On a day that saw Virginia Tech being upset by James Madison, Georgia Tech losing to unheralded Kansas, Florida State being humiliated by Oklahoma and Miami falling to Ohio State, the Wolfpack of N.C. State held some honor for the ACC with a 28-21 victory at the University of Central Florida.

A surprisingly effective running game early and a big-play defense that came up with five turnovers throughout led to State’s victory in a game that wasn’t really close or in doubt until the last five minutes of the game.

The Wolfpack ran out to a 21-0 lead and still led 28-7 going into the fourth quarter.

The defense set up the first touchdown when sophomore safety Earl Wolff intercepted a Rob Calabrese pass and ran it back 31 yards into UCF territory. Eight plays later, Dean Haynes, a redshirt freshman converted to tailback, got a good block from guard Andrew Wallace – a 6-foot-4, 304-pound redshirt sophmore – and busted in untouched from four yards out.

State QB Russell Wilson, who didn’t have the big numbers we’ve seen so often, did thrown four straight completions on the next drive, including a 26-yard TD lob to a wide open Darrell Davis.

A muffed punt gave the Wolfpack the ball deep in UCF territory and runningback Mustafa Greene sliced up the middle on a draw play on third and long and went 21 yards for the score to make it 21-0.

UCF’s Quincy McDuffie took the ensuring kickoff back 93 yards to give the home team some life as the teams went into the halftime lockerroom at 21-7.

In the third quarter, State seemingly wrapped it up when cornerback C.J. Wilson picked off an overthrown Calabrese pass and ran it in from 43 yards out to make it 28-7.

Midway through the third quarter, short and speedy backup quarterback Jeff Godfrey came in with fresh legs and gave the tiring Wolfpack defense a fit. He passed for 107 yards and ran for 52, including two touchdowns to make the game close.

The second score came with 4:29 left and the fired-up defense held the Pack on four downs and UCF got the ball back with less than three minutes to go.

Godfrey moved UCF into Wolfpack territory and completed a 21-yard pass to Quincy McDuffie at the State 10 yard line, but the defense came through once again for the final time of the night. Safety Brandan Bishop popped the ball loose with a jarring tackle and linebacker Terrell Manning fell on it to wrap up the victory.

Random Thoughts: At least twice, State linebacker Audie Cole changed momentum. Once he made a nice diving catch to intercept on a halfback pass to stop a drive. Earlier he ended another drive with a big sack. He also had double-digit tackles.

Former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, serving as the color commentator on TV, made the “duh” observation of the game when, with less than five minutes to play and UCF down by 14 points, he said, “UCF needs a score on this drive.”

A horrible shanked punt by State’s Jeff Ruiz with less than three minutes to play gave the Knights the ball at the Wolfpack 49 on that last drive that made the game more exciting than it needed to be.

Wilson completed only 10 of 30 passes for 105 yards. State rushed for 134 rushing yards, led by Greene’s 55 yards. UCF, with the late rush under Godfrey, actually outgained the Pack.

N.C. State, which was 114th last year in turnover margin, did not turn the ball over once while UCF turned it over five times. The State defense hit hard and really controlled the game except during two fourth-quarter drives.

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Here are 10 football games that are within driving distance in the Triangle area Friday night. In bold is the predicted winner. Most games are at 7:30 p.m. Check with local officials as some games start at 7.
My record last week, again, was 7-3 for a season total of 21-9.

Athens Drive at Green Hope

Cardinal Gibbons at Ravenscroft

Carrboro at East Chapel Hill

Cary at Fuquay-Varina

Durham Riverside at Garner

Lee County at Apex

Leesville Road at East Wake

Middle Creek at Holly Springs

New Hanover at SE Raleigh

Northern Durham at Millbrook, 7 p.m.

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

Yes, Wake Forest has beaten Duke 10 straight times and are at home but in order to beat the Devils again, they’ll have to get good production out of the quarterback position.

With four-year starter Riley Skinner gone, Ted Stachitas, a sophomore, is expected to get most of the snaps this year but he has had two surgeries on his right shoulder. Therefore, freshman lefty Tanner Price, who had been a redshirt candidate, saw action last week against Presbyterian.

“We feel like Ted Stachitas can win a bunch of football games for us,” Wake coach Jim Grobe said this week. “I think as he plays more, he’s going to be better. But his injuries have been an issue for us. You just have to have Plan B ready, basically because of his history injury wise.”

Grobe seems a little ambivalent about Stachitas. “I like a lot of the things that Ted did (in the opener). He misfired on a couple of pretty easy open throws which was disappointing. And he fumbled the football at one time, and that’s something we can’t do.”

Grobe went on to decisively say, “I think he was somewhat indecisive at times, but at times he was very decisive.”

Unless he’s playing possum, you’d have to give the quarterback matchup edge in Saturday’s game to Duke’s Sean Renfree.

“A couple of people that are from Arizona that knew about the kid when he was in high school told me when Duke first signed him that they had signed a great quarterback,” Grobe said of Renfree. “Of course he got some snaps early last year. And with Thad Lewis being as good as he is, I knew that Coach Cutcliffe wasn’t going to put that kid on the field and take reps away from Thad Lewis unless he thought he could help them win. So I knew with him being on the field last year he had to be pretty special.”

Renfree completed 80 percent of his passes against Elon last week. “It’s hard for a kid to hit 80 percent if there’s no defense on the other side if you’re just out there throwing on air. On one hand I was probably a little surprised and disappointed that he played so well last week. Watching the video was pretty special.”

While Wake Forest is favored to continue its streak against Duke, Renfree could be the difference maker.

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.

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.

UNC players Bruce Carter and Quan Sturdivant have been cleared to play in Saturday’s game vs. LSU, Kevin Best of the University of North Carolina Sports Information Office has announced. The Tar Heel linebackers are scheduled to arrive in Atlanta any time now.

The NCAA has requested more information in the case of senior safety Deunta Williams and he will not play against LSU.

In addition to the 12 players definitely out against LSU, three other players did not take the trip with teammates to Atlanta for Saturday’s opener as the school tries to determine their eligibility for the game.

The three players are all big names and stalwarts on the defense – linebacker Bruce Carter, linebacker Quan Sturdivant and safety Deunta Williams.

If they are not cleared to play, that would mean that eight defensive starters are out, including the entire defensive secondary.