The skinny

Final Amato recruits playing key role in N.C. State’s run

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So how good was Tom O’Brien’s first recruiting class? In hindsight, pretty strong – especially considering that Chuck Amato’s future was in question much of that 2006 season, and O’Brien came to N.C. State late and had to scramble for players.
What’s interesting, when you look back, is that Amato’s final recruits were critical to State’s current success. So despite what you think of Amato and his ways, he actually found some real talent for the red and white. And O’Brien and his staff also managed to find players who would be essential to this 4-0 start.
O’Brien signed 22 players in February of 2007 for his first class. Of those, 12 had committed to Amato’s staff and 10 committed after O’Brien arrived in Raleigh, according to charts on PackPride.com.
Here’s how those two groups have played out:
Amato commitments:
Current starters:  QB Russell Wilson, TE George Bryan, DE J.R. Sweezy, Safety Justin Byers.
Total number remaining in program: Seven of 12
O’Brien commitments:
Current starters: LB Audie Cole, LT Jake Vermiglio, DE Jeff Rieskamp, P Jeff Ruiz.
Total number remaining in program: Seven of 10.
A new coaching staff can often look for a different type of player than the previous staff, so players who committed to one group of coaches don’t always fare well with the new regime. Given that, State has received fare production out of Amato’s final group. Seven of 12 are still in the program, a reasonable number. Bryan is an All-ACC level players, and of course N.C. State wouldn’t be where it is without Wilson.
Add to that the fact that O’Brien’s staff found some quality players as well and what you have is the foundation of this year’s winning team.
By the way, that class had only one four-star recruit, receiver Jay Smith of Norfolk, Va., who committed to Amato. And Smith is not on the two-deep for Saturday’s showdown with Virginia Tech. Bryan was a three-star recruit and Wilson, Cole, Vermiglio, Rieskamp, Sweezy and Byers were all two-star recruits.
The skinny

Poor defense, brutal losses put Duke in familiar situation

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Duke has had five winning seasons since 1974, so it’s not like the current state of the program should come as a shock. But for a program that truly felt it had the chance to win at least six games, and reach a bowl, the current 1-3 record is embarrassing.
Duke has made progress under David Cutcliffe and has improved its speed and athletic ability. But at some point, the Devils have to win, or all the talk of turning this around starts to have a heard-this-before feel. The Blue Devils have lost three straight games, each of which was devastating in its own right.
The 54-48 loss at Wake Forest only continued the chasm between the two programs. The Deacons are established now under Jim Grobe and even have an ACC title; Duke, with all its wealth and prestige, simply can’t beat the black and gold.
The Alabama game was on national TV and a great story line, but Duke didn’t hold up its side of the deal and lost 62-13. More humiliation followed Saturday, with Army roaring out front and winning 35-21 at Wallace Wade Stadium.
Now Duke is 1-3 and has to win Saturday at Maryland to have any chance of saving this season.
What has killed Duke is what has always killed Duke – poor defense. The Blue Devils are last in the ACC in scoring defense (44.5 points per game) and last in rushing defense (229.2). You combine all that with a ground game giving you just 144.5 yards per game – 9th in the ACC – and you’re playing pitch and catch and hope for the best.
Cutcliffe is a great guy and solid coach.  But this brutal start for the Blue Devils is a reminder of just how difficult the road ahead is for Duke.
The skinny

Yes, we love pro sports in the Triangle – just different teams

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My new preacher just moved to the area. When I told him I was sorry I hadn’t met him yet because I’d been at Redskins games the last two Sundays, he said, “Oh really? There aren’t many pro fans around here are there?” That’s understandable. After all, the Triangle area is a well-known hotbed for college sports. But also, there is little enthusiasm for the Panthers in our area – and it’s not only just because Charlotte’s team is struggling.

There are so many historic-minded Redskins fans still here plus fans are diluted because so many have moved here from other areas and have remained loyal to their teams. Pro fans are actually pretty rabid here – just not for the Panthers. Even when the Panthers were in the Super Bowl, the fan support was wide but not very deep. It was really just an excuse to party. I remember Panther fans leaving the bars laughing and having a good time. An area Redskins fan or Steelers fan or Packers fan or Cowboys fan or even a Bills fan (they have a big fan club here) would be down or ticked or otherwise unhappy.

