North Carolina State quarterback Daniel Evans listens during football practice in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, July 31, 2008. A five-man competition for quarterback has been whittled to three, with third-year starter Evans vying for his old job against redshirt freshman Russell Wilson and freshman Mike Glennon. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

By Joedy McCreary

Associated Press

RALEIGH — North Carolina State’s quarterback race is down to two players.

Coach Tom O’Brien said Wednesday that freshman Mike Glennon will redshirt this season, leaving returning starter Daniel Evans or redshirt freshman Russell Wilson as the Wolfpack’s options for the opener next week at South Carolina.

“While (Glennon) is an exceptional talent, he’s just not ready to handle some of the situations” that he might face, O’Brien said.

O’Brien also said he wouldn’t name his starter for a few more days, when he has to exchange information with the Gamecocks.

“No sense rushing what we’re doing right now,” he added.

Glennon, the younger brother of Virginia Tech quarterback Sean Glennon, was a high school player last year in Virginia and, as one of O’Brien’s top members of the recruiting class announced in February, is considered N.C. State’s quarterback of the future.

Yet he remained a candidate for this year’s starting job perhaps for longer than outsiders expected. The decision to redshirt him was reached after the team’s third preseason scrimmage, which featured situational work, O’Brien said.

“Things have to happen fast and you’re in a two-minute offense, you’re in a four-minute offense, a lot of things that win games for you at the end of games,” O’Brien said. “A lot of it had to do with the experience factor, and the college game moves an awful lot faster than the high school game did — getting signals, knowing what the clock’s doing, all of those kind of things that come with experience, which, he’s got everything else. He just needs some time to soak.”

Picking a quarterback has been a chore in Raleigh this preseason.

Five players were in the mix before O’Brien trimmed the field to three last week, eliminating Nebraska transfer Harrison Beck and sophomore Justin Burke. Beck will be N.C. State’s No. 3 quarterback, while Burke is transferring to Louisville.

Evans burst onto the scene as a sophomore in 2006, beating nationally ranked Boston College and Florida State in the first two starts of his career. Then, he threw for 2,030 yards in 12 games last season with 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions and keyed the four-game winning streak that had the Wolfpack on the cusp of bowl eligibility for the first time since 2005.

Wilson, whose redshirt was preserved last season, is considered more of a threat to tuck the ball and run it.

“That’s a good thing — I trust them all,” O’Brien said.

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