N.C. State is ranked 23rd in the new Associated Press college football poll and 25th in the newest USA Today poll. The Wolfpack, now 6-2 after Thursday’s comeback victory over Florida State, travels to Clemson, a 16-10 loser at Boston College, Saturday at noon.
All posts by Cliff Barnes
Panthers, Redskins have something in common – no offense
The offensive woes continue for both the Carolina Panthers and the Washington Redskins.
The Panthers’ Matt Moore threw three interceptions and the team ran for just 25 yards on the day as the Panthers were never really in it and fell 20-10 to the St. Louis Rams.
The Panthers, trailing just 10-3 in the second half, had the ball up to midfield when Steve Smith fumbled after making a catch. Five plays later, the Rams scored and the game was virtually out of reach at 17-3.
The Redskins’ Donovan McNabb spent much of the afternoon on the ground as he was hurried, knocked down and also sacked six times as the Redskins fell 37-25 to the Detroit Lions.
The Redskins had only 80 yards rushing, 30 of which came on a scramble by McNabb, who was benched in the last two minutes of the game with Redskins down just seven.
“Offensively speaking, they’ve got nothing,” Former Redskin John Riggins said of the Skins after the game. “The offensive line is a mess.”
The Redskins actually had the lead in the fourth quarter after Garner’s Brandon Banks ran a kickoff back 96 yards to give the Skins a 25-20 advantage.
The Redskins fall to 4-4 while the Panthers fall to 1-6.
First place on the line tonight – No, not in the ACC, in the UFL
If you don’t care about watching N.C. State host Florida State in college football tonight, you have an opportunity to watch a battle for first place in professional football instead. No, really. Omaha is hosting Las Vegas – on HDNet – in Ultimate Football League action.
The Las Vegas Locomotives lead the UFL with a 4-1 record while the Omaha Nighthawks are in second with a 3-1 mark. Each of the five teams in the league play eight games and the season is over by Thanksgiving.
The league, which is in its second season, also consists of the Florida Tuskers, the Sacramento Mountain Lions and the those scary Hartford Colonials.
Big-name players in the league include Daunte Culpepper, Maurice Clarett, Jeff Garcia, Ahman Green, Nick Novak and Todd Sauerbrun. Coaches include Dennis Green, Jay Gruden and Jim Fassel.
The Florida Tuskers have the most players from the Atlantic Coast Conference with eight, including Novak, the former Maryland kicker who was the ACC’s all-time leading scorer and who started his career with the Redskins. Safety Nate Salley, who played three seasons with the Carolina Panthers, plays with the Tuskers as does lineman Steve Justice of Wake Forest who was cut by the Panthers in preseason. Maurice Hicks, a runningback out of North Carolina A&T, also plays for the Tuskers, who stand at 2-3.
The Las Vegas Locomotives have seven players who played in the ACC including Bobby Rome, a fullback out of UNC, and Steve Hauschka, the former N.C. State kicker. The Hartford Colonials also have seven players from the ACC including defensive lineman Jonas Seawright from UNC, defensive lineman Vince Oghobaase from Duke and offensive lineman Orrin Thompson from Duke.
The Omaha Nighthawks have four players on their roster who played in the ACC including linebacker Patrick Thomas from N.C. State. Guard Junius Coston of NC A&T also plays for the Nighthawks, who play at Rosenblatt Stadium, which is sold out for tonight’s game.
The Sacramento Mountain Lions have no players who played in the ACC.
Games are played on Thursdays, Fridays or Saturdays and are broadcast on either HDNet or Versus.
A team based in Virginia joins the league next season. The general manager of that team is Doug Williams, the Super Bowl XXII hero for the Washington Redskins. The team president is UVA grad Ed Reynolds, who was team MVP as a linebacker for the New England Patriots in 1989.
For more, read this article on NBCSports.com titled Can the UFL Succeed?
High school football season dwindling down; check out one of these games Friday
Here are 10 football games that are within driving distance in the Triangle area this Friday night. Friday night’s weather is expected to be clear and about 50 degrees with no chance of rain. Most games are 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. My record of predicting games was 8-2 last week, making the season total now 80-20, which of course is 80 percent accuracy.
Athens Drive at Apex
East Chapel Hill at Hillside
Garner at East Wake
Green Hope at Holly Springs
Harrells Academy at Ravenscroft
Lee County at Panther Creek
Middle Creek at Fuquay-Varina
Northern Durham at Southern Durham
Orange at Cardinal Gibbons
WF-Rolesville at Millbrook, 7 p.m.
