ACC NEWS RELEASE – Raycom Sports and the Atlantic Coast Conference today announced that beginning this season, the Raycom Sports Regional Syndicated package of Atlantic Coast Conference football and basketball telecasts will be branded as the ACC Network.

The new marketing initiative will feature ACC Network graphics and designations beginning with the first game this year, the Duke at Wake Forest telecast on Saturday, Sept. 11.

The ACC Network branding was part of the new television rights agreements between the ACC, Raycom Sports and ESPN that begins with the 2011 Football season. Raycom Sports and the Conference moved to begin the branding during the final year of the existing contract.

“Beginning to brand the ACC Network with the start of the first conference football game made great sense for our league, member schools, fans and partners,” said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. “It’s a great tribute to Raycom that we’re able to roll out this initiative a year before the new contract begins.”

“The establishment of the ACC Network brand was a natural step, given our longstanding syndication exclusivity with the Atlantic Coast Conference,” said Jimmy Rayburn, vice-president of operations for Raycom Sports. “Moving forward with our new rights agreement, we were already preparing the transition. But with the volume of media coverage already surrounding the conference’s new television rights agreement, it made perfect sense to capitalize on the public’s attention now with the ACC Network designation.”

ACC NEWS RELEASE – North Carolina senior quarterback T.J. Yates and Maryland junior free safety Kenny Tate headline a list of eight players honored as the Atlantic Coast Conference football players of the week, announced Tuesday by the ACC.

Yates threw for a career-high 412 yards against LSU, setting a league record for most yards thrown by a quarterback in a season opener. Tate helped the Terrapins secure a 17-14 win against Navy as he stopped quarterback Ricky Dobbs on a fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 34 seconds remaining, maintaining the lead for Maryland.

Tate is joined by Terrapin teammate Joe Vellano, the defensive lineman selection. Five more schools had players earn recognition, including Florida State’s Zebrie Sanders, Georgia Tech’s Sean Bedford, and Virginia’s Oday Aboushi as co-offensive linemen. Miami’s Lamar Miller earned rookie of the week honors, and Clemson’s Dawson Zimmerman was named the specialist of the week.

Jheranie Boyd

Jheranie Boyd made sure to keep a straight face when the play call came in Saturday night. North Carolina was at its own 3-yard line, down by 20 to LSU, and Tar Heel fans were clicking off and going to bed across the state.

Coach Butch Davis had urged the team on at halftime. “Coach Davis gave us a speech – he said we wore Carolina blue for a reason,” Boyd recalled. And offensive tackle Mike Ingersoll told Boyd to be ready to be a leader among the receivers.

Boyd had been running 18-yard cuts all game – that is, bolting 18 yards downfield and turning back to face the quarterback. He relayed to his receivers coach that he was confident he could get open if given a chance to hurtle downfield. That message went up to offensive coordinator John Shoop, and when Carolina had the ball at its own 3, Boyd got his chance.

He went to the line concealing the excitement over the call. “I try to keep the same attitude about me,” he said.

At the snap, he shot upfield like he was doing his usual route, faked outside and then zoomed deep as the ball from T.J. Yates floated into his hands. “I felt I could get them on a double move – and it worked,” Boyd said Tuesday in Chapel Hill.

All that was left was the dash to the endzone and the sweet feeling of looking at the massive video board and seeing no LSU players nearby.

That play sparked a comeback that nearly won the game for UNC, and it also underscored how much better Carolina’s passing game might be this season. The Tar Heel receivers were infants a year ago, a group of freshmen thrust into key roles with Hakeem Nicks gone.

Now, Boyd and Erik Highsmith and Josh Adams feel much more confident that they are on the same page with Yates.

“I feel we are way closer than we were last year.”

That confidence is part of a trend likely to continue throughout the season. Last year, Carolina won with defense. This year, the defense remains a question mark given school and NCAA investigations – and the more seasoned offense is determined to play a larger role.

“We said it has to be even this year, offense and defense,” Boyd said. …

Bruce Carter

North Carolina linebacker Bruce Carter was with his family Friday night when the call came that he was eligible for Saturday’s game with LSU in Atlanta.

