NC STATE FOOTBALL
GoPack.com
Chandler Steps into New Role at Left Tackle
Some say the most important position on the Pack’s offensive line is the left tackle, having to protect the blindside for QB Mike Glennon. Last week at Connecticut, the Pack had to make an adjustment at that position as Week 1 starter Rob Crisp was forced to miss the game due to injury.
In stepped redshirt Tyson Chandler.
Chandler came into the contest having played in 13 career games, but had just 26 career snaps under his belt, as his role last year was mainly on special teams. Against the Huskies, Chandler played 70 snaps, and with Crisp ‘out indefinitely’, Chandler will continue to man the left tackle spot.
“It was pretty exciting,” said the North Plainfield, New Jersey native. “It was hard too. Rob is my roommate, he is like a brother to me. It was just good to get out there and get my feet wet.
“I just have to not get out of doing the normal things, just don’t go crazy because of all the noise and all the fans trying to rattle you. It was a good experience (to get the start) on the road against a good opponent. I just have to stay calm and play like I can.”
GoPack.com
Sustain Our State: Gameday and Everyday
On Sept. 15 during the home-opener against South Alabama, athletics is partnering to present “Sustain Our State: Gameday and Everyday,†an effort to educate and showcase the many ways fans can run with the Pack and transform NC State football from literal red to figurative green.
Over the last decade, Wolfpack fans have been well trained to recycle their glass, plastic and aluminum cans and bottles from their weekly tailgate parties in the blue bags handed out by Wolfpack In The House [WITH] and WE Recycle volunteers prior to football games and to make use of the collection bins around the stadium.
Since it began in 2003, the WE Recycle program has saved nearly 200 tons of materials from area landfills. An average football season generates about 20 tons of recyclable materials, which in 2011 was enough to line the field in Carter-Finley more than 1,000 times.
For the home opener, NC State fans can participate in a new initiative that will have long-lasting effects on the environment and on game-day practices and procedures.
The day will start with a green tailgate demonstration in Fan Zone, with activities, prizes and educational information on how to be more sustainable on game day from plug-in electric vehicles and alternative transportation methods to sustainable food and zero-waste tailgating.
PackPride.com
TELECONFERENCE: Tom O’Brien
I just wonder about them because, again, I don’t know the level of competition they’re playing or anything, but when you look at their defense on film, is it capable of giving you–
Yeah, as I said, they’re playing with a linebacker that’s a Virginia Tech transfer. They’re big safety is an Alabama transfer, junior college kids, more kids on the defense. They’ve got the ability to shut you down.
You’re always challenged. All you have to do is… they’re a Sun Belt Conference team, and Louisiana Monroe had a pretty good night last Saturday night in Arkansas.
Bryan Underwood with the touchdown reception for you, a note here says three career touchdown receptions, all of at least 33 yards. When he does get in the end zone, it’s a long strike. Tell me a little bit about his capabilities and if he’s the kind of guy that you would like to get the ball to a little more.
Well, Brian is just starting to– last year was his first time to play. I think we saw spurts of what he’s capable of doing. He had a knee injury in preseason camp, was not really healthy the first game of the year.
I think he’s probably almost back to full health, but Saturday he got a chance to make a play for us, and certainly he has a speed similar– I don’t think he’s in the T.J. Graham race, but they’d have heck of a time racing trying to find out the winner.
But he’s that type of guy that when he catches the ball, he can go all the way with it.
The Sports Exchange
TSX Capsule: NC State
KEEP AN EYE ON: WR Bryan Underwood is coming off a preseason injury that required a minor medical procedure on a knee. He was fatigued in the opener, but he came up big in the second game with a 46-yard touchdown reception at Connecticut. Underwood’s big-play capabilities shouldn’t be underestimated because all three of his career touchdown receptions have been of at least 33 yards.
LOOKING GOOD: The defensive backfield amped up its performance, perhaps most evident by the 204 passing yards allowed to Connecticut, which attempted 27 passes. Of those Huskies throws, three were intercepted by members of the Wolfpack secondary. This group is expected to be the foundation of the team, and after a rough opener, it began to look sturdy in the second game.
STILL NEEDS WORK: An abundance of breakdowns on the offensive line contributed to six sacks allowed by the Wolfpack. This wasn’t a major area of concern last season, so now it’s something that will require immediate attention. Coach Tom O’Brien said it’s imperative that the Wolfpack figure “some things out because teams will copy that down the road.”