Broughton plays at Wakefield tonight at 7 p.m. while Enloe plays at Sanderson tonight at 7 p.m. Check the scores in our Sports Roundup on the left navigation bar.
What they’re saying after the Carolina Hurricanes home opener – a 3-0 loss
Washington Capitals 3, Carolina Hurricanes 0
Carolina Hurricanes Eric Staal
“We thought we were going to break through with one and get this crowd going. But it was unfortunate that it didn’t happen.”
The Sports Network
“Washington took a 1-0 lead just after the midway point of the first period. A John Erskine left-point shot hit David Steckel at the edge of the crease, causing him to fall into (Cam) Ward. While on the ice, Steckel dished over to Hendricks for a successful backhander, despite protests of illegal contact.”
Carolina Hurricanes Coach Paul Maurice
“I didn’t feel (the officials’) argument that Cam was expanding out into the player—in which case the player has the right to his own ice. For me, he didn’t. Cam was focused on the shot and their player came into him. So I didn’t agree with the call at all. I didn’t agree with the interpretation. I think he was absolutely wrong.”
Joe Beninati, Capitals Play-By-Play Announcer
“The Hurricanes were trying to put on a good show for their home crowd in their home opener, but the Capitals would not cooperate. The team discipline in the neutral zone had to be frustrating for the Canes. There wasn’t must room and as a result very little skating flow over large pockets of play.”
Corey Masisak of CSNwashington.com
“(Capitals’ coach) Bruce Boudreau said he felt this was the team’s most complete effort of the season, and the statistics agree. The Capitals thwarted five Carolina power plays, won 58.6 percent of the faceoffs, blocked 16 shots and held the Hurricanes to only 10 attempts on goal in the final period despite a spirited comeback effort.”
Luke DeCock, News & Observer sportswriter
“If there’s one area in which this franchise indisputably leads the NHL, it’s the ability to grill and chill before a game. What the Hurricanes may occasionally lack on the ice, their fans make up for on the asphalt.”
What they’re saying about the Carolina Hurricanes home opener – finally
Washington Capitals at Carolina Hurricanes, tonight at 7 p.m.
Carolina Hurricanes Coach Paul Maurice:
“I don’t think we’re going to fight trying to keep that emotion or that energy down tonight. I think tonight you want to try to use the home crowd. We are ready to get caught up a little bit in the home opener and put a bit of a show on, as long as you don’t take it to extremes and don’t try to do things with the puck that you shouldn’t because you’re at home. That’s the real danger here against Washington, is if you try to get real fancy on them they’ll burn you.”
Washington Capitals Defenseman Mike Green:
“I don’t know what it is. It’s not quite a rivalry ,but our games are always interesting against those guys. They play hard, they’ve got some great players and I don’t know what it is against that team, but it’s always a nailbiter, that’s for sure. There’s not a second where you can take a break with these guys. They work their bags off and we know that and expect that from them.”
Associated Press Sportswriter Joedy McCreary
“The young Carolina Hurricanes have proven those skeptics wrong who predicted they might be eliminated from the playoff chase before their home opener. They wound up emerging from a daunting season-opening seven-game road trip with a winning record while showing signs that they could be very much a factor in the Southeast Division.”
Carolina Hurricanes Defenseman Jamie McBain
“One of the big things following a big road trip like that is camaraderie between the guys and just being able to gel with them and get to know them, espeically with the young group we have and getting to know the older guys. Obviously having the success on the ice, getting to come back with a winning record, that’s huge after a tough trip like that.”
Betus.com writer Dave Bond
“The Washington Capitals are sleeping giants ready to awaken but the Hurricanes have Cam Ward who is 7-1-1 with a 1.99 goals against average at home versus the Washington Capitals in his last nine games. The youngsters in Carolina should continue to surprise. If Washington wins it will be a close game guaranteed!”
Short-handed Heels still favored against a top Division 1-AA school
Even though the North Carolina Tar Heels are injury-plagued and short-handed due to suspensions, and even though they didn’t look good in losing big to Miami last week, they are favored against a team that is ranked No. 3 in the country – in Division I-AA that is.
William & Mary is coming off a 17-16 victory over No. 2 ranked Delaware. If you don’t think those guys can play at the Division I level, just look at the last six games the ACC has played against the Colonial Athletic Association. The CAA is 3-3 against the ACC including William & Mary’s 26-14 victory at Virginia last year. Remember, that Cavaliers team beat the Tar Heels.
