News-Record.com

N.C. A&T linebacker Davion Hemphill discusses the Aggies' new attitude as the team prepares for Saturday's season-opener against Winston-Salem State.

I'm stunned, stunned I tell you, by the news that some NFL stadiums are no longer playing Gary Glitter's Rock and Roll Part 2.

Apparently this is in response to Glitter's recent conviction on child molestation charges in Vietnan.

But here's the thing: Glitter was convicted of possessing child pornography back in 1999. Bad-taste jokes about Glitter and pedophilia have been around as long as bad-taste jokes about Michael Jackson and .. well, the same thing. Did this just now filter up to the corporate offices of the NFL?

The second most disturbing part of this article - well, third, if you contemplate spending three years in a Vietnamese prison where everyone knows you're a pedophile - is the choice of songs teams are going to as back-ups now that Glitter has faded away.

"Go Daddy-O" by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy? Who in the Denver Broncos braintrust decided that swing music and football should go together? Probably the same guy who though drafting Maurice Clarett in the third round was a good idea.

A&T linebacker Davion Hemphill discusses the new coaches' approach and how he thinks it will benefit the Aggies in 2006.

Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe describes the communications between offensive coordinator Steed Lobotzke and quarterbacks coach Jeff Mullen in advance of Saturday's game with Duke, the first start for redshirt freshman Riley Skinner.

Sometimes there's just not enough room in the newspaper for all the news we report. Since this note has been bumped two straight days, I figured I'd throw it into the blog for anyone curious about Cam Sexton's reaction to not getting into Saturday's game, as coach John Bunting had said previously he would:

The opportunity to play against Rutgers never came for Cam Sexton, the redshirt freshman who narrowly lost a camp battle for the quarterback job to Joe Dailey. So he merely watched -- and listened on a headset to the plays offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti called down to the sideline.

"I had a feeling after the first quarter, the way things were going, that it probably wasn't going to come," Sexton said Tuesday. "It's hard standing on the sideline. I was ready to go. I don't think there's anything you can do but go back to practice and keep awaiting your opportunity."

His coaches have made no guarantees, but Bunting said Sunday that he is "anxious" to get Sexton into a game.

***

Quite frankly, the timing never did seem quite right to get Sexton into the 21-16 loss to Rutgers. The Heels had so few possessions (8) and were playing from behind on the last seven. You'd want to go with the guy you consider your top QB in that situation, especially given how Dailey got on somewhat of a roll in the second half.

In another note, Terry Hunter might be back at some point to provide depth to UNC's defensive line, though certainly not this year. Hunter, suspended in February '05 after he was charged with driving with a revoked license and misdemeanor marijuana possession and later dismissed from the team, is apparently re-enrolled at the school.

"He is not practicing with us," Bunting told reporters after Wednesday's practice. "To my knowledge, he is enrolled in school and going to class."

The Heels won't be getting defensive tackle Khalif Mitchell back. He's enrolled at East Carolina.

Apparently, Redskin fans have long memories, with a healthy amount of bitterness mixed in.

Former Skins QB - and Swain County classmate of N&R staffer Tina Adams - Heath Shuler is running for Congress in N.C.'s 11th district. So Skins fans have set up a site called www.stopshuler.com. Their beef with Shuler apparently has nothing to do with politics. They just don't want Shuler anywhere near D.C. after the performances he turned in the last time he was in the area, as Washington's QB.

Check out the site and the hilarious political ad.

Cory Holt, Virginia Tech's redshirt sophomore who piled up more than 6,000 total yards as Lexington High's quarterback, won't be playing QB in Chapel Hill on Saturday. He's apparently dropped to No. 3 on the Hokies' depth chart behind Sean Glennon and Ike Whitaker. But you might see him at wide receiver. That's where he's been practicing this week in preparation for the UNC game, according to this Washington Post story (quick registration required).

As far as we know, he's no relation to NFL star, and Gibsonville native, Torry Holt. But he might try to do his best imitation, though he hasn't played wide receiver since middle school.

OK, the question sounds ridiculous. And the moment could be fleeting, but check these numbers out:

* Duke leads Wake Forest 10-0 before halftime. The Devils, a 19-point dog, have gotten 219 passing yards (so far) from freshman QB Thaddeus Lewis.

* N.C. State not only trails Akron 7-0, but the Wolfpack is being dominated in terms of total yardage, a good gauge: 223-92.

* The Heels trail Virginia Tech 14-3. No surprise there, but UNC actually has gotten tremendous play from its defense (68 first-half yards allowed) and only trails because of two Joe Dailey interceptions and a blocked punt. The Hokies have two 1-yard TD drives. How often do you see that? The good news for Heels fans: Cam Sexton is now being given his shot at QB.