Ryan Tice (TheWolfpacker.com)
Column: Don’t stick a fork in the Pack yet
There’s a huge difference between playing a cupcake team or two to get the team on the same page then play against real competition, and opening out of the gate against somebody other than the Little Sisters of the Poor, as Ohio State president Gordon Gee once mockingly called schools outside of the power six conferences.
I’m not saying NC State plays one of the country’s most difficult schedules – because it will even out after home games against South Alabama and the Citadel – but the order and location of the games definitely played a role in what many have called two disappointing performances. There’s no denying that the Pack faced an uphill climb to start 2012 with the slate they were given.
The other fact of the matter is that Connecticut has a better defense than people want to give them credit for. They returned eight starters from last year’s unit that ranked in the FBS’ top 20 for rushing (4th), sacks (13th) and tackles for loss (19th), so it’s no surprise that the Pack’s offensive line, without starting left tackle Rob Crisp, had trouble handling that group.
For whatever reason, people also want to overlook the fact that UConn could have one of the top defenders NC State will face in end Trevardo Williams. Williams, who would be one of the best edge rushers the team will face this year even if Florida State’s Brandon Jenkins wasn’t out for the year, has torched several offensive tackles in his collegiate career, and it’s just not a fair matchup when he lines up across from redshirt sophomore Tyson Chandler, who brought a grand total of 26 plays from scrimmage into the game. Who do you think is going to win the match-up between the man with 21.5 career sacks and the man with just barely that number of career snaps?
Matt Carter (TheWolfpacker.com)
M.J. Salahuddin had a plan to get on the field
Linebacker M.J. Salahuddin (pronounced suh-lah-hoo-deen) may not have been the most popular pick to be playing as a true freshman this fall, but Salahuddin had a plan to make it happen.
First came an offseason of hard work. One of the biggest question marks about Salahuddin coming out of Jack Britt High School in Fayettevile, N.C., was his size. He generally played at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds as a senior.
After working out with Corey Edmond and NC State’s conditioning staff, he got bigger in a hurry.
“Going into camp I was 220,” Salahuddin noted. “I slimmed down because of the heat, but now I am starting to pick it up. He’s an awesome conditioning coach, and he’s helped me out a lot.”
Salahudding also had an understanding of what it would take to get on the field. He said that he knew the only way he would play in the base defense is if there were injuries among the players entrenched on the depth chart. So he went to special teams coordinator Jerry Petercuskie.
“I talked to Coach Cuskie, kind of egged him on to get me on kickoff and punt returns, stuff like that,” Salahuddin admitted.
It worked. Salahuddin got onto the special teams depth chart. He had wished to get a chance to play against Tennessee.
ACC FOOTBALL
Joe Giglio (N&O)
Notre Dame football, ACC give a little to get each other
Caulton Tudor (N&O)
Notre Dame, ACC build a football bridge
Joe Giglio (N&O)
5 questions about ACC, Notre Dame partnership
Laura Keeley (N&O)
Adding Notre Dame likely will preserve UNC-N.C. State tradition
N&O
Sorensen: ACC and its fans win with Notre Dame deal
Bret Strelow (FayObserver.com)
How will Notre Dame’s move to ACC impact basketball?
1. How does it impact scheduling?
In February, the ACC announced a new 18-game format taking into account the 2013 arrivals of Pittsburgh and Syracuse. Each of the 14 schools has a primary partner, such as North Carolina with Duke and N.C. State with Wake Forest. A school plays its primary partner twice annually and faces each of the 12 remaining schools four times over the course of three years.
When Notre Dame enters the ACC, either before the 2015-16 season or possibly earlier, commissioner John Swofford said the plan is to have a 15-team league with no divisions. That setup could look a lot like the 2012-13 version of the Big East, which is down to 15 schools after West Virginia’s departure, and following that model could be good news to N.C. State fans who want to see their team take on UNC and Duke twice a year.
In the Big East next season, a school will play 10 opponents once and four opponents twice. Syracuse, for instance, has two games against Georgetown, Louisville, Villanova and Providence. Notre Dame’s home-and-away foes are Cincinnati, Louisville, DePaul and St. John’s.
Television could influence the scheduling so that the league’s most attractive matchups happen twice a year.
