August 24, 2011
NC STATE FOOTBALL
COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF: 10 DAYS
Matt Carter (TheWolfpacker.com)
Tuesday Practice Report: O’Brien talks Sweezy injury
NC State had its fourth and final preseason scrimmage last Sunday, and the focus of the work was to get a long look at the young players, particularly the true freshmen.
“We gave a lot of the young kids the opportunity,” O’Brien said. “A lot of veterans didn’t scrimmage. We didn’t put them in those situations. They had enough play. For some of them, it was our last chance to look at the freshmen after 20 practices, give them a chance to see if they’ve learned anything, if they can help us this year or should be redshirted.
“The thing that comes back to most freshmen is sometimes it’s not the best athlete or most talented guy that plays, it’s the most dependable because that’s still the most important ability, it’s dependability. A freshman is going to play if we can count on them, if he knows where to go and what to do, doesn’t matter what the talent level is. If we need him he’s got to dependable and do the things we have to do so we can be successful on offense and defense.”
JP Giglio (N&O)
Wolfpack has a Plan B for quarterback spot
With Mike Glennon’s move to starter, N.C. State needs a new Plan B at quarterback.
Redshirt freshman Tyler Brosius and senior walk-on Daniel Imhoff are the top options to back up Glennon.
Just as there are questions about Glennon as a first-time starter, there are questions about how Brosius, the presumptive backup, would handle an overhauled offense. The past two seasons, with Russell Wilson as the starter, there was a sense among Wolfpack players and fans that Glennon would be able to step in and perform.
Brett Friedlander (WilmingtonStar)
Wolfpack receivers need to start catching on
At the same time, though, questions about State’s ability to catch the football and move the chains seem destined to persist until someone steps forward and provides an answer once the games begin.
“For awhile there we were up-and-down,†O’Brien said. “I think we’ve been much more consistent here the last week, which is good for us. If they continue to work the way they have and catch the ball the way they have, we should be fine.â€
Holding onto the ball has always been an issue for Graham – a track star and return ace whose hands have yet to catch up with his speedy feet and vast potential. His 53 career receptions and five touchdowns make him the most experienced of the returning corps.
But he is better known for his drops than his catches.
THE WILSON WATCH
Tyler Norsworthy (ESPN)
Wilson and Badgers might equal title
Wisconsin’s run-first mentality – the Badgers had the 12th-most rushing yards in the nation in 2010 – should give Wilson opportunities to take advantage of play-action fakes. Against ACC opponents last season, Wilson’s completion percentage, passing efficiency and touchdown-interception ratio were all superior when throwing after a play-action fake.
Mark Schlabach (ESPN)
QB Russell Wilson jelling with Badgers
Wisconsin’s players said Wilson won them over with his humility and work ethic.
“It was straight to the point,” safety Aaron Henry said. “He didn’t beat around the bush and was really blunt. A lot of guys come in and try to tell you their track record at another school. He just said he came to Wisconsin to work hard, and that really made an impression on everyone.”
Wilson also impressed his new teammates by joining the Badgers’ other rookies in singing the school’s fight song and being ceremoniously dumped in an ice water bath in preseason camp.
“He meshed really well with the guys,” Toon said. “He came in, and everybody really liked him. We had great chemistry last year, and we’re trying to get that to carry over.”
MULTIMEDIA/PODCAST
Kirk Herbstreit shares his thoughts on the ACC and makes a few predictions about the 2011 season.
ACC BASKETBALL
Akula Wolf (BackingthePack.com)
Would You Like To Play Power Forward In The ACC This Season?
UNC FALLOUT
Dan Kane (N&O)
UNC overstated number of freshmen taking upper level classes in Marvin Austin story
It turns out not so many freshmen had taken upper level classes at UNC-Chapel Hill as a spokesman originally told us in our Sunday story about former football player Marvin Austin’s academic transcript.
UNC spokesman Mike McFarland originally said 1,033 freshman had taken a 400 level class in the most recently completed academic year. He has now corrected that to 683 freshmen.
The statistic is significant because McFarland cited it to suggest that Austin’s first class at the university — a 400 level African-American studies course during the second summer session of 2007 — might not be all that unusual. There were 3,846 freshmen in last year’s class, so the original number would suggest one in four freshmen took a 400 level class.
Gregg Doyel (CBSSports.com)
To clean up its image, North Carolina should hire Randy Shannon
Now it’s North Carolina’s turn, but I’m not confident the Tar Heels understand what they need. Lord knows they didn’t know it was time to get rid of Butch Davis when it was clearly time to get rid of Butch Davis — a year ago, when the NCAA was investigating separate scandals, when nearly 20 percent of the team was suspended and when Davis’ close friend and recruiting coordinator, John Blake, was being exposed as a longtime runner for an agent.
North Carolina needs Randy Shannon, but North Carolina was the last to know it didn’t need Butch Davis. Then again, a different athletic director will be making this hire at UNC, so there is hope. Also, the list of realistic candidates for the job won’t be impressive, given the NCAA sanctions sure to be facing the Tar Heels. There will be some ambitious head coaches at smaller schools willing to do anything to get into a BCS conference. There will be veteran assistants at big-time football schools who’ve never been able to land a BCS head-coaching gig.
THE U-NIVERSE
Tony Barnhart (CBSSports.com)
New cause: Give cheating coaches the death penalty
If you want to cut back on the cheating, make it clear to coaches that if they are intentionally involved in a major rules violation, a la Jim Tressel, and if they lie about or obstruct the investigation — again like Tressel — they will be banned from coaching at any level of the NCAA for life.
A friend of mine, a former assistant football coach, said that it couldn’t be done. It would be too draconian. The NCAA could not make a rule to keep people from making a living. I respectfully disagree. The NCAA is a voluntary organization and if the presidents decided that this was the way to go, the political climate is now right to do it. Yes, the coach would have to receive due process and there would have to be a system of appeal.
Gary Parrish (CBSSports.com)
‘Waiting’ worst place Missouri can leave Haith, hoops program
“We’re waiting for the NCAA process to carry itself out,” Missouri chancellor Brady Deaton said. “We’re obviously very concerned.”
Very foolish, too.
With those 14 words, Deaton paralyzed Haith — just left his coach swirling in unknown winds and gave every program recruiting against the Tigers the ability to cast serious doubt on Haith’s future. It might’ve been an honest statement, but it was a stupid one. Missouri needed to either start negotiating a buyout with Haith based on the serious nature of the allegation or publicly back him against “the word of a criminal” regardless of whether his job is really in jeopardy behind the scenes. Either option would’ve made sense on some level. But it makes no sense for Missouri to keep Haith while acknowledging it’s waiting on the results of the NCAA’s investigation into Miami, because investigations take a long time and the wait could destroy one recruiting class and possibly more.
