Terrell Manning ready to start conference play

Click Here to view this Link.

Click Here to view this Link.

There was a strange site to be seen on the Wolfpack's defense last Saturday night against Liberty at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh. Redshirt junior linebacker Terrell Manning lined up at defensive ends on a couple of downs.

"We have a couple of sets where I get down there for a little bit, but it's all from the linebacker's perspective," Manning, who last played some defensive end in high school, said. "It's fun actually, I love when I can put my hand on the ground. At linebacker you get used to standing up so anytime you feel like you're playing out of position and show your athletic skills anywhere else is a fun time."

Manning had a solid game in the opener, credited with five tackles and a pair of quarterback hurries, mostly from his weakside linebacker position. He helped the Pack pull away late from a surprisingly tough Liberty team, and Manning is confident that the Flames have prepared NC State well for the upcoming games.

"Liberty was a good preparation for anybody," Manning stated. "They did well running the ball, they did well throwing the ball. Their quarterback is one of the better athletes we'll see this year."

Saturday against Wake Forest though will be a tougher challenge, and Manning knows it.

"Definitely a different mentality," Manning confirmed. "We are going into the ACC. Wake Forest will have better athletes than we played recently before, and Liberty had really good athletes and gave us a challenge. We're looking to go into a dogfight this weekend. Hopefully we'll come out victorious."

Normally a school would like to get a few non-conference games under their belt before jumping into league action. For Manning, he'll play football anytime, anywhere.

"It don't matter to me," Manning said. "As a player I'm one of those type of guys that it doesn't matter who we play, where we play, I'm just ready to go."