North Carolina, which was considered a Top 15 team before the season, has been shorthanded all year and the ABC crowd has been having a field day with all the off-field troubles in Chapel Hill. But the guys left on the team have managed to win four games in a row and Saturday defeated the Cavaliers in Virginia (44-10) for the first time since 1981.

On the other hand, N.C. State, which was expected to be slightly above average, started off the season in dominating fashion and ran out to a 4-0 record and was ranked in the national polls. Expectations rose and thoughts ran wild. But the Pack has lost two of its last three games including an overtime loss (33-27) in Greenville against East Carolina.

East Carolina, with a new coach and few starters returning, was expected to have a losing season but the Pirates are now 4-2 and in the driver’s seat in their conference. Historically, the Pirates may be an underdog when they play ACC teams but they are 4-4 against State over the two teams’ last eight games.

State and Carolina, in opposite divisions of the ACC, are each 2-1 in league play. The Pack stands at 5-2 overall while the Heels are 4-2.

Wolfpack QB Russell Wilson has been unstoppable in the wins but human in the losses – he had three interceptions against East Carolina. Heels QB T.J. Yates was much maligned coming into the season but he’s only thrown one interception all season and was 17 of 22 for 325 yards with three touchdowns against Virginia.

Nothing has been consistent this season so you can’t say the two quarterbacks or the two teams are headed in opposite directions but it’s interesting how many twists and turns there have been – and the season is only half over.

Miami wanted to get out some frustrations after losing to Florida State last week but the Hurricanes had 90 yards in penalties, lost a couple of fumbles and couldn’t put the Devils away.

However, Duke’s Sean Renfree threw five interceptions, some of them tipped balls, and the Devils fell 28-13 at home. One interception was returned for a touchdown. Take away that pass and maybe just one other interception and it was a winnable game.

After a rather lackluster dance/skit show during UNC’s annual Late Nite with Roy basketball season tipoff, the Carolina players divided up into two teams and played to a 31-31 tie during the 20-minute scrimmage Friday night.

The White team, led by freshman Harrison Barnes’ unofficial 13 points, led the entire game, even getting up by 12 at one point. But behind Dexter Strickland’s unofficial game-leading 16 points, the Blue team chopped away at the lead before freshman Reggie Bullock sank a three to tie it at 31-31 and that’s the way it ended.

John Henson passed up an open three to give it over to Bullock who drained the tying bucket from the top of the key.

The play started out sloppy with two turnovers and three missed shots in the first minute. The crowd of maybe 16,000 plus didn’t really get into it until Barnes broke free for a fastbreak dunk to give the White an 8-0 lead. He got the crowd buzzing again with a dunk after driving the lane to make it 13-4.

Barnes also scored to give the White its biggest lead at 28-16. The Blue scored seven straight including five from Strickland to narrow the lead to 28-23 with 3:25 to go.

When Leslie McDonald popped in a three with three minutes left, it appeared to be in hand for the White team at 31-23.

But the White team never scored again and the Blue team went on an 8-0 run. Strickland tossed in a three and then fed Henson a nifty pass for two to draw the Blue within three at 31-28 with 1:25 left.

It stayed that way until Bullock’s three which ended the game in a 31-all tie.

Transfer Justin Knox muscled in for a couple of baskets during the scrimmage to give the Tar Heel fans a glimpse at his power. The 6-foot-9, 240-pounder is the strongest-looking player on the court.

The night started with a women’s basketball skit, dance and scrimmage. None of it was particularly entertaining (in fact the men proved to be better dancers later) but there were a couple of nice moments especially when cancer survivor Jessica Breland returned to the team being introduced last, wearing a pink uniform.

UNC grad and ESPN announcer Stuart Scott hosted the evening and often spoke about the pride all Carolina fans should have. He addressed the football scandal when he said, “This year has been a little tough” adding that because of the tradition Carolina has it was “hard to believe it could happen here.”

He praised the university for its response to the scandal and said the football team still “looks pretty good.”

Highlights of the men’s portion of the show included seeing John Henson in a Carolina Snuggie, seeing the coaches – including Roy Williams – dance with a dancing cane, and watching the videos, featuring players and Williams, which were takeoffs of popular commercials.

