ORLANDO, FLA.--The end of the Philip Rivers era in N.C. State football on Monday also will mark the end of much of the external perception of the program.

When the record-setting quarterback completes his college career in the Tangerine Bowl, the entire personality of Wolfpack football will change. No longer will State be seen as a potential national contender in the making.

In 2004, there will be no preseason top-10 ranking by Sports Illustrated. The ESPN camera crews won't be around to shoot off-season drills. There won't be a State player on anyone's Heisman watch list, and the summer buzz about a game against Ohio State will be less pronounced.

"Changes are coming," linebacker Pat Thomas said.

But so are opportunities. If State is really a program on the rise and is to extend its bowl streak under Chuck Amato to five, it will show quickly. The Pack's less visible players will have to fill an imposing void. It's a situation no one understands better or appreciates more than Thomas.

"It's time for the defense to take over the leadership of this team," he said.

No, it's past time.

Regardless of what happens in the game against Kansas, the theme of State's 2003 season amounts to a sad defensive story. Although talented and reasonably deep in certain areas, the unit never lived up to its end of the deal. It was an ongoing series of disappointments that eventually undermined the prolific offense and eliminated the rich promise of the preseason. Given just an average defense, State would not be 7-5 entering the postseason. The record would have been 9-3, perhaps 10-2.

Figuring out what went wrong with that defense and how to fix it no doubt will consume much of Amato's offseason time. The success -- or failure -- of the fixing process then will determine whether his program can withstand the departure of Rivers for the short term. Really, the long term.

If you ask the defensive players why they struggled, the answer is simple.

"It was a lack of execution," said junior roverback Andre Maddox. "It wasn't that we didn't have the right players or right system. We just didn't execute on the field the way we're capable of doing."

The explanation is simple, but a "lack of execution" can't be simply resolved. The list of season-long breakdowns is too long to assume that minor adjustments will take care of the problem.

The defense gave up an average 130 yards rushing and almost 290 yards passing per game. Those stats don't lie. State just wasn't very good at stopping anything on a consistent basis. In losses to Wake Forest, Maryland and Florida State, the Pack couldn't stop the run. In losses to Ohio State and Georgia Tech, the bigger problem was passing. Even three of State's victims -- Texas Tech, Connecticut and Clemson -- had advantages in total offense.

Part of the problem was youth. There's not a senior scheduled to start on defense against Kansas.

Early in the season, new linemen John McCargo, Mario Williams, Tank Tyler and Dwayne Herndon got pushed around by older, more experienced blockers. The linebackers struggled throughout to plug the leadership void created by Dantonio Burnette's absence. The secondary never looked fast enough to execute its schemes.

Through it all, Amato steadfastly defended his policy of not having a defensive coordinator. Many of the same players in the same general defensive system excelled without the presence of a coordinator in 2002, he pointed out repeatedly. The no-coordinator policy likely will not change.

"We don't need a coordinator," Maddox said. "The coaching we're getting is fine the way it is."

Maybe so. But if the defense doesn't improve significantly in 2004, State will be fortunate to win seven games again.

Against an 11-game schedule in '04, State's non-ACC foes will be Ohio State and Navy in Raleigh and East Carolina in Charlotte. In the league, the lineup will be Maryland, Clemson, UNC and Virginia Tech on the road and Wake Forest, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Miami at Carter-Finley. Five of State's '03 victims -- Duke, Virginia, Western Carolina, Texas Tech and UConn -- go off the schedule.

"The defense will have to get better, and we will," Thomas said.

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