Yes, I'm here in the press box at N.C. State, witnessing some very, very, very bad offensive football by the Wolfpack. Only the constant monitoring of the stunning Duke score is keeping morale above sub-zero levels here among the media.

Marcus Stone's #s? 5-16-49 yards, 1 int. Yes, there have been a few drops from his receivers, but believe me when I say, it has been an ugly, ugly game to watch.

Wonder when the first "Play Justin Burke!" thread will start on the message boards.

Yes, I'm here in the press box at N.C. State, witnessing some very, very, very bad offensive football by the Wolfpack. Only the constant monitoring of the stunning Duke score is keeping morale above sub-zero levels here among the media.

Marcus Stone's #s? 5-16-49 yards, 1 int. Yes, there have been a few drops from his receivers, but believe me when I say, it has been an ugly, ugly game to watch.

Wonder when the first "Play Justin Burke!" thread will start on the message boards.

How's this for cutting edge? Matt Doherty, the new head basketball coach at SMU and a name somewhat familiar in these parts, has his own blog on SMU's official athletics Web site. And he's not afraid to make what I'd consider needling comments vis a vis his alma mater, UNC. He's not overt about it, but it can't be lost on folks in Chapel Hill that he's selling the SMU program as "the Duke of Dallas."

Check out Doherty's blog to see his explanation. Basically, he's at a private Methodist university where top administrators have Duke pedigrees, and he considers his rebuilding process akin to the program Krzyzewski took over in Durham in 1980-81.

Note, of course, that UNC did not schedule Florida Atlantic last season when Doherty (a former Roy Williams assistant) was the Owls' coach. FAU will visit Chapel Hill this year with Rex Walters (another Roy disciple) at the helm.

Chuck Amato was trying the other day to explain how his team could lose to Akron. The gap between the Zips and the BCS isn't as great as the casual observer might think, he said. Or at least he meant to say. It would have been far more diplomatic, accurate and sensible to leave it at that. But no.

Amato proceeded to explain that Akron derives some of its strength from an ability to admit some players who fail to meet NCAA freshman eligibility requirements. The ACC can't take such players.

And he didn't stop there. According to the coach, a non-qualifier's talent level and his grade-point average are inversely proportional. He has arrived at this conclusion after earnest study, we assume.

And people of Italian descent all like red wine, pasta, Mafia flicks and afternoon naps.

But perhaps the biggest problem with the unnecessary display of whining was the drive-by shooting of the academic reputations of the programs at Fresno State, Boise State and Louisville, all of which Amato mentioned by name as safe houses for the academically marginal. Amato said one coach -- you really couldn't tell whether he meant Akron, Fresno, Boise, Louisville or exactly who -- admitted to signing 10 non-qualifiers in a single year.

For the record, Akron's got three non-qualifiers on its roster. It took one such prospect last year. Not 10.
If you're going to level such accusations, you had better be sure your own academic house is built on firm, high ground. Amato's isn't.

Something called the APR (Academic Progress Rate) is the NCAA's newest numerical means off measuring student-athletes' achievement in the college classroom. State's number is 933, good for last in the ACC. Akron's is 931. The national average for football is 929.

In case you're curious:
Fresno State: 950
Boise State: 948
Louisville: 940
N.C. State: 933
Akron: 931
Division I-A average: 929
NCAA cut-off point: 925
Akron's athletics director declined comment this week. He showed greater restraint than the coach he just beat.

ACC APRs
BC 982
Duke 975
Wake 970
FSU 959
Miami 956
Va 956
Ga Tech 948
Maryland 947
UNC 943
Clemson 940
Va Tech 935
N.C. State 933

How's that for alliteration?

Rob posted an entry below that is very similar to the one that Dave Glenn of the ACC Sports Journal posted in his blog earlier today.

Chuck's been taking a lot of hits today for his comments - an emailer sent me a link to a Marshall message board where Thundering Herd fans are all over Amato, believing he's really got a case of the sour grapes after losing to a MAC school. But asked again today about his stance on non-qualifiers, he didn't back down.

Q: Can the ability to take non-qualifiers really be that big of a deal?
Amato: It can be.

Q: Should there be a uniform policy about non-qualifiers?
Amato:I think it would be the right thing to do. That’s just my opinion. If I was in a league that let non-qualifiers in, I would be against it.

Q: We've heard you talk about ECU's ability to take non-qualifiers and Tommy Bowden has said similar things about Marshall. Is that something that a lot of ACC coaches don't like?
Amato: It’s a difficulty we live with, there’s absolutely no question. There’s nothing that can be done about it. Those are things we have no control over.