I’m not saying that there aren’t die-hard Panthers fans but most were fans of other teams before becoming a Panthers fan. So, if the Panthers lose or aren’t doing well on the season, they have another team to follow. Plus, there is still that Raleigh vs. Charlotte thing.

The Carolina Hurricanes mesmerized the Triangle area in 2006 when they went on that miraculous Stanley Cup run. People in Charlotte seemed to care very little and only followed it in passing. It was nearly all-encompassing in the Triangle area yet hardly a blip on the radar in Charlotte.

People in our area take buses to Atlanta to see the Braves or Boston to see the Red Sox or New York to see the Yankees or even Baltimore to see the Orioles. When is the last time you heard of a busload of fans traveling from Charlotte to Raleigh to watch the Hurricanes or fans traveling from Raleigh to Charlotte to watch the Bobcats? I do remember a bus trip of fans traveling to Charlotte to watch the Panthers but a number of the fans going were rooting for the other team.

A friend of mine who went to a Steelers at Panthers game once said that by the fourth quarter, there were more Steelers fans there than Panthers fans. I saw the same thing at a Redskins at Panthers preseason game once.

There are a lot of strong fan clubs in the area who are very active. In fact, I’m a member of one of them – Triangle Red Sox Nation, which raised more money for the Jimmy Fund charity this year than any club outside of the Boston area. Because we aren’t all solidified behind one team, it might appear to an newcomer that the Triangle area doesn’t care about professional sports. But that’s just not true.

The skinny

First drive of second half plus key pressure on QB leads to UNC win

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North Carolina drove 80 yards in 14 plays on its first drive of the second half and the defense came up with five sacks and a pair of interceptions as the Tar Heels won at Rutgers, 17-13.

Down 10-0 early and 10-7 at the half, UNC’s T.J. Yates led the Heels on the go-ahead drive, which included four third-down conversions.

On third-and-11 at his own 33, Yates threw a sharp, accurate 28-yard sideline pass to Jheranie Boyd to keep the drive alive. On third-and-5 from the Rutgers 35, Yates took a step back from center and hit a sprinting Dwight Jones on a play that went 18 yards.

On third-and-12 from the 18-yard-line, Carolina took advantage of an obvious pass interference for another first down – this time at the 11.

On third-and-4 from the five, Yates hit Ryan Taylor, who bulled into the end zone after slanting across the middle. (He lost the handle on the ball after crossing the goal.)

The Tar Heels took their first lead at 14-10 after the seven-minute drive and never trailed again as the defense held on.

With Rutgers within a point at 14-13 in the fourth quarter, UNC’s Bruce Carter blocked a punt and the Heels ended up at the Rutgers 35. The offense moved it down but settled for a Casey Barth 26-yard field goal to up the lead to 17-13.

UNC’s Quinton Coples picked up two of this three quarterback sacks on the ensuing Rutgers drive but the Scarlet Knights still managed to drive to the UNC 19 before Matt Merletti came up with a drive-ending interception.

Rutgers got one more chance with a couple of minutes left but Carolina’s defense stopped them on four downs. On third down, UNC’s Tydreke Powell came up with the Heels’ fifth sack. Carolina ran out the clock.

Random Thoughts: Yates, who went 22 of 30 for 204 yards, has quelled thoughts of Bryn Renner taking over the QB position. He is having an excellent season and would be more highly acclaimed if the Heels had managed to win against LSU or Georgia Tech.

Rutgers is not as good as LSU or Georgia Tech and the Tar Heels should probably have handled them a little easier. They very well might have had Rutgers not owned an 11-minute time of possession advantage. If not for that long Carolina drive at the beginning of the second half, Rutgers would have really had a large possession advantage. Two fumbles and an interception off the hands of a receiver ended drives early for Carolina.

The Tar Heels allowed only 244 yards of total offense, including just 98 yards in the second half.

There’s really no excuse that television misses the first half of the opening quarter. With technology, those of us in North Carolina and New Jersey should be able to be switched to the start of the game. The Maryland game, which had a long official review with two minutes left and the Terrapins owning a two-touchdown advantage, was virtually over yet viewers were stuck with that game. ESPN does not allow enough time between games when setting the schedule.

The announcers seemingly couldn’t talk enough about UNC linebacker Bruce Carter. They loved calling him “The Freak” over and over. He did have a very good game with a blocked punt and an impressive interception return. He was portrayed almost as a one-man defense yet Coples had three sacks, nine tackles and QB hurry while Quan Sturdivant had a game-high 12 tackles.

And let’s stop all the talk about Carter, or anyone else for that matter, playing on Sundays in the NFL. College football fans and fans of Carolina, for the most part, couldn’t care less about who plays in the NFL next year or the year after. It’s all about this team, this season, this game, this down. That kind of talk minimizes college ball.

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The skinny

Pack’s Wilson worthy of Heisman consideration

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N.C. State has had only five players who were Heisman Trophy level players.  One of them is Russell Wilson.
You had to be impressed by the Wolfpack Saturday. State pushed its record to 4-0 with a 45-28 victory at Georgia Tech, the defending ACC champions, with a complete win that showed how much progress the Wolfpack has made. That victory win sets up a huge game Saturday in Raleigh as Virginia Tech arrives.
State’s defense was terrific, at least until the fourth quarter. The Wolfpack could do what North Carolina couldn’t, and that is jam the lanes against Tech’s option and keep the Jackets from streaking downfield.
It seems like Wilson has been around so long it’s easy to take him for granted. But his numbers, and poise on the field, are extraordinary. Wilson blistered Tech with 368 yards, three touchdowns passing and one rushing.
You had to be impressed when he watched. There were so many plays that stood out to me, but one was a simple throw on third down in the fourth quarter as State drove for a decisive score. State called a quick throw to the sideline to a receiver, who had a blocker downfield. Wilson delivered a calm, crisp pass that caught the receiver in stride, and the Pack earned a first down.
Josh Nesbitt, meanwhile, had a similar throw on Tech’s next possession, and missed.
N.C. State has never had a player finish higher than sixth in the Heisman voting:
@ In 1961, quarterback Roman Gabriel finished ninth . Ernie Davis of Syracuse won the award.
@ In 1978 running back Ted Brown was sixth (Billy Sims of Oklahoma won).
@ In 1998, receiver Torry Holt was eighth (Ricky Williams, Texas)
@ In 2003, quarterback Philip Rivers was seventh (Jason White, Oklahoma).
White is playing at a level equal or better than those, and that’s saying a great because those five are all-time stars. 
ESPN’s most recent Heisman Watch voting among its experts did not mention Wilson in the top 12. There are some great players in there – Denard Robinson, Andrew Luck, Mark Ingram – but White is worthy of voting.
Truthfully, he’s more than that. He is playing at a level worthy of the award. And if State keeps winning, you’ll hear his name more as the fall unfolds.
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Should former UNC tutor remain a Durham teacher?

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You have to admire the impressive reporting by The News  & Observer to ferret out the name of the tutor who worked with the North Carolina football players. Newspapers have had their woes, but the paper has pushed hard on this story and generally dominated the news (although InsideCarolina’s Greg Barnes also has been terrific, and he had the initial scoop that broke the story open).
Now, the Durham public school system has a decision to make.
According to The News & Observer, the tutor, Jennifer L. Wiley, is now teaching elementary school in Durham. If it turns out Wiley helped athletes cheat on their papers at UNC, should she should be teaching at all?
No wonder the Durham school system dodged the paper’s questions. The N&O said Wiley’s father said she had hired representation, but he would not give the name of her attorney.
Let’s face it – it would look terrible for a teacher to be working with kids if that happened. It doesn’t help Wiley’s case that UNC says she has not been forthcoming with information.
But if she helped them cheat, you have to wonder if she should should retain her position.
The skinny, UNC

No. 1 Carolina women give up three goals; lose at home

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The rest of the country and the rest of the league may be catching up to the North Carolina women’s soccer team. The No. 4 ranked Boston College squad beat Carolina 3-2 in Chapel Hill Thursday night.

The loss drops the Heels to 8-1-1 and 0-1 in the ACC while Boston College improves to 8-0-1 and 1-0 in the league.

The victory was the first in BC history against the Heels, who had won all 11 meetings between the two teams. Carolina, which has won 20 of the 28 NCAA championships in women’s soccer, gave up three goals in a half for the first time since 1999 and lost their ACC opener for the first time since 2002. In those 20 national championship final victories the Heels have outscored their opponents 63-6.

“There’s no way we can afford to give up three goals and expect to beat anyone, so I was certainly disappointed in that,” UNC coach Anson Dorrance said. “But there were a lot of things I did like. [Boston College] had a veteran roster and I feel like for the majority of the game, we were riding them. If you look at the shot differential and corner kicks, we did some good things. So I was not entirely disappointed.”

The Tar Heels host Virginia Tech Sunday at 1 p.m.

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The skinny

Bagels with Russell Wilson, and a ‘huge’ opportunity for State

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If it’s Friday morning and you’re looking for N.C. State quarterback, where would you look? Bruegger’s bagels at North Hills, right?

Well, that’s correct. The Capital Sports Report was having a bagel and pondering the State-Georgia Tech game in a cozy corner of Bruegger’s when in walked Russell Wilson. Cool guy, by the way. If you’ve never met him, he’s much more muscular up close than you’d think, and just as well-spoken as on camera. Impressive guy.
So, on to Saturday. We expect Wilson to play well, but the difference in this game will be N.C. State’s defense.
State can score on Tech, just like North Carolina did. But Tech kills teams with big plays. The difference in that game in Chapel Hill was one Tech pitch to Orwin Smith that turned into a 73-yard touchdown. On that play, Smith burst through the left side quickly and Carolina’s inexperienced secondary was nowhere to close the gap.
State faces Georgia Tech with a defense featuring  similar personnel. Both State and Carolina have some talent, though inexperienced, on the defensive front backed by tremendous linebackers. But the secondary is more questionable, with UNC missing all four starters because of NCAA and academic issues and State having a young secondary.
The Wolfpack has two significant advantages going in. One is that it gets to look at vide of the UNC game and show its players where Carolina broke down. The other is the defense, with coordinator Mike Archer and new linebackers coach Jon Tenuta, has showed a knack for coming up with aggressive, but controlled, blitzes that snuff out offenses.
Asked about Tenuta, O’Brien said, “I think he’s contributed, how much I’m not sure. But certainly one of the things we talked about when I hired him was to help with our third-down defense. Our third-down defense is much better through first three games of the year.
“He’s helped us get off the field, which we had tremendous problems with a year ago.”
State allowed rivals to convert 42 percent of their third downs last year. This year, that number has dropped to 23.7 percent, by far the best number in the ACC.
O’Brien said State was running some blitz packages last year, but has been more successful this year in part because the defense is more familiar with it.
All that has put State in position to go 4-0 and win its ACC opener for the first time under O’Brien.
A win Saturday, O’Brien said, “I think it would be huge for this football team.”
The skinny

Consider attending one of these 10 area high school football games tonight

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Here are 10 football games that are within driving distance in the Triangle area tonight. In bold is the predicted winner. Most games are at 7:30 p.m. You might want to check with local officials as some games start at 7.
My record last week was 8-2 for a season total of 36-15.

Broughton at Millbrook, 7 p.m.

Cary at Holly Springs

Charlotte Country Day at Ravenscroft

East Chapel Hill at Durham Jordan

Enloe at Leesville Road, 7 p.m.

Knightdale at Southeast Raleigh

Lee County at Green Hope

Middle Creek at Athens Drive

Panther Creek at Apex

Wakefield at Sanderson, 7 p.m.

Check the scores in our Sports Roundup on the left navigation bar.

The skinny

UNC’s Thorp misses the point on importance of facilities

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North Carolina chancellor Holden Thorp had an excellent column in Thursday’s News & Observer that addresses the football situation. In that, he defends athletics director Dick Baddour and the school’s investigation into what happened with the players.

But Thorp made an assertion that is worth addressing. He wrote, “Better facilities will give us the ability to attract even better recruits who can succeed both in the classroom and on the field.”
In fact, the evidence in the Triangle shows just the opposite – better facilities do not lead directly to success on the field. UNC itself is a perfect example – the Kenan Football Center opened in 1997, but UNC’s football fortunes collapsed when Mack Brown left for Texas after that season. That facility, especially at the time, was astonishing, but Carolina still couldn’t win.
N.C. State has made multiple upgrades to Carter-Finley Stadium, all fueled by the promise of ever-improving records, and the Wolfpack has been rewarded with four straight losing seasons for the first time since the 1950s.
Duke moved into the swank Yoh Football Center in  2002 – and the Devils still haven’t won. The bottom line is quality coaches – especially quality assistant coaches – are more significant than facilities.