news-record.com

RALEIGH — All the hard work, all the excruciating hours of rehabilitation, all the aches and pains and sleepless nights — all of it paid off.

Jamestown's Toney Baker is once again N.C. State's starting halfback.

Wolfpack coach Tom O'Brien released the team's depth chart Friday afternoon, and the biggest surprise was at halfback, with Baker listed ahead of incumbent starter Jamelle Eugene for Thursday night's opener against South Carolina.

"There's competition," O'Brien said. "The guy that's listed No. 1 right now won the job through his performance during practice."

Both halfbacks are fifth-year seniors, and both are coming off injuries. Baker missed all but one game of the last two seasons after two surgeries on his right knee. Eugene missed the first three games last season with an ankle injury, and a shoulder injury kept him out of the Wolfpack's spring game.

O'Brien said Baker — a high school All-American at Ragsdale who holds the state's all-time rushing record — won his teammates' respect on his way to winning back his old job.

"They know the hard work and dedication he put in," O'Brien said. "(Baker showed) there's no injury you can't come back from."

Baker starts the season with 1,272 career rushing yards at N.C. State. Eugene has 1,168.

"It's a good position to be in to have two backs of that caliber," O'Brien said. "They'll share time. I don't know if you can say there's a starter and there's a backup because they're the same."

Baker's return to Carter-Finley Stadium will come two years and two days since his last carry. But he'll take the field a half hour sooner than expected: The game will kick off at 7:03 p.m. Thursday, 27 minutes earlier than the original time to accommodate ESPN's broadcast.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com