“You could argue that our strength of schedule in league play, because we were picked in the top four, is going to be harder than a team picked 13th, and that has trapped people before,” Brey said. “I don’t know how else to do it. Like Commissioner Swofford said, when you have a lot of inventory, like we had in the Big East and now the ACC has, if CBS wants Louisville-Notre Dame, so does ESPN, so we play them twice.”
As far as the ACC tournament goes, Swofford said the move from 14 teams to 15 likely means that three games will be held on the opening Wednesday rather than two. In that scenario, the top four seeds would still begin play Friday. On Wednesday, the matchups would likely pit the No. 12 seed vs. No. 13, No. 11 vs. No. 14 and No. 10 vs. No. 15. The No. 8 seed would still face No. 9 on Thursday, and seeds 5-7 would take on first-day winners.
Joe Ovies (WRALSportsfan.com)
ACC solidifies future with Notre Dame
The “Ninja Commissioner” strikes again.
After months of rumors that Notre Dame would eventually join a conference, either all-in or partially, ACC commissioner John Swofford closed the deal with minimal leaks. The league dropped the bombshell Wednesday morning about 30 minutes after reports started to surface that the Fighting Irish would come aboard as a partial member.
The arrangement is mutually beneficial. Notre Dame retains its football independence and the television money that goes with it. They also solve future scheduling problems since 9-game conference slates are the new normal in college football. The ACC also provides an aesthetic move in line with the Irish now that the Big East has become a jumbled mess spanning the country.
Adam Gold (WRALSportsfan.com)
The Ninja Commissioner strikes again
Wednesday’s announcement that Notre Dame will be joining the Atlantic Coast Conference has received mixed reviews from the masses. For some — mostly fans of the Big East, but also by some snobbish ACC honks that want the Irish all in or all out — this isn’t a good day. They see one conference continuing to crumble beneath the weight of the growing power conferences. Or, they think that the ACC should have stood their ground and told Notre Dame that they either join the league in all sports, or they can take their leprechaun somewhere else.
Essentially, that would have been tantamount to calling their bluff, because over the last few years there has been a lot of speculation that the Irish would take their Olympic Sports to the Big 12 or Big Ten, or make a stronger commitment to the Big East. And, no matter how stable the ACC might appear, if and when the time came for Notre Dame to bring their football program into the 21st century, the ACC stood the most to gain — or lose — based on the destination.
Ryan Tice (TheWolfpacker.com)
Audio: Mike Brey talks about joining the ACC
Matt Carter and Ryan Tice (TheWolfpacker.com)
Audio and notes: The ACC welcomes Notre Dame
Ryan Tice (TheWolfpacker.com)
Video: ACC press conference welcoming Notre Dame
UNC FALLOUT
J. Andrew Curliss (N&O)
Tami Hansbrough resigns at UNC; more details about trips emerge
Tami Hansbrough, the mother of former basketball star Tyler Hansbrough, resigned her position as a fundraiser at UNC-Chapel Hill on Wednesday as officials studied a range of trips she took with chief fundraiser Matt Kupec.
[snip]
In response to questions from The N&O, Karen Moon, director of news services at UNC, confirmed that Kupec and Hansbrough traveled together to:
• Louisville, Ky., in December 2010, when Notre Dame played Kentucky in a nationally televised game at Louisville’s Freedom Hall.
• New York City in January 2011, when Notre Dame played St. John’s in Madison Square Garden.
• Tampa, Fla., in February 2011, when Notre Dame played at the University of South Florida in Tampa’s Sun Dome.
• Morgantown, W.Va., in February 2011, when Notre Dame played at West Virginia.
• Hartford, Conn., in March 2011, when Notre Dame played at Connecticut.
• New York City in March 2011, when Notre Dame played in the Big East Conference basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden.Ben Hansbrough’s final college season was 2010-2011. He was named the Big East player of the year in March 2011 and was Notre Dame’s leading scorer.
It would not be unusual for university fundraisers to travel where the school’s sports teams are playing as part of meeting with alumni and cultivating donors. UNC’s basketball team was not playing in those locations at the times Kupec and Hansbrough were there.
It is possible that Kupec or Hansbrough also met with UNC donors while attending the Notre Dame basketball games. But Thorp has said the information he has reviewed shows “personally driven†travel.
[snip]
The N&O confirmed that Hansbrough and Kupec traveled together at least 25 times since May 2010. Those trips included two nights on the Outer Banks over the July Fourth weekend in 2010, a fall trip to Asheville that year, several nights in Montana in 2011, and a trip to Naples, Fla., in 2012.
