October 27, 2011
NC STATE FOOTBALL
Brett Friedlander (starnewsonline.com)
What exactly happened to Tobias Palmer on Saturday?
Two questions immediately sprung to mind the moment it was announced that N.C. State wide receiver Tobias Palmer had suffered a concussion during pregame warmups at Virginia on Saturday.
The first was: How does anybody suffer a concussion before the game ever starts?
The other was: How do things like this always seem to happen to the Wolfpack?
GoPack.com
Accolades Pile up for Amerson
NC State cornerback David Amerson received several accolades on Wednesday. The sophomore was named to the 17th annual Chuck Bednarik Award watch list, just hours after being tabbed as the Jim Thorpe Award Defensive Back of the Week.
Matt Carter (TheWolfpacker.com)
J.R. Sweezy relieved to be back on the field
Sweezy was questionable for the game at Virginia, but after being reassured by Anderson that the foot was sound, he played 25 snaps as a reserve, making a tackle. More importantly, Sweezy is relieved to be back on the field without much worry about his foot.
“It’s great,” Sweezy stated. “It’s what I dreamed about every night the whole offseason and going into the season, and then having this happened to my foot wasn’t truly fair, but it happened for a reason and God has a plan for me. Lucky enough I’ve been blessed to come back out here and play a little bit.
“We didn’t really know the deal was, so we where kind of unsure where we stood, but it all worked in the end.”
Sweezy admits that he “can deal with a lot of pain,” which is good because the foot will still be sore. However, he said he felt good at Virginia.
Jacey Zembal (TheWolfpacker.com)
Q&A: Tom O’Brien’s Wednesday teleconference
What happened to redshirt junior wide receiver Tobais Palmer before the game, and have you ever had a season where you lost two guys before a game during warm-ups (punter Wil Baumann the other in a previous game)?
“Never. As I keep saying, you can’t make this stuff up. They go out early and get to the stadium, and a lot of guys go out and kind of toss the ball around. They were running around and he kind of ran into another guy. He got dinged and had a headache. The doctor wisely said ‘You better stay out.’ It’s better safe than sorry, and that was the case.”
How much did redshirt freshman wide receiver Bryan Underwood’s role expand with Palmer out?
“He was the only one left. We took Steven Howard inside. Thank goodness he’s been around and knows every wide receiver position. We basically were down to four guys in the first half against Virginia. We talk about it a lot and you hear me say it all the time, one man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity. Bryan certainly made the most of his opportunity to get some time in there to play.”
Ryan Tice (TheWolfpacker.com)
Rob Crisp is learning the ‘right’ way
This year, Crisp has flipped to the right tackle position and plays behind fifth-year senior Mikel Overgaard. However, Crisp has seen the field quite a bit since his older teammate sees time at left guard during games, opening a slot for Crisp to slide in on the edge. The Raleigh native logged a season-high 36 plays from scrimmage against Virginia and has notched at least 20 snaps in the past four contests, something he did only once last year. He has already been in on 147 snaps from scrimmage this year.
“Virginia was definitely a lot more than I had been playing this year,” he said. “I’ve been working hard, doing extra stuff with Coach [Todd] Rice and the strength and conditioning program. It was something new for me, getting as many snaps as I did, so I have to continue working hard in the weight room and on the practice field so it will hopefully happen again.
“It felt like I played even more [against Virginia], maybe because I actually knew what I was doing this time. Of course I played the whole game against Western Carolina but I felt more comfortable in what I was doing against Virginia, which made me feel like I played more.”
The Sports Xchange (PackPride.com)
Positive Signs For Pack
KEEP AN EYE ON: WR Bryan Underwood — He burst on to the scene with a three-catch, 125-yard performance at Virginia. He was rewarded as two of those plays went for touchdowns. His 79-yard scoring catch is the longest touchdown catch by a freshman in school history.
LOOKING GOOD: CB David Amerson added two more interceptions to his total. That pushes his national-leading total to eight pick-offs this season and it was part of a defense that held Virginia to 125 passing yards.
