Evans cast in role of scapegoat

RALEIGH -- Though the other N.C. State players requested by the media came out quickly, some still in pads, Daniel Evans was the last to emerge Saturday night -- showered, dressed and ready to go home.

Carter-Finley was home for Evans for a long time, long before he ever took the field for the Wolfpack. After the second-generation quarterback was booed off the field by his own people Saturday, it's hard to blame him for wanting to get away.

Evans grew up wanting nothing more than to play for the Pack. He beat long odds to do just that. And in what may have been his last real playing time as a college player, he heard boos instead of cheers -- treated as a convenient scapegoat for a struggling team.

Starting in place of injured Russell Wilson against William & Mary, Evans was at the vortex of a gnawing fear that State's football season may be headed down the tubes, and fast.

By the time Harrison Beck took over and started firing the ball around the field, State's receivers started making catches. The Wolfpack gathered momentum. The uncomfortable empty feeling left from the South Carolina debacle was erased in a flood of good vibes -- too late for Evans, who was more a target of that frustration than a source of it.

This is not an argument against booing college players. They get the scholarships. They accept the attention. There's plenty of good, and they have to take the bad with it. Such is life.

The way State had played through the first five quarters of the season, the Pack probably deserved to get booed, as many State teams and quarterbacks have been booed before.

But this wasn't just another quarterback struggling to complete a pass. Evans grew up sitting in those same stands, the Broughton High grad as much a State fan as anyone who voiced displeasure with his play.

"I love N.C. State football, and I love this team," Evans said when Wilson was made the starter in August. "I love my teammates, and I love this university. So I'm really going to do anything I can to help this team win football games."

That may not matter to some, but it should. If there was ever a player State fans were willing to cut a little slack, wouldn't it be -- shouldn't it be -- this one?

It hasn't been a good start to Evans' senior season, no question about it. He didn't play well as a substitute starter Saturday, and he didn't play well in relief duty against South Carolina. For the season, he's 8-for-23 for 49 yards with three interceptions, running an offense designed for another player.

Saturday, placed in an impossible position, Evans struggled. His first pass was a hopeless lob 10 yards past its intended target. His second was nearly intercepted as well.

He spent the rest of his time mired in miserable field position, throwing on third down into the teeth of a blitzing defense.

Booed again after yet another three-and-out in the second quarter, Evans was told by coach Tom O'Brien that Beck would take his place on the next series. Evans watched from the sideline after that, his arms crossed, suddenly a pariah in a place where he should be considered a role model.

Evans fought his way into the starting job at State and proved he could rally the Pack to a win as effectively as anyone. When he lost his job as the starter, he stuck around and worked his way back into the starting job -- twice.

He had shoulder surgery in December and could have walked away, degree in hand, to start the rest of his life. But he was there in August, fighting for the chance to start, unwilling to turn his back on a fan base that now has turned its back on him.

"You hear the boos," Evans said Saturday, "but it doesn't really affect you."

No one would begrudge him if it did. He has given everything for State, but he had nothing left to give Saturday, when State fans should have given him a break.