As you can see, Chuck's not really upset that other schools are admitting non-qualifiers. He's just miffed that those schools can take non-qualifiers while his school CAN'T.

Apparently though, some of the schools Chuck mentioned yesterday - Boise State, Fresno State and Louisville - were not thrilled to be painted by Amato's broad brush as havens for non-qualifiers. Boise State said it has no non-qualifiers on its roster, Fresno said it has two and no longer accepts them. Ditto for Louisville.

Which brings us to the final perplexing thing about Amato's comments yesterday: What was Amato referring to when he mentioned a coach who told Amato he'd signed 10 non-qualifiers?

I asked Amato about this - to make sure he was talking about the Akron coach. If so, that number doesn't come close to matching the three non-qualifiers Akron said it has on its roster.

Here's what Amato said:

"I was talking to their head football coach. I believe the number was 10. It may have been eight. But I believe the number was that “we signed 10 last year.” And "50 percent of them we might be able to" … uh … but nothing was said – We were just talking.. I said geez “Do you have any limit on non-qualifiers?”. He said no. Those were his words. I didn’t make them up. Why would I make something up and say something that I didn’t hear with my own ears? That has nothing to do with losses ties or any of that stuff. It’s a way people can, in my opinion, get ahead. It’s a good thing to have on your side."

So we're left with a weird contradiction. There's no reason for Amato to make something like that up, yet Akron strongly disputes those numbers.

Maybe there's a difference in definitions here. Maybe the Akron coach might consider a kid like running back Dennis Kennedy - who originally signed with Ohio State but had paperwork issues and was denied admission there before choosing Akron - as a non-qualifier. Yes, he didn't get in to Ohio State, but Kennedy apparently was a qualifier by NCAA standards.

Two more interesting notes about this before we move on ...

1) When Ohio State refused Dennis Kennedy's admission, he had a list of five schools he wanted to consider. Florida, Pitt, Cincinatti, Akron and ... N.C. State!

2) Also found this little tidbit from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. It's from an article about Kennedy's signing with Akron.

---
Kennedy is not the first South Florida football player to find himself dealing with admission issues at Ohio State this year. Former Suncoast standout Da-Juan Morgan orally committed to OSU last November, but his scholarship offer was rescinded because his grade-point average was not among the top half of his graduating class. In February Morgan signed with North Carolina State.
---

You knew this was coming didn't you? Akron Beacon-Journal columnist Terry Pluto (a N&R alum, by the way) has written a piece ripping Amato for his comments about Akron's ability to take non-qualifiers.

BC, Miami and Virginia Tech left behind many disgruntled Big East members, and were subjected to a lawsuit. But now they have to be wondering what they've gotten themselves into by joining the ACC.

Let's start with new Big East member Louisville's 31-7 thrashing of Miami today. And that was without Michael Bush.

Three years ago, it was expansion time. The first few weeks of this season tell me it might be time for contraction. Not only has the ACC not established itself as one of the power conferences, but it's hard to figure how they're going to fill eight bowl slots from among these shlock teams.

* A week ago, N.C. State was done in by Akron, and all the Zips' alleged nonqualifiers. Chuck trails Southern Miss 10-0 in the second quarter. We'll have to wait to see how that one turns out before asking Amato to assess the loss as only he can.

* Maryland gave up about 6 million first-half points Thursday night against West Virginia. With Miami's loss to L-ville and Wake Forest's pride-saving 24-13 win over UConn on Saturday, the Big East leads the season series against the ACC, 4-2. (Wake also beat Syracuse in week 1 before its near-loss to Duke last week.)

* That record includes Pitt's 38-13 rout of Virginia in week 1. Think Al Groh's in trouble now? He slipped past Wyoming in OT last week at home, then fell to Western Michigan today, 17-10, at Scott Stadium. Nice homecoming! The MAC is now 2-1 against the ACC.

* Troy put a huge scare into Florida State last week, then took Ga Tech into the fourth quarter in a 14-14 tie today. Yes, Troy.

* Should I go on? UNC, which lost at home to Rutgers in the opener, just gave up another TD to Furman here in Chapel Hill. The Heels lead 21-14, while looking entirely clueless against Furman's option offense.

Oh, Boston College did manage to knock off BYU in OT. Can't forget that.

Anyway, there obviously are a lot of ACC teams with QB issues, and several sent a bunch of players to the NFL. But this is ridiculous. So, does anybody else have BCS fever around here?