STILL NEEDS WORK: The Wolfpack has used newcomers in various special teams roles and that might have played a part in having a field goal blocked during the first quarter at Virginia. It was the only field-goal attempt of the game for N.C.State.
ACC FOOTBALL
Jim Young (accsports.com)
ACC Teleconference Tidbits, Oct. 26
Jimbo Fisher Really Likes Mike Glennon
And I don’t think this was just another case of a coach blowing smoke at an upcoming opponent. Fisher and FSU recruited Glennon out of high school before he eventually signed with the Wolfpack. Here’s Fisher’s scouting report on Glennon, then and now.
“One thing that jumped out at you when you saw the arm talent. The ball jumps out of his hand, he can drive it, he’s accurate. And you met him and he’s very intelligent, sharp, good leader … just a great overall person you would like to have in your organization.
“We were just very impressed when I saw him in the camps and the things he did. I saw him in a Nike camp one time. Very complete football player. Great size which I think is important, too, if you can have it. Big, physical, can take punches .. and has good instincts for the game.
“Moves in the pocket well. He’s a good quarterback.â€
Yep, that pretty much covers it.
Rivals.com
Six recruiting rules in need of change
Rivals.com analysts each selected an NCAA football recruiting rule most in need of alterations at the very least and, at the most extreme, is worthy of being tossed on the bonfire. Here’s an analysis of six rules that need to be changed.
UNC FALLOUT
KEN TYSIAC (N&O)
Blake to face NCAA
Since last fall, Blake’s lawyers, Smith and William Beaver, have said he did not try to convince players to sign with Wichard. Blake’s first public comments on the matter appear in a story posted Wednesday on Sports Illustrated’s website.
“It’s important to me that they know (I’m) an honest and good man,” Blake said in the story. “We all make mistakes in life. But my character, my integrity means a lot to me.”
Former North Carolina coach Butch Davis, who was a coach at Sand Springs High in Oklahoma when Blake played there in the 1970s, said last fall he was sorry he trusted Blake.
The Sports Illustrated story portrays Blake as being devastated when Davis said that. Davis and Blake also coached together with the Dallas Cowboys.
“I know that John was heartbroken,” Smith said, “because he absolutely admired and loved – and I think still does admire and love – Butch Davis. And it was very painful for him.”
News and Observer
Media request access to NCAA hearing
After Friday’s closed meeting, the NCAA will issue a ruling on an unspecified date concerning penalties for North Carolina.
The NCAA and the location of Friday’s hearing are outside the jurisdiction of North Carolina courts and beyond the reach of North Carolina’s Open Meetings Law.
But in a letter delivered to UNC vice chancellor Leslie Strohm, media lawyer Amanda Martin wrote that the citizens and taxpayers of North Carolina “have no ready means to ensure that the hearing is conducted fairly and openly except to turn to you and the duly appointed University representatives to speak up for them.”
“In the spirit and tradition of what Charles Kuralt called ‘the University of the people,’ we ask you and Chancellor Thorp to (1) formally demand, on behalf the University and the people of North Carolina, that the NCAA open Friday’s hearing to the press and public …” Martin wrote.
The media coalition, which also includes News 14 Carolina, WNCN 17, WRAL, The Associated Press, The Hickory Daily Record and The Winston-Salem Journal, also requested of UNC that it not participate in the hearing if the NCAA declines to open it Friday.
“We’ve worked closely with the NCAA throughout this review, and we’ll continue to do that,” UNC spokeswoman Nancy Davis said in an email Wednesday. “This is the NCAA’s hearing, and we won’t ask them to treat us any differently than they do other universities.”
Doc (Tarheelfanblog.com)
Media Wants UNC to Demand COI Hearing Be Public; Blake to Appear
This is an obvious grandstanding attempt by the media and their attorneys to goad UNC into some sort of openness they feel is lacking by asking the school to take an indefensible stand. The NCAA does everything in relative secrecy, partly because student records covered under FERPA are discussed, and because they are just the kind of organization who has no intention of showing you how the sausage is made. Besides, UNC does not set NCAA policy and procedure and is not really in a position to challenge it even if they wanted to.