Coming off that Miami loss, UNC probably just wants to get the bad taste out of their mouths.
“Our performance on Saturday is a direct relationship to our expectations about the way we play,” UNC coach Butch Davis said today. “It has absolutely nothing to do with our opponent. We want to try to hold ourselves to a performance level and we didn’t play well last week. Regardless of our opponent, we have to play better as a football team and continue to improve.”
Davis said the coaches and players understand that the Tribe is a well-coached team that doesn’t make mistakes. “Our kids recognize that we’ve got to play well,” he said. “Our kids watch the film and they see a team that plays hard and is fundamentally sound.”
William & Mary has won seven games in a row and are closing in on a CAA title and Division 1-AA playoff berth.
“I prefer to play most of our non-conference games early because once you get into conference play you’re focusing on that,” Tribe coach Jimmye Laycock said. “But we really strive not to look down the line at what’s coming next and what’s coming after this. You just kind of look and say, ‘OK, this is what we’ve got to do this week so let’s put our attention toward it.’ “
Laycock said he doesn’t remember seeing a group of players as big and fast as Carolina’s. “Man! They are good-sized guys that can run and run and run,” he said. “It’s very impressive, especially at linebacker.”
The Tribe has one of the nation’s top defenses as they are ranked eighth in the FCS by allowing just 16 points per game. On offense, runningback Jonathan Grimes ranks first in the CAA with 147 all-purpose yards per game.
Quarterback Mike Paulus, who has seen action off and on this season, is a transfer from Carolina. “Mike’s a very good kid, a very good quarterback and he’s led them to some significant victories this season,” Davis said. “It’s bizarre, odd that someone who played for you is on the other team playing against you, I don’t think i’ve ever faced that before.”
Duke women picked to win ACC title, Carolina second
NEWS RELEASE – The Duke women’s basketball team has been predicted to finish atop of the 2010-11 ACC Women’s Basketball standings for the first time since 2005. The predictions, announced today, were made by a vote of the Blue Ribbon Panel, consisting of national and local media, as well as school representatives.
The Blue Devils, who earned 24 of a possible 33 first-place votes, are coming off a 2009-10 campaign in which they were regular season ACC co-champions and won their sixth league Tournament title. Duke posted an 8-4 record against ranked opponents last season and was listed in the Top 25 of the AP Poll for 206-straight weeks, which marks the longest current streak in the ACC and is third nationally.
Following Duke is North Carolina with six first-place votes, 2009-10 regular season ACC co-champion Florida State, which received two first-place votes, and Maryland. Georgia Tech was picked to finish fifth, followed by NC State in sixth, which received one first-place vote. Boston College, Miami, Wake Forest, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Clemson rounded out the selection order.
The Preseason All-ACC Team is highlighted by Duke guard Jasmine Thomas, who enters her senior season having started 60 consecutive contests. Thomas earned All-America honors as a junior and has been named a preseason candidate for the John R. Wooden Award and has been chosen for the State Farm Wade Trophy Watch List. She has connected on 115 three-pointers and has averaged 2.0 steals per game in her career. Last season, Thomas became just the eighth player in Duke history to register over 1,000 points, 300 rebounds, 300 assists, and 200 steals. She is one of two Blue Devils to notch 100 or more steals in a single season.
Joining Thomas on the Preseason All-ACC team are Boston College senior center Carolyn Swords, Florida State senior guard Courtney Ward, Miami junior guard Shenise Johnson, and North Carolina senior forward Jessica Breland.
UNC’s Burney cleared to play Saturday
NEWS RELEASE – University of North Carolina senior cornerback Kendric Burney has been cleared to play and will make his 2010 debut Saturday against William & Mary.
A native of Jacksonville, N.C., Burney missed the previous seven games. He was suspended six games for violations of NCAA agent benefits and preferential treatment rules and was held out of the Miami game while the University worked with the NCAA to determine his eligibility status.
Reporter remembers key moments in Josh Hamilton’s life
Raleigh native Josh Hamilton has gone from phenom to junkie to MVP of the American League Championship Series and probably of the American League. At least one reporter has followed Hamilton’s entire career and has a unique perspective on the timeline of his life.
In today’s News & Observer, Tim Stevens writes, “Writing about the career of Josh Hamilton has been joyous and sad. From baseball phenom derailed by substance abuse to major league star and playoff MVP, his life has been filled with moments of candor and deception.”
To read more, please click here.
To check out a photo gallery, please click here.