Carter hustled to the Kenan Stadium football center, and he and Quan Sturdivant took a private plan at 8:45 p.m. to whoosh down to Atlanta.

But Carter and Sturdivant and the two pilots, by the way.

“Pretty sweet,” he said with a smile Tuesday. …

You have to love the attitude of UNC tight end Zack Pianalto. Pianalto is refusing to say the last play against LSU should have been pass interference, even though the ESPN video appeared to show it was. A Tigers linebacker was draped around him at the end, but Pianalto isn’t calling foul.

“Not at all. It was a great defensive play by him,” Pianalto said Tuesday. “He did exactly what he needed to do.”

Classy comments, again, by the UNC senior.

The ACC lost both of its headline games in the opening weekend of the season, with North Carolina falling to LSU Saturday and Virginia Tech losing to Boise State Monday night.

Maryland held on for a nice win against Navy, but let’s face it – ACC teams should beat Navy. Otherwise, the opening weekend was cupcake fodder to get the season underway.

This week could be a rough one for the league, with four important road games for league teams. Florida State is at Oklahoma, Miami is at Ohio State, Virginia is at Southern Cal and N.C. State is at Central Florida.

Georgia Tech is also on the road, at Kansas, but the Jayhawks are coming off a 5-7 season and just lost to North Dakota State, 6-3.

Duke is at Wake Forest in ACC play at noon. This is a winnable game for the Blue Devils, of course. Their schedule ahead is Alabama Sept. 18, Army Sept. 25 and at Maryland Oct. 2. Duke has a bye Oct. 9, and it’s easy to see them 4-1 going into the Oct. 16 home game with Miami.

But the Blue Devils have lost six straight to Wake Forest, including that brutal 14-13 defeat in 2006 when Duke botched a field goal and the Deacons went on to the ACC title.

Other than John Blake, did anyone have a worse weekend than Johnny White?

The UNC senior worked ferociously in the offseason to prove himself at tailback, where he had played before seeing action at a variety of different spots.

The Tar Heel coaches raved about what they saw, and you knew White would get his chance when Shaun Draughn and Ryan Houston didn’t make the trip to Atlanta.

Then – yikes – he fumbled his first run. White didn’t figure into the game plan much after that, as Carolina shifted to powerful, but non-explosive, Anthony Elzy. White finished with eight carries for 29 yards and Elzy 14 for 46.

ALONG THOSE LINES … can anyone in the Triangle run the football? It’s hard to say after Saturday’s games. N.C. State’s Dean Hayden had 13 carries for 69 yards against Western Carolina, but it’s hard to say how that computes against better competition.

Duke is making noise about having to run the ball this year, and local product Desmond Scott turned in 77 yards rushing on 15 tries, with a score. But again, that’s against Elon.

Both State and Duke face watershed games this weekend, with the Pack at Central Florida and Duke at Wake Forest. Both teams got spectacular quarterbacking in their opening wins, but the run game is going to have to be there to support that.

N.C. STATE CONTINUED to be sneaky about its personnel. Last Monday, the Wolfpack announced a depth chart that surprised everyone with Dean Haynes at tailback – turns out, he’d been moved from offense to defense two weeks before that.

That depth chart also included Jake Vermiglio as the starting left tackle and J.R. Sweezy and Markus Kuhn as backups on the defensive line. But all three did not suit up against Western Carolina – remember, the three had faced drug charges before the season. The charges eventually were dropped. …

SATURDAY’S GAMES MARKED the debut of two players we may be talking about for a while, N.C. State’s Crisp and North Carolina’s James Hurst. Crisp started at left tackle with Vermiglio out, and at 6 feet 7 and 300 pounds, it’s hard to imagine Crisp standing on the sidelines much.

Hurst backed up Carl Gaskins at left tackle against LSU and played often. If you watched him closely, you notice he didn’t seem intimidated at all by the magnitude and speed of the game.

Left tackle is a tough position to play, as the movie “The Blind Side” pointed out. To see two players contributing there as true freshmen is nothing short of remarkable.

ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR:

Carolina’s T.J. Yates. The Tar Heel quarterback has his detractors, but he turned in a terrific game in difficult circumstances Saturday night.

Carolina’s Zack Pianalto: He didn’t make excuses for not catching that final ball – even though it looked like pass interference.