Inside the hearing room, names will be named and situations will be discussed that have been redacted in the documents released thus far. The media knows this, just like they know they have a snowball’s chance in you-know-where of having it happen. But it allows them to tout their self-serving role as “champion of the public good†while maybe selling a few papers and driving some web traffic along the way. I also notice they implored UNC to challenge the NCAA, rather than challenging the NCAA to open up the hearing. Why? Because if the NCAA has told the North Carolina Secretary of State’s office to pound sand, you know what they’re going to say to the media.
Erin Hartness (WRALSportsfan.com)
NC leaders: NCAA is a broken system that nobody wants to change
The current NCAA model does not benefit the student-athlete but nobody is in a hurry to change it according to attorney Robert Orr, former state Supreme Court Justice and current head of the North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law.
“I don’t think the system, as it is now established, can be sustained over time, but there is so much money that the NCAA (brings in) from the universities that are constituent members, that there is this huge unwillingness to undertake the kind of really substantive reforms that need to be undertaken because it might jeopardize the flow of money,” Orr said. “(I) think that’s the real scandal, that university leaders know the system is broken and let it stay broken. (They) can’t legislate (the) problem away.â€
Tom Ross, president of the University of North Carolina System, agrees that big-time college programs have issues balancing the academic and athletic aspects of college students due to money.
“I think to the extent that there are problems, it’s because there is pressure from the commercial side,†Ross said. “I think there are people who want to come together and look for solutions. What that will look like in the end, I don’t know.”
Bill Friday, former UNC system president, agrees that the financial aspect of intercollegiate sports is an issue, but argues that with an institution, such as the NCAA, having been created by a conglomerate of institutions, there is a gray area of control.
“There has never been a time when intercollegiate sports (was) in as much trouble as it is right now,” Friday said. “(It) has all been a result of huge sums of money.
“If you want to see utter chaos, just take away the NCAA and have nothing. You can’t solve a problem by eliminating the NCAA and then standing there empty handed.”
MULTIMEDIA/PODCASTS
GoPack.com
Inside Wolfpack Sports
In today’s episode, Don Shea visits with former Wolfpack basketball player Ben McCauley.
CONFERENCE EXPANSION
ESPN.com
Source: WVU’s move to Big 12 on hold
West Virginia has been notified by the Big 12 Conference that its expansion process is on hold, a school source told ESPN’s Joe Schad on Wednesday.
The Big 12 is waiting on Missouri formally to withdraw from the conference and that there has been some late “hard lobbying” by Louisville for Big 12 inclusion, the source told Schad.
West Virginia had been told that the Big 12 was willing to announce it would be adding the Mountaineers regardless of the timing of Missouri’s departure announcement. That has changed, at least for now, the source said.
Meanwhile, Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino told ESPN.com’s Andy Katz that he is actively lobbying the Big East and its member schools to add Memphis and Temple, regardless of whether the Big East adds Central Florida, Houston or SMU.
Andy Katz (ESPN.com)
Source: Boise State, Big West in talks
Interim Boise State athletic director Curt Apsey called Big West Conference commissioner Dennis Farrell on Wednesday to gauge interest in taking the Broncos’ other sports if they join the Big East in football, a source with direct knowledge of the conversation told ESPN.com.
On the call, Apsey said the Broncos could be in a predicament in looking for a new home for all of its non-football teams, according to the source. The New York Times reported Boise State was one of a handful of schools that met with Big East officials Sunday to discuss joining the league in football only.
The Big West will have a similar arrangement with Hawaii in 2012-13. The Warriors will join the league for all sports except football, which will be in the Mountain West.
Associated Press
Air Force meets with Big East leaders
Air Force officials met with members of the Big East Conference for more than two hours and listened to their presentation on why the league would be a good fit for the Falcons.
Academy spokesman David Cannon said Wednesday night that it was just an informational meeting with Big East Commissioner John Marinatto and Nick Carparelli, the league’s senior associate commissioner.
No invitation was extended as the Falcons consider joining the conference in football only.
