Tar Heels still have confidence in Barth

North Carolina coach Butch Davis said Wednesday he “absolutely” still has confidence in kicker Casey Barth (right), despite the fact that the sophomore has missed two field goals from inside 40 yards this season.

But has Barth’s confidence been shaken?

“I don’t know if his confidence has,’’ Davis said. “I know that he’s mad at himself; I think that any kicker would be. Sometimes kickers are like quarterbacks; they’re their own worse critics. They want to be perfect, and I know that he wants to be perfect – he wants to make every kick. When I talk to him about it – like any kicker I’ve had – you talk to him in the context of a golfer that’s putting. You’re sitting there, and as much as you say, ‘We don’t expect you to make 50-footers in golf’, we don’t expect you to make 55-yarders in games very often. You might make some, but the ones … inside of 3 feet you’d like to make ‘em.

“But still, you see guys that do that for a living, and they still miss them. And it boils down to blocking out all the previous kicks, and it’s fundamentals. It’s your approach to the ball, your trust in the snapper, your trust in the holder.”

Barth was connecting consistently in practice Wednesday. Because of injuries, UNC has already changed field goal snappers this season; Barth has made four of his six attempts.

-- Robbi Pickeral

Wake Forest to challenge Pack's secondary

N.C. State's depth chart lists freshman Brandan Bishop and redshirt freshman Earl Wolff as starting safeties.

Wake Forest has Riley Skinner, who's on pace to be the ACC's career completion percentage leader at .675, at quarterback. Marshall Williams of Durham is tied for the ACC lead in receptions per game for the Deacons.

On paper, the Wake Forest passing game seems poised for a big day Saturday when N.C. State visits the Deacons.

"We've had some problems with the secondary, with inexperience and making some mistakes," said N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien. "We'll be holding our breath on Saturday, I'm sure."

O'Brien particularly likes the way Skinner has rallied the Deacons late for game-winning and game-tying drives, respectively, against Stanford and Boston College.

Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe's ability to target certain defenders, which O'Brien said probably originated when he was an assistant coach at Air Force, also concerns the N.C. State staff.

"One thing that Wake Forest does is they're very innovative in how they do things," O'Brien said. "They're very good at exploiting weaknesses."

That's why N.C. State's young defensive backs might face their biggest test yet Saturday.

Ken Tysiac

Scrap man-to-man vs. Pack, Wilson

If they hadn't already done it, ACC defensive coordinators should be scrapping any plans to play man-to-man coverage against quarterback Russell Wilson after watching film of N.C. State's 38-31 win over Pittsburgh.

Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt said after the game that Wilson had mostly stayed in the pocket for the first three games. Perhaps Pittsburgh used a lot of man-to-man coverages against the Wolfpack because the coaching staff didn't think Wilson would scramble.

Man-to-man defenses can work great against offenses whose quarterbacks never venture out of the pocket. If the cornerbacks and safeties can lock down the receivers on their own, the front seven can devote all its attention to the rushing quarterback and stopping the run.

But man-to-man can be disastrous against a mobile quarterback. With the defensive backs concentrating solely on the receivers, the quarterback can run almost forever if he can escape the pass rush.

That's what happened on fourth-and-14 in the fourth quarter against Pittsburgh, when Wