Duke, Featured stories, The skinny

Cutcliffe says Duke not discouraged going into Miami game

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Duke got close to beating Virginia Tech and now the Devils have a chance to beat Miami, a team not as powerful as Virginia Tech. But after losing so many close games, how are the Devils handling it.

“We’re handling it fine,” Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. “You could use the word ‘frustration’ and you could use the word ‘anger’. I thought we had a lot of that in the locker room and around here on Sunday. Those are okay. Those can be turned into positive emotion. Discouraged we’re not. We’re not going to be. We have nothing to be discouraged about. We’re playing well.”

Cutcliffe said in order for Duke to get over the hump, the players need to look inward to each get better. “The quality of the team is the collection of the quality and the habits of the people that are the part of the team,” he said. “That is our challenge, to try to take that to another level.”

Cutcliffe indicates that religion plays a part in his dealing with losses on Saturdays. “Before I go to church, I get a little look at the opponent. Then I find sometimes some way, somehow, I’m going to find some peace in that morning. By Sunday afternoon, I’m generally ready to go once I see the squad. I have my mind set on what we have to do. Somewhere along the way I have good people and the good Lord lifting me up, I think.”

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Roy Williams comments after 100-58 UNC win over Pembroke in exhibition

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“Those of you that have been here before, nights like this, have heard me talk about a glorified practice and it’s good for our guys to face somebody new. It’s good for us to see somebody that plays differently than we play, except for Coach Miller does believe in the same things that I do, so I think it was good for our team. I don’t think anybody was pleased with the start we got. We fumbled the first two times, our two starting guards got the ball and both fumbled it and it ends up going in the other direction.

“Right before the half, we put in three or four of the freshmen. I guess it was four of the freshmen and Reggie, and they gave us a great lift. And then early in the second half, the starters were back in and they were so much better, defensively. They had one field goal in the first four or five minutes, that was basically the basketball game.

“I was disappointed with our intensity level, on both ends of the court. We talked about really pushing the ball hard and running hard and I didn’t think we did that. We had two pitch a heads for layups and then Reggie got a steal and layup and that was the only three baskets we got out of our break the entire first half. We’ve got to get more than that. But they did a nice job of getting back and trying to stop the break and Coach Miller does a nice job in trying to get his guys to do what he wants them to. But those young guys throughout before the half and then P.J. shooting the ball in from three, those kind of things, needless to say helped, but I did like our defense much better in the second half.”

On P.J. Hairston:
“The first seven times I ever saw him play, he took a charge in every game. He’s better defensively than people give him credit for. He’s a better passer. Still needs to do a better job in putting the ball on the floor, but I thought he did some good things.”

On Leslie McDonald’s injury:
“We’ve said that when Leslie got hurt, some of the other guys would have to step up P.J. can really shoot the ball, Reggie can shoot the ball. For one thing, those guys are doing a nicer job on the defensive end of the board. But we miss having Leslie; there is no question about that.”

Featured stories, The skinny

Area teams jockey for playoff positions on final night of regular season

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In Week 11, the final week of the regular high school football season, many but not all teams know whether or not they’ll be in the playoffs. But several are going for conference titles tonight. Middle Creek should win the Tri-9 title with a victory over one-win Apex. If Apex pulls the upset Fuquay-Varina (48-47 losers to Middle Creek this year) would get first. Regardless, both are in the playoffs. The winner of tonight’s Cap Eight powerhouse matchup between Wake Forest-Rolesville and Leesville Road wins the conference. It will be rainy with temperatures in the 40s. Most games start at 7:30 p.m. You might want to check with local officials as some games start at 7. In bold below are the predicted winners. Last week my record was 11-0 for a 84-16 season mark.

Broughton at Sanderson

Cary at Athens Drive

Chapel Hill at Orange

Enloe at Millbrook

Harnett County at Garner

Heritage at Wakefield

Lee at Holly Springs

Middle Creek at Apex

Northern Durham at Durham Hillside

Wake Forest-Rolesville at Leesville Road

Panther Creek at Green Hope

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Withers says Carolina just needs to hang on to the ball

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North Carolina has lost two games in a row and Coach Everett Withers says that the way to get back on track is to secure the ball. The Tar Heels turned the ball over six times in a 59-38 loss to Clemson last weekend.

“The main thing is just taking care of the ball,” Withers said. “I think if we take care of the ball, we can be as good as any
team in this conference, if we take care of the ball.”

Withers said that his Heels have a good running game and that helps QB Bryn Renner in the passing game. “If we
can keep the ball, we don’t have to play as many snaps on defense,” he said. “It helps our young secondary on defense. It’s just been a matter of turnovers, not turning it over and giving our defense a chance to make some, and that’s been a big emphasis for us.”

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Carolina’s Homecoming vs. Wake in ’75 was an “embarrassment” on and off the field

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North Carolina hosts Wake Forest on Homecoming this Saturday. One of the first times, if not the first time, that Carolina played Wake on Homecoming came in 1975.

While the Occupy Wall Street crowd isn’t as large as the anti-Vietnam War crowd and there isn’t the same attention that was paid to Watergate, there are similarities and differences between the eras.

There was much cynicism between young people and “the establishment” through much of the 1970s. This cynicism led to some students thinking traditions like Homecoming were corny.

Perhaps partly as a result of that cynicism, one male student (Delmar Williams) ran for Homecoming queen in 1975 – and won. Many said it made a farce out of the tradition. While UNC Athletics Director Homer Rice called it an “embarrassment,” his office reached a compromise where Williams was called Homecoming king (and received all the honors the queen would receive) and the second place vote getter (Paula Long) was named Honorary Homecoming queen. Carolina lost the game to Wake Forest 21-9. Each team wound up the season with only three wins.

The system for electing a queen has been changed dramatically where it is tough, if not impossible, for someone to pull shenanigans such as that. Plus, there is a Homecoming king today as well. I have written a piece on the history of Homecoming at UNC which will be used by the UNC General Alumni Association so keep an eye out for it.

There was an article in the Charlotte Observer a couple of years ago about the life of Delmar Williams, the Homecoming king of 1975. If you’d like to read it, please click here.

Featured stories, The skinny

Hurricanes to play eight of next 12 games at RBC Center

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Carolina begins its third of 16 sets of back-to-back games in 2011-12 on Friday against Chicago. The Hurricanes are 0-2-2 thus far this season in back-to-back games, including a 0-1-1 mark in the front halves, and a 0-1-1 record in the back halves of those sets. The Hurricanes played 21 sets of back-to-back games in 2010-11, and went 21-15-6 in those contests.

Against the West: The Hurricanes went 10-6-2 against Western Conference opponents in 2010-11 and are 0-0-1 so far this season. Carolina next matches up against a Western Conference opponent on Nov. 6 when it hosts Dallas at RBC Center.

Home Cooking: The Hurricanes play four of five, and eight of their next 12 games at the RBC Center, including Friday’s game against Chicago. Carolina welcomes the Tampa Bay Lightning (Nov. 1), Washington Capitals (Nov. 4) and Dallas Stars (Nov. 6) to the RBC Center in the next 10 days. The Hurricanes are 1-1-1 at home this season.

Skinner Season 2.0: 2011 Calder Trophy winner Jeff Skinner leads the Hurricanes and is tied for sixth in the NHL (through Oct. 26) with 10 points (4g, 6a) in the first nine games of 2011-12. Skinner has goals/points (2g, 2a) in two straight, his third point streak this season of two games or more. Skinner manufactured a season-long five-game point streak, as well as a three-game assists streak in his rookie season. Skinner skated in all 82 games last season, collecting 62 points (31g, 32a) and 46 penalty minutes.

Pitkanen Among Leaders: Joni Pitkanen is once again among the NHL leaders in time on ice (TOI) per game. The 28-year-old is 15th in the NHL in TOI per game (25:05 – through games of Oct. 26). Pitkanen led the NHL in 2009-10 (27:22) and was 13th last season (25:01). Offensively, Pitkanen leads Carolina defensemen and is tied for ninth among NHL blueliners with six points (2g, 4a) through games on Oct. 26. Pitkanen collected five points (2g, 3a) during a three game point streak (Oct. 12-18).

Staal on the Power Play: Eric Staal is tied for second in the NHL with three power play goals through games on Oct. 26. The Hurricanes’ captain netted two power play goals at Washington (10/8) and a 5-on-3 goal in Carolina’s 4-1 win at Boston (10/18). Staal has 89 career power play goals, second-most in franchise history (Ron Francis – 132).

Plus Gleason: Through games of Oct. 26, Hurricanes blueliner Tim Gleason is tied for fifth in the NHL with a plus-6 plus/minus rating, and is tied for fourth on the team with three assists. The defenseman recorded two assists on Oct. 12 against Boston marking his first multi-point effort since Nov. 17, 2010 against Ottawa. Gleason is 11 assists shy of his 100th NHL assist.

Strong in the Circle: Alternate captain Brandon Sutter, now in his fourth NHL season, is tied for 21st in the NHL in face off percentage (54.9%) through games of Oct. 26. He has won 90-of-164 draws in nine games this season. Sutter has four points in the last six games (2 goals, 2 assists).

Shorthanded Success: Carolina scored a pair of shorthanded goals in a 4-3 win at Buffalo (10/14), marking the first time since March 3, 2009 that the Hurricanes collected two or more shorthanded tallies in a game. Brandon Sutter and Tim Brent provided the first shorthanded goals of the season for the Hurricanes, who rank tied for second in the NHL for shorthanded goals through games of Oct. 26. The record for most shorthanded goals in a game in Carolina franchise history is three – on April 7, 2006, in a 4-3 win against Washington.

Special Teams: The Hurricanes are 7-of-46 (15.2%) on the man advantage this season. Carolina has killed 19 of its opponent’s last 23 power plays (82.6 percent since Oct. 12) and is 30-of-39 (76.9%) for the season on the kill.

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny

Duke comes off another close loss to Wake to face Va. Tech

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It’s been years since Duke beat Wake Forest even though the games have been close. Last week, the Devils fell 24-23. The scores the previous years, all losses, were 54-48, 45-34, 33-30, 41-36 and 14-13. Duke coach David Cutliffe takes a lot of the responsibility but the Devils have to look forward to a game against heavily favored Virginia Tech.

QUESTION: It’s almost unbelievable the number of close agonizing losses you guys have had to Wake Forest over the years and during your tenure —

COACH DAVID CUTCLIFFE: I needed that. I’m just
kidding.

QUESTION CONTINUED: Do you have any rational explanation for it? And more importantly, do you worry at all about hangover from that game going into the next one?

COACH CUTCLIFFE: Well, I think you
always worry about hangover when you come out
of games that hurt so badly. I don’t have any
rational explanation other than I don’t think I’ve
coached very well. It just bothers me. I mean, I’m
not just saying that. It sincerely bothers me, but I
can’t do anything about it right now other than try
to be the best I can be. But it’s a very difficult thing
to deal with as a coach, and certainly our players
have had a difficult time with it.

But no indication of a hangover today. We
don’t have that excuse or a reason. I mean, we
know what we have dead in front of us, and that’s
a great football team, so we’d best prepare. And
they did a good job of doing that today. I was very
pleased with our practice today.

QUESTION: You mentioned you don’t think you’ve coached very well. Is there anything, when you look back on the most recent one, that you second-guess yourself on a particular decision or anything?

COACH CUTCLIFFE: No, it’s not those kinds
of things. When we played like we played the first
half, we have discipline issues, way too many
penalties, our execution suffers, we have some
assignment issues.

As a coach your job is to put a
team out there prepared. And then the last part in
the fourth quarter when you don’t finish a game like
you know you’re capable of finishing it, we had a
cluster of bad plays. We missed an opportunity to
score a touchdown to go up ten, instead had to
kick a field goal. And then we kicked off and didn’t
cover it very well, and then they scored on one
play 66 yards. Then they kicked it to us and we
didn’t return it very well. And then we went
three-and-out on offense when you have to
answer. That’s all 100 percent my responsibility.
Teams don’t cluster those kinds of mistakes that
are well-coached football teams. Just being real
honest with you, it really bothers me. You have to
take a look at yourself and what you’re getting
done.

Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny

State needs to keep up the enthusiasm against FSU

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N.C. State is coming off two straight wins going into this weekend’s game against Florida State. Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien says it is important that his player look forward and not to the success they’ve had the past couple of weeks.

QUESTION: You’ve won two in a row now. Is there anything you were particularly pleased with from last week’s game that you’re telling the kids, all right, this is exactly what I want, keep it up for this week?