Carolina hosts Barton College in an exhibition game on Friday, Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Photo Gallery

NEWS RELEASE – University of North Carolina senior tailback Ryan Houston has been cleared to play and will make his 2010 debut Saturday at Virginia. A native of Charlotte, Houston was held out of the first five games of the season while the University worked with the NCAA to determine his eligibility status.

Doc Moseman, a pioneer of the sports handicapping industry, says the Carolina Hurricanes will need a lot of things to go right just to approach the 80 points they got last year in a disappointing, non-playoff season.

“It always seems to be all or nothing with these Carolina Hurricanes,” Moseman says. “In their 13-year existence they have missed the playoffs seven times but have also reached the Stanley Cup Finals twice and the Eastern Conference Finals three times. Unfortunately this year has more the look of a ‘nothing’ year than an ‘all’ year.”

The Hurricanes have a lot of youth and a lot of questions, he says. “This is a full-fledged rebuilding process,” Moseman says.

A lot of veterans are gone as the Hurricanes have a youth movement which includes 18-year-old Jeff Skinner. “The only way fans may recognize the Hurricanes is by their colors and veteran holdovers, captain Eric Staal and goalie Cam Ward,” Moseman says.

Of course you can throw in veterans Erik Cole, Jussi Jokinen and Chad LaRose in there too but the point is well taken.

Two years after compiling an impressive 97 points and a year after finishing with 80 points, Carolina’s over/under for points is 86.5. They are long shots to win the Southeast Division (+2000), Eastern Conference (+4000), and Stanley Cup (+6000). NHL odds are courtesy of BetUS.

Here are 10 football games that are within driving distance in the Triangle area. After today’s rain, Friday night’s weather is nice with virtually no chance at rain. 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 a perfect 10-0 for the first time this season. The season total is now 62-18.

Athens Drive at Panther Creek

East Chapel Hill at Northern Durham

Enloe at Broughton

Green Hope at Fuquay-Varina

Holly Springs at Apex

Jordan at Hillside

Leesville Road at Sanderson, 7 p.m.

Middle Creek at Cary

Northern Vance at Chapel Hill

Ravenscroft and North Raleigh Christian

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

If you haven’t been out to a women’s soccer match this season, Thursday night or Saturday afternoon would be a good time to go.

No. 2 UNC (11-1-1 and 3-1 in the ACC) hosts No. 7 Florida State (10-2 and 4-0 in the ACC) at 7 p.m. Thursday night while N.C. State (7-7 and 1-4 in the ACC), losers of four in a row including three by one goal, play host to Miami (8-4-1 and 2-2 in the ACC) at the same time.

The teams switch opponents for 1 p.m. matches on Saturday. State’s game against Florida State will be the Wolfpack’s final home game of the season. After this weekend, Carolina will have four ACC games left before the league tournament which is being held Nov. 3-7 in Cary while State has three ACC games remaining.

UNC Statistical Leaders
Goals: Alyssa Rich & Kealia Ohai, 7
Assists: Courtney Jones, 8
Points: Alyssa Rich, 19
Saves: Anna Sieloff, 27

NC State Statistical Leaders
Goals: Kristina Argiroff, 5
Assists: Kristina Argiroff, Tanya Cain, Jennie Krauser, 4
Points: Kristina Argiroff, 14
Saves: Kim Kern, 65

North Carolina senior quarterback T.J. Yates has the lowest interception percentage in the country at .063. Last year there were only three games in which he did not throw an interception.

UNC coach Butch Davis says Yates is not as overly protective and cautious with the ball. He says that from last year to this year, Yates has a greater understanding of the Tar Heels offense and what it takes to be successful in it.

He’s also been healthier. “For the first time in his career, he’s really had kind of a consecutive 15, 16, 17 months of health,” Davis says. “You cannot underestimate how important it is to go through an off-season where you can lift, and you can get bigger and stronger and quicker.

“And you can go through spring practice with the fractured ankle that he had and missed seven weeks, then with the shoulder surgery, I think those two things really kind of somewhat limited his ability to improve himself.”

Yates has only one interception in 160 attempts and that was a tipped pass off the hands of a receiver at Rutgers. The one interception is the fewest of any quarterback in the ACC. He had a string of 117 passes without an interception and has since thrown 61 passes without being picked off.