August 18, 2011
NC STATE FOOTBALL
Chip Alexander (N&O)
Wolff and Bishop lead the Pack
At first glance, Bishop and Wolff seemingly have little in common. Bishop is from Boca Raton, Fla., a tiny spot in Palm Beach County, and played at Boca Raton High. Wolff is from Raeford, a product of Hoke County High.
“We’re the yin and the yang,” Bishop said, smiling.
Bishop is white and Wolff is black, but all that means is Bishop can joke “there’s not a whole lot of white safeties.” Bishop says he goes by “B-Bish” and calls Wolff “Fenton,” and the two are tight.
“We may look different but Earl’s my brother,” Bishop said. “We come from different backgrounds but we’ve grown up together.
“They’re all my brothers in the secondary but Earl and I especially have been close because we’ve been playing together, opposite each other. I know what he’s thinking. He doesn’t even have to say anything sometimes. I can tell what’s going through his head.”
Brett Friedlander (WilmingtonStarNews)
Harris’ surgery will hamper run at ACC rushing record
It’s been almost a foregone conclusion that Montel Harris would break Ted Brown’s ACC record of 4,602 career rushing yards at some point this season.
The Boston College senior, who was recently named the league’s preseason Player of the Year, is only 1,003 yards shy of the mark that has been on the books since 1979. He has averaged 1,200 yards in his first three seasons with the Eagles.
But with Wednesday’s announcement that Harris will be out of action for 3-4 weeks because of knee surgery, Brown’s record may yet survive the challenge.
OTHER NC STATE ATHLETIC NEWS
Debbie Yow Live Chat Transcript
Comment from Michael Richardson: If we expand Carter Finley in the future, where would the new seating most likely be? Would love to see us get to 70,000 one day. It’s so weird having an Athletic Director that cares!
Yow: Our next major project will likely be an indoor practice facility and a “Walk of Fame and History” where all of our memorabilia can be properly displayed and enjoyed by thousands of State fans. We would not consider expansion of Carter-Finley unless we were selling out of our current seating. I’d like to have that problem though!
Akula Wolf (BackingthePack.com)
Debbie Yow Chat Recap
Doug Farrar (Yahoo Sports)
Philip Rivers at odds with ESPN’s new quarterback ranking
Lack of context seems to limit ESPN’s new Total QBR metric — Football Outsiders’ DYAR stat, which predates Total QBR by years, applies the same metrics and also adjusts for opponent, has Rivers third in each of the past three seasons. Basically, when you throw opponent-adjusted context in and add a few more different dimensions, Rivers ranks as one of the four best quarterbacks in the league over the last three years — the only people who have trumped him in season-cumulative value in the last three seasons are Tom Brady(notes), Peyton Manning(notes) and Drew Brees(notes). In FO’s DVOA metric, which is tabulated based on per-play efficiency as opposed to a cumulative total, Rivers has ranked first (2009), second (2008) and third (2010) in the last three seasons.
So, yeah — you’ll have to forgive Rivers if he’s a bit mystified by the ranking. “I don’t take too much stock into that, but I did see it, though,” he said of QBR. “I still don’t get it. I think it’s more complicated now. I got to the point where you could almost know what the rating would be based on what you play. Now I don’t know. They’re judging situation of the game and what impact that throw had and this throw, yards after catch. It’s crazy. I’m not saying it didn’t make sense.”
PODCAST/MULTIMEDIA
Men’s Soccer Opens Revamped Stadium
A new brick look also encompasses a majority of the upgrades that have been made to the stadium, while a press box, new fan entrance and a brand-new stand alone building in the southeast corner of the stadium provides both the Pack and its competitors meeting and locker room space and showers.
Riddick&Reynolds Podcast: Episode 14
David Glenn Chats With Tom O’Brien, Aug. 18
David Glenn recently caught up with N.C. State head football coach Tom O’Brien on Glenn’s afternoon radio show to talk about the progress of Wolfpack football thus far in training camp.
Among the topics they discussed: O’Brien’s feelings on what has happened at Miami over the past few days; what O’Brien thinks needs to be done to stop the cycle of cheating and rule-breaking in college football; the two most important rules O’Brien preaches to his team; the progress of his freshmen special teamers; and how this preseason camp differs from the others he’s had at N.C. State.
Don Shea visits with former NC State place-kicker Marc Primanti who was named last week to the 2011 Class of Dr. Pepper ACC Football Championship Game Legends.