State’s Russell Wilson: The kid skips football for six months and then plays like that? Wow.

Time is running out to see a minor league baseball game. The Carolina Mudcats play their final game of the season Labor Day, tomorrow, at 2 p.m. while the Durham Bulls play their final regular season game of the season on Labor Day at 1:05 p.m.

We’re blessed to have two terrific minor league ball parks and two great minor league organizations within driving distance in the Triangle.

On Saturday, all the Durham Bulls coaches and players (except the four called up to the majors) and Wool E. Bull made appearances at a Kia car dealership next to the ball park. The food was good, the coaches were hospitable and the players were personable (except maybe the ones who have a limited grasp of the English language). It was a great event for children and autograph seekers.

On Sunday, Mudcats’ coach David Bell was on hand at a festival in Rolesville. Bell, the son of former major leaguer Buddy Bell and a 12-year veteran himself, spoke with folks as a regular person – no prima donna here. A native of Cincinnati, Bell and his lovely wife and daughter looked right at home in the Triangle area. It’s his second season at the helm. The Mudcats have a losing record this year but have had a number of players on the roster that are expected to do well at the major league level.

Consider taking the drive to Zebulon to see the Mudcats Monday, especially if you haven’t been to a game out there this year. You’ll still have a chance to see the Bulls in the post season but the 1:05 p.m. game wouldn’t be a bad choice either.

Undrafted free agent Brandon Banks, who played at Garner, showed enough explosiveness on special teams to make the Washington Redskins’ final 53-man roster.

As we told you in an article on Aug. 14 (click here to view), Banks ran back a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown in the Skins’ first preseason game. In the last preseason game, he ripped off a 40-yard kickoff return.

Only two drafted players made the Redskins’ roster so this is quite an achievement for the 5-foot-7, 150-pound receiver who will most likely only see action on special teams unless there is an injury.

Duke’s Thaddeus Lewis made the St. Louis Rams as the third quarterback behind Sam Bradford and A.J. Feeley.

Other guys, including former Tar Heel Willie Parker, weren’t as fortunate on the last day of NFL cuts. Parker, who made a name for himself as a Steeler, was trying to hook on to the Redskins as well but he didn’t make the final cut. The team kept Clinton Portis and Larry Johnson as the main runningbacks.

Also, Scott Kooistra, an eight-year guard out of N.C. State, failed to make the Browns final roster.

Jesse Holley, former UNC wide receiver, was cut by the Cowboys.

Dre Bly, the veteran defensive back from Carolina, was cut by the Lions.

Steven Hauschka, the former kicker from N.C. State, was also cut by the Lions.

DaJuan Morgan, a third-year pro free safety from N.C. State, was cut by the Chiefs, who also cut rookie linebacker John Russell from Wake Forest.

The Patriots cut eight-year veteran wide receiver Sam Aiken from UNC. The Pats also cut a Wolfpacker as rookie center Ted Larsen was let go.

Jay Ross, a rookie defensive tackle out of ECU, was cut by Saints, who also cut third-year defensive tackle DeMario Pressley, who played for N.C. State. The Saints also cut ties with Chip Vaughn, a second-year player from Wake Forest.

Former East Carolina tackle Guy Whimper, who was in his fifth season in the NFL, was released by the Giants.

Rookie tackle Jeraill McCuller from N.C. State was cut by Eagles, who also got rid of rookie receiver Dobson Collins of Gardner-Webb and rookie defensive tackle Boo Robinson of Wake Forest.

Second-year receiver from Carolina Brooks Foster was cut by the Jets

The Steelers cut Kyle Jolly, the former Carolina offensive tackle, and Patrick Bailey, a three-year linebacker from Duke.

Vincent Rey, a rookie linebacker from Duke, was let go by the Bengals, who also cut Gabriel Manns, a rookie tackle from North Carolina Central.

The 49ers parted ways with rookie defensive tackle Kahalif Mitchell from ECU while fellow ECU rookie Sean Allen, a Wilson native, was released by the Bills.

Finally, first-year guy Eron Riley from Duke was cut by the Ravens.

Some careers may be over but other players might make teams’ practice squads or possibly be picked up by other teams when injuries hit.