Moon confirmed that Kupec and Tami Hansbrough were in Charlotte in 2011 and Memphis, Tenn., in 2012. Those trips coincided with NBA games for Tyler Hansbrough, who now plays for the Indiana Pacers.
She said it’s not clear whether all of the travel was inappropriate.
Barry Saunders (N&O)
Kupec-Hansbrough relationship is our business if money was misused
Kupec, the university’s chief fundraiser, left his wife in October 2009. They have four kids. His wife eventually charged him with marital misconduct. That was soon after Tami Hansbrough arrived in Chapel Hill to cheer on her basketball-playing son, Tyler. Tami, a former Miss Missouri – The Show Me State – must’ve shown Kupec something because they began a relationship, and he went to work helping her get a job at the university.
They also traveled together to see her other son play basketball for Notre Dame on the university’s dime. Both Kupec and Hansbrough have now resigned.
Confused? You won’t be after future installments of “The Real Housewife of Orange County.â€
Forget that old saw about skinning a cat: From Thorp and Kupec we’re learning that there’s more than one way to employ a paramour. Kupec initially wanted to hire Hansbrough to work right there in his office as a fundraiser, but Thorp said his knowledge of their relationship led him to put the kibosh on that move.
N&O Editorial
UNC made some bad calls
Going back to 2008, did other university officials think it was perfectly OK to move to hire the mother of a star basketball player at a time when the player was starting his senior season after presumably considering turning pro? Even if Tyler Hansbrough’s decision was made before the hiring or was entirely unaffected by it, the appearance of it might well be interpreted by cynics as UNC-CH taking care of someone in a player’s family. Bad judgment is putting it mildly.
Including the judgment of Thorp. The chancellor says he told Kupec that Hansbrough couldn’t work directly for him. Fine. But then, Thorp said he thought it was OK if Tami Hansbrough went to work for another vice chancellor in a new position that Kupec helped engineer. (Thorp says there was a proper job search.)
And another thing: One factor that brought all this to The N&O’s attention was an audit of the foundation helping the dental school, an audit that led to the resignation of the head of that foundation, who had been Tami Hansbrough’s boss.
The N&O has been trying to obtain a copy of the dental foundation audit and related expense records, but has been told by foundation officials that those things are not public records.
If they’re connected to a public university’s dental school and its fundraising, then they are public records and university and foundation officials only deepen suspicions when they try to claim otherwise. Thorp should support the release of the records immediately.
With a scandal in the football program that resulted in a coach’s dismissal and fraud investigations involving the African studies curriculum, Thorp should now understand the necessity of public disclosure and candor.
EMERY P. DALESIO – Associated Press
Football player McAdoo appeals dismissed lawsuit against NCAA, UNC
DANNY ROBBINS – Associated Press
Jeweler in Duke case won’t talk to NCAA
The New York jeweler suing former Duke basketball player Lance Thomas isn’t interested in speaking to the NCAA.
Mike Bowers, an attorney for the firm, said an NCAA official contacted him Monday to see whether someone from Rafaello & Co. would agree to be interviewed about the firm’s lawsuit asserting that Thomas purchased nearly $100,000 in jewelry while playing for Duke’s 2010 national championship team.
Bowers said the company, which caters to professional athletes and other celebrities, declined because of the pending litigation.
“My client has no interest in going beyond the merchandise Mr. Thomas took and didn’t pay for,” the Dallas attorney said Wednesday.
MULTIMEDIA/PODCASTS
Akula Wolf (BackingthePack.com)
NC State Volleyball Makes SportsCenter’s Top 10
I had no idea you could do this in volleyball, but it’s awesome. Check out the full video on GoPack.com since ESPN’s clip cuts short State’s rally. The kick save leads to an eventual rejection at the net and point for the Wolfpack.
WRALSportsfan.com
Tom O’Brien glad to be home
WRALSportsfan.com
Time was right for Irish to join ACC
WRALSportsfan.com
The Audible: Notre Dame to the ACC
Adam and Joe break down Notre Dame’s move to the ACC on this week’s edition of The Audible presented by Goodnight’s Comedy Club.
WRALSportsfan.com
Ovies: Local teams will see impact from addition of Notre Dame
Joe Ovies, from 99.9 FM The Fan, talks with WRAL News about the impact of Notre Dame’s move to the ACC.
