ORLANDO, FLA.--For N.C. State's football team, today's Tangerine Bowl against Kansas is the final game of the 2003 season.

For Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato, it's the last night of a four-year honeymoon.

If life without quarterback Philip Rivers will be a challenge for the teammates he leaves behind, it will be more of a challenge for Amato.

The fates of Rivers and Amato have been so intertwined since the beginning of 2000 season that it's difficult to think of one without thinking of the other.

With fan morale and expectations low upon their arrivals -- Amato from a high-profile Florida State staff and Rivers from a low-profile Alabama high school -- they were such instant hits that any setback was quickly over-trumped by an ever-growing wave of optimism for the next game, the next season, the next opportunity to grab national attention.

After the game against Kansas, Rivers moves on, leaving Amato to stand alone as he enters stage two of his head-coaching career. The one certainty for Amato is that fans will now judge him more closely on his record than the program's potential.

The odds are that Amato will remain very popular. With his extroverted personality, gift of gab and unbridled dedication to the school he attended, Amato will continue to get the benefit of the doubt from the school's fan base. The confidence level in his leadership won't automatically wane with the departure of Rivers.

But in the same vein, Amato will have to earn that trust. Eventually, there will be pressure for some improvement over the Rivers era.

Often overlooked in the excitement of the past four seasons is the fact that Amato has barely stayed above .500 in ACC play. His conference record of 17-15 has been marked by numerous highs -- two wins over Florida State and three over North Carolina. But against Maryland, Virginia, Georgia Tech and Clemson, Amato is 5-11 -- proof that even with Rivers, State hasn't been able to consistently beat the league's mid-tier teams.

To a degree, Amato's teams have followed the same path of his predecessor, Mike O'Cain. In O'Cain's seven seasons, State went 41-40 overall but only 26-30 against the league. The big wins -- Texas, Florida State, Syracuse -- were there. But O'Cain's teams couldn't win enough against mainstream opponents for him to keep his job. Gradually, the fans and soon thereafter, the school's administration, lost all confidence in his ability to advance the program.

Among State fans, there was always a conviction that O'Cain lacked the charisma and expertise to upgrade State's recruiting to a point that the program would routinely compete for the conference title. Amato's recruiting classes have been highly rated. From Florida to Pennsylvania, he's been able to find and sign several top prospects, many of whom will be in key roles next season.

Entering the '03 season, there was a feeling among many ACC coaches and players that State had closed the talent gap on FSU.

"When I look at N.C. State, I see a team that looks just like us," FSU linebacker Michael Boulware said in the preseason.

But the Seminoles went 7-1 in the ACC and 10-2 overall. The Wolfpack could do no better than 4-4 and 7-5.

Defensively, it turned out that there was no room for comparison where it counted most -- on the field. Amato is a defensive specialist. His work with FSU's defenses over 18 years landed him the Wolfpack job. If the defense isn't appreciably better in '04, Amato will hear about it from his fans, even the most loyal of the lot.

Next season the ACC will be a tougher neighborhood than the one Amato first entered, too. With the addition of Miami and Virginia Tech, wins will be more difficult to find.

But Amato wanted expansion, just as he wanted Wolfpack fans to think big and set a high bar for his program. He urged those fans to dream of great things. They did, pinning many of those dreams on their quarterback's ability to deliver touchdowns. Now, the quarterback is gone, putting the pressure of delivery squarely on Amato.

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