In retrospect, the brief flurry of offense that Daniel Evans provided at the end of State's lopsided loss to Southern Miss might have been the best thing Chuck Amato could have hoped for. Instead of several days of - what went wrong? - questions, now everyone wants to know - who's going to be the State quarterback?

We'll know more after State's 2 p.m. press conference today, but this being the age of instant analysis and all, I figured I'd take a look at Amato's options beforehand - with pros and cons.

Option A - Stone stays as the starter and nothing changes.
This one just doesn't seem likely. If Stone was definitely The Man, you'd think Amato would have come right out and said that during his Sunday teleconference, when the question of quarterbacking came up. Instead, he told reporters that all personnel decisions are made on Monday - in essence revealing that a personnel decision needed to be made.
Pro - Stone's got the most experience and he has shown flashes - albeit brief ones - of being able to get the job done.
Con - You wonder how frustrated Stone's teammates must be getting with his wild inconsistency. And all those three-and-outs appear to have worn on the defense as well, which collapsed against Akron and never showed up against Southern Miss.

Option B - Sit Stone and bring in Evans
Granted, Evans' numbers can in mop-up time, but there was a marked difference when he came in the game. As Amato said, he looked poised in the pocket - his feet were steady, he went through his progressions, he found secondary and tertiary options. In other words, all the things Stone often fails to do.
Pros - I think I just listed a lot of them. Plus, there's the psychological value of making a change when things are going badly. Hey, it worked in 2005. Why not try it again?
Cons - No one's ever thought of Evans as a long-term solution at QB. Maybe they're wrong, but if they're not, is this really the time for a caretaker at the position? Or should State go to its next option?

That's foreshadowing folks.

Option C - Replace Stone with Justin Burke
Ahh, the return of Philip. Young, brainiac QB plays beyond his years and leads State out of a dire situation and into a bowl game.
Pros - Hey, we're not saying he's Rivers, but Burke is a very smart, very mature guy, two qualities that do give him a shot to succeed as a true freshman QB. Plus, any experience he gets now should pay off next year.
Cons - Throwing your prize freshman QB into the fire against BC does smack a bi of desparation. And while Burke would seem to be a candidate for playing time as a true freshman, we just don't know how he'll respond during real action (see Stone, Marcus). A bad experience now could do some long-term damage.

But wait, there's more!

Option D: QB-by-committee
Yeah, that worked out so well in Chapel Hill, didn't it? But hear me out. Last season when Stone replaced Jay Davis, it was a clear passing-of-the guard. Jay was a fifth-year senior. It was clear his time had passed. This time around Stone has another year of eligibility and no clear-cut successor. So you may not want to demote Stone to permanent clip-board status. Maybe what you do is, say, give Evans the start and then go with the hot hand. If that's Evans, he stays in. If it's Stone, he can get his job back. If both struggle, then hey, give Burke a shot at the end of the game.
Pros: It gives you flexibility. You're not closing any doors. It keeps all three QBs in a state of game-readiness.
Cons: Is it really fair to give Evans (or Burke) just a few series to show what they have? Stone is a shining example of how sometimes a QB needs an entire half before things start to click. Plus, the price of having muliple QB options could be that none of your QBs is very happy. And an unhappy QB is usually a bad QB.

All clear now? No? Well now you see why they pay coaches the big bucks. Chuck and offensive coordinator Marc Trestman have a difficult , complicated decision to make this morning, with a season possibly hanging in the balance.

No pressure fellas.

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are 3-0 for the first time since 1987. Here's a map, courtesy of Google Earth, identifying where many of the program's key personnel were 19 years ago this month.

http://webcache.news-record.com/content/download/846/5176/version/1/file/wfu_091906.jpg

Click below to view the list of people mentioned in the map in the subsequent entry.

Download file

Well, it's been almost 24 hours since John Dunlap caught that last-second heave from Daniel Evans and I think I'm finally coming to terms with the fact that State won the game and I don't have to run a Monday correction for the story I wrote.

So here are a few thoughts I have in the wake of the Pack's huge win.

1) It was a beautiful(or frightening, take your pick) example of just how fickle the fates can be to the career of a college football coach.

Consider the case of Amato. In the pre-season national pundits were claiming Chuck was on the hot seat (although there wasn't much local sentiment for that at the time). Then came "non-qualifier" gate. Then came the rout at Southern Miss. Now there was rumbling about Amato's job status on the local level. Our man Ed Hardin had written a piece before the Southern Miss game saying that Chuck had to beat the Golden Eagles. Charlotte's Tom Sorenson had written a "Chuck must go" column earlier this week.