COACH TOM O’BRIEN: Well, I think it’s a
combination that we started — we were so
devastated injury-wise and we started to get some
guys back by the first game, and certainly the
off-week allowed — we had a lot of guys just beat
up in themselves, and then getting (J.R.) Sweezy
back and a couple others for Virginia, after being
able to try to put a defense back together for a
couple weeks, I think that was the biggest thing
that happened. It was people and the players.

They played with a lot of enthusiasm, knew that
they were going up a really good Virginia football
team, coming off a great win against Georgia Tech,
and it was a very good victory for us to go on the
road and win a game.

QUESTION: Each year’s team is a new thing, and prior to the Virginia game your three wins had been at home where people would have perceived you as the favorite. How important is it, and how much morale boost do you think your players got from beating an ACC team on the road?

COACH O’BRIEN: Well, it should be a good
boost for them to understand how difficult it is.

This league is very difficult to go on the road and to
win, especially when you go play a good team and
a team like Virginia who was 4-2 at that point and
coming off a great win the week before. It caught
their attention being the NC State football team
and what a great team Virginia was and how great
they were playing.

But that one is by us, and we have to look
forward to Florida State. We can’t be looking in the
rear view mirror. We have to get focused on
Florida State or you can get run out of the ballpark
down there.

Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny, UNC

State’s Cole, UNC’s Brown named Butkus Award semifinalists

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North Carolina senior linebacker Zach Brown and N.C. State senior linebacker Audie Cole have been named as semifinalists for the 2011 Butkus Award®, which is presented annually to the nation’s top linebacker.

Brown leads the Tar Heels with 53 tackles, including seven for losses and 4.5 sacks. Cole has 59 tackles and 2.5 sacks.

The 12 collegiate semi-finalists include five returning nominees. Finalists will be announced Nov. 22 and winners will be announced by Dec. 7.

“This Award is about honoring linebackers at all levels, and reminding them that they have a responsibility to serve as rolemodels and to give back to society,” said Dick Butkus, the legendary Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker.

Collegiate 2011 Butkus Award Semi-Finalists:
Zach Brown University of North Carolina
Vontaze Burfict Arizona State University
Audie Cole North Carolina State University
Lavonte David University of Nebraska
Dont’a Hightower* University of Alabama
Luke Kuechly Boston College
Travis Lewis* University of Oklahoma
Keenan Robinson* University of Texas
Sean Spence* University of Miami (Fla.)
Manti Te’o* University of Notre Dame
Courtney Upshaw University of Alabama
Jarvis Jones University of Georgia
* Denotes 2010 Semi-Finalist

Brett Friedlander of the Wilmington Star News just wrote a piece titled “ACC is home of the nation’s top quarterbacks.” To read it, please click here.

Featured stories, Redskins, The skinny

Redskins do their part in killing out their NC fans

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Twenty years ago, if the Washington Redskins were to play a game in Charlotte, they would have been considered the home team. Still, today, even with the Panthers franchise in Charlotte, a DirecTV survey indicates that there are more Redskins fans in the Triangle area of North Carolina than any other “out-of-market” team.

But the Redskins poor effort in Charlotte during a 33-20 loss to the Panthers today further erodes support for the old Burgundy and Gold, that in past years featured North Carolinians Sonny Jurgensen, Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice, Chris Hanburger and many others.

When the Carolina Panthers played their first game in 1995, most of the fans in North Carolina were Redskins fans. At a preseason game between the Redskins and Panthers in Charlotte that first year, there were as many Redskins fans as Panthers fans and many of the Panthers fans were wearing a Redskins hat and a Panthers shirt or vice versa.

But the NFL made an effort to convert Redskins fans to Panthers fans, in part, by putting the Panthers in the NFC rather than the AFC. In comparison, the Dallas franchise and the Houston franchise were put in different conferences. TV watchers in that market could watch either or both. While Jacksonville was put in the AFC, which also has Miami, fans in Florida could watch either game on local TV (because of market population and media outlets). However, by virtue of the Panthers being put in the NFC, the Redskins were taken off TV in North Carolina, even in the eastern part of the state where fans could get to DC quicker than they could get to Charlotte. TV stations in eastern North Carolina requested Redskins games instead of Panthers games and were denied, again, because they wanted to convert (or as I call it kill out) Redskins fans in North Carolina.

