking forward to a shootout on the 22nd.”
When KU (6-6) and N.C. State (7-5) meet Dec. 22 in Orlando, Fla., there’s little doubt the focus will be on the senior quarterbacks.
Whittemore has completed 62.6 percent of his passes (139 of 222) for 2,142 yards with a school-record 16 touchdowns and four interceptions, despite missing three games because of a collarbone injury.
Rivers, a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection, completed an ACC record 71 percent of his passes (311 of 438). He also set the league record for single-season passing yards with 4,016. The Athens, Ala., native has passed for 29 TDs and seven interceptions and has rushed for 89 yards and three touchdowns.
Mickle said the “opportunity to have Philip Rivers in his last game and the marketability of that individual to the local people” was a key reason the Tangerine Bowl selected the Wolfpack, which also played in the Orlando game in 2001.
Mangino called Rivers “one of the best quarterbacks in the nation,” but at least one ACC coach was willing to take it a step beyond that.
Here’s a look at the starting quarterbacks for Kansas (6-6) and N. C. State (7-5), who will meet Dec. 22 in the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
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“I think he’s the best football player in the country,” Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. “I don’t know of a guy who means more to his football team than he does. He just does it week after week after week after week.”
Bowden knows. Rivers lit up the Seminoles for 422 yards and four touchdowns Nov. 15 at Tallahassee, Fla. It wasn’t enough for N.C. State in a 50-44 overtime loss.
That has been the story of the Wolfpack’s season: great offense, not enough defense.
N.C. State was ranked as high as 14th early in the season, but fell out of the rankings after a 38-24 loss to Wake Forest and a 44-38 loss to then-third-ranked Ohio State at Columbus, Ohio.
The Wolfpack’s other close losses came at the hands of Georgia Tech (29-21) and Maryland (26-24).
“I think our team is an exciting team to watch, and we’ve been in some exciting games,” Rivers said. “Unfortunately, we’ve been on the other end of those close ones. We look forward to going down there; we had a good time down there last time. The city itself is a fun place to be and enjoy.
“We’re being rewarded for what we’ve done this year, but the bottom line is that we’re going down there to win the game. That’s the task at hand.”
Mangino said Whittemore, who has rushed for 450 yards and nine touchdowns, shouldn’t be overlooked.
“We think we have a guy who can wing it around, and it’ll be his chance to have the national audience as his stage,” Mangino said. “He’s never had that.”
Both teams have struggled defensively. Kansas has allowed an average of 392.6 yards and 28.3 points per game, while N.C. State has allowed 417.5 and 29.9.
“It’s not Bill against Rivers by any means,” KU offensive coordinator Nick Quartaro said. “It’s our offense vs. their defense — at least for our side of the ball. We’ll approach it like any other game.”