Was Chuck really in trouble? That may be a moot question now. Now, thanks to that one pass from Evans to Dunlap, State is a team with a new lease on life. Thanks to that one pass, Wolfpack fans are talking about bowl games instead of new coaches.

Is Chuck a better coach because Dunlap made that catch? Would he have been a worse coach if the pass had been incomplete and State had lost the game?

Rather than get all philosophical on you, I will conclude this segment with this platitude from noted wise man, Bill Parcells.

"You are what your record says you are."

Right now, Amato is the coach of a team that is 2-2 overall and more importantly, 1-0 in the ACC. That's all that counts.

2) I wrote on Saturday about the problems State was having defensively heading into the BC game. Clearly, the Wolfpack made some big strides in that area, holding the ACC's most prolific offense to just 15 points.

It's interesting though, to read this comment from linebacker Pat Lowery, about why State was so much better against BC than against Southern Miss.

"I think everybody was expecting us to make a lot of big changes, but we didn't do anything different at all. We just turned up the intensity."

Lowery's at least partially correct. State didn't suddenly scrap its schemes, but it did have at least one thing it didn't have against Southern Miss - senior cornerback A.J. Davis.

Davis missed the first three games with a sore hamstring and it was clear State felt his absence. For example, his backup was burned twice on Akron's final drive.

Against BC, it was hard to measure Davis' direct impact, beyond a very nice pass breakup or two. Rather, you could see it in how long Ryan was taking to get rid of his passes. And after a while, you could sense that Ryan just wasn't that sharp, that he didn't have a ton of confidence in his reads. That's what happens when a good corner shuts down his side of the field and limits a quarterback's options. That's what Davis can do when he's on the field and on his game.

3) Another big difference maker on defense was Tank Tyler. Tyler missed the first quarter of the game as a punishment - either for getting ejected against Southern Miss or the revelation last week that he had been arrested for assault over the summer, take your pick - handed down by Amato. It was remarkable to see how much better the interior run defense was once Tyler came in and started plugging the middle. Tyler's replacement, redshirt freshman Teddy Larsen, has looked solid this season, but clearly there's a difference between being a "rotation guy" who comes in for a series every now and then, and a starter, who goes against the offense when it's fresh and sharp.

4) One other area where State did do something slightly different on D (not that I'm totally disagreeing with Lowery. He's a really nice kid). Backup outside linebackers Lerue Rumph (who was a starter last year) and Ernest Jones (who has never seemed to live up to his potential) saw their most extensive action of the season. Jones had 9 tackles. Rumph had 8. For a team that had gotten almost no production out of its outside linebackers before Saturday, that was a huge boost.

5) It'll be interesting to see what Daniel Evans does against FSU. In a way, BC, with its more passive approach to pass defense, was a good team for Evans to get his first college start against. Thanks to that scheme - and also thanks to very good work from his offensive line - Evans had time to think in the pocket, to go through his progressions.

Don't expect FSU to give Daniel that kind of time. The Noles' defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews runs the type of agressive, attacking D that State has tried to emulate.

It'll put more pressure on Evans, but it could present opportunities as well. Evans said last week that his strength is making reads and getting the ball out of his hands quickly. If he can do that against FSU, he'll be throwing to receivers who are up against single coverage much of the night.

I will not go into an in-depth rehash of UNC's 52-7 loss at Clemson as Jim has for N.C. State's win over BC. Really, there just isn't much you can say about that game. Really, the tone of the threads on the Carolina message boards say it all. Just the "Fire John Bunting" thread alone has reached 411 posts, 21 pages and about 22,000 views at Inside Carolina. And, that's just a small sampling of the bad vibes flowing among UNC fans.

Caulton Tudor of the News & Observer says it's time, after six years, to cut Bunting loose. I suspect our own Ed Hardin might not be far behind, but I'll refrain from speaking on his behalf.

It's amazing how roles can reverse in just one day, or in just a few seconds. Before Daniel Evans' miracle TD pass, Chuck Amato was on death row in Raleigh. Like, really in trouble after losses to Akron and Southern Miss. Now, after a win over a top-25 Boston College team, they're talking redemption and bowl games at N.C. State? Wow.

A few hours earlier, Bunting seemed safe, even after the scare by Furman. Only disaster at Clemson could really put him in the firing line. And wouldn't you know it, his Heels got lit up again. Now he's the one who has raised the ire of his fan base and whose program seems to have totally lost direction.

Simply amazing.

It'll be interesting to see if UNC fans pull harder for the Hurricanes Oct. 7 than the Miami fans pull for the Heels. If you missed it, Canes fans are fed up with Larry Coker. Maybe the teams can trade cheerleaders for a day.

Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe discusses this week's game with Liberty.