A radio station in Raleigh even had a promotion where Redskins fans could trade in their Skins t-shirts for a Panthers shirt and they were going to have a bonfire to burn the Redskins attire. Not realizing the seriousness of Redskins fans in North Carolina, except for the casual Redskins fan, there was little interest and it just pissed off the Redskins’ fans.

After having watched the Redskins on local TV for more than 30 years and listening on local radio for more than 50 years, Redskins fans were mad as hell. Only hatred of Dallas surpasses that of the Panthers. That makes the 33-20 loss today even more stinging.

In a bit of irony, those seeking to bring a team to Charlotte back in the ’90s urged the NFL to have the Redskins play an exhibition game in Chapel Hill to help prove that “the Carolinas” would support a team. The game was well attended and the boisterous fans helped make the case. Of course it proved that people would come see the Redskins – a Chargers vs. Browns game would not have gotten nearly as many excited fans to the stadium. But the fans were certainly loud and into it.

Back in the ’90s, I spoke with Mike McCormack, one of those initial investors in a Charlotte team, who admitted that the group wanted the Charlotte team to be placed in the NFC. In fact, he wanted the Panthers in the NFC East to compete directly against the Redskins. Of course, again, what that would do (and did indeed do) was to take the Redskins off local TV all over North Carolina.

The fans who did remain loyal to the Redskins felt a sense of satisfaction the first six times the two teams played against each other from 1995 to 2001. The Redskins won all six of them. But since 2003, the Panthers have beaten the Redskins three out of four times. The Panthers won 20-17 in 2003 and in 2009 while losing 17-13 in 2006.

Over an 11-year period starting in 1982, the Redskins went to the playoffs eight times, played in the Super Bowl four times and won three Super Bowls. But considering the Redskins play since the Panthers have been in the league, it’s amazing that there are as many Redskins fans in North Carolina as there are. Since, 1995, the Panthers first year, the Redskins have only been to the playoff three times and have a 2-3 record. Also since 1995, the Redskins regular season record is just 118-143-1. The Panthers aren’t much better with a 121-142 record but they have been to a Super Bowl and gone 6-4 in the playoffs.

The interest in the Panthers from Raleigh to the coast isn’t great, in fact it’s rather poor, but will this game today finally kill off the Redskins fans in North Carolina? It certainly won’t affect the die-hards but some fans have tired of the losing and all the drama that owner Dan Synder has brought. Most media attention is focused on the Carolina Panthers and Cam Newton has brought some excitement. Certainly, young kids that don’t remember the Redskins glory days may very well grow up being Panthers fans even if they live in places like Rocky Mount and Wilson that are closer to DC than to Charlotte.

It’s sad for older Redskins fans in North Carolina. It could have all been avoided if the Panthers were put in the AFC. The Redskins could have been a fan’s favorite NFC team and the Panthers could have been that same fan’s favorite AFC team. But money is involved and the plan was to force the Panthers on North Carolinians to make the Panthers viable with more market population. Similarly they used the name “Carolina” instead of “Charlotte” to tell people in North and South Carolina that the Panthers are now your team.

It certainly makes sense to push the Panthers in Charlotte and that area but to expect Redskins fans in eastern North Carolina to follow the Panthers was and is a little much.

“We had a ton of fans here so it is a disappointment,” former Redskins player and TV announcer Rick “Doc” Walker. “It’s tough to deal with but Cam Newton and Steve Smith were just better.”

As for the game itself, rookie Newton was 18 of 23 for 256 yards and a TD run and TD pass. Smith had seven receptions (two or three of which that were sensational) for 143 yards. The Redskins were ripe for the picking. They were starting a new quarterback this week who hasn’t played in four years (John Beck). They were playing without All-Pro tight end Chris Cooley, starting safety Oshiomogho Atogwe (who was the franchise tag player for the Rams two years ago) and two starting offensive linemen who were all injured.

During the Panthers game, the Redskins lost starting runningback Tim Hightower to a knee injury (and he might be gone for the season) as well as All-Pro receiver Santana Moss to a broken hand. Also, linebacker London Fletcher, who has a record 169 straight starts, injured a hamstring and is in doubt of continuing his start streak next Sunday. Others injured during the game included lineman Jamaal Brown, cornerback Josh Wilson and safety Reed Doughty.

The Redskins fall to 3-3 while the Panthers improve to 2-5. With those records, maybe a NFL team in Raleigh is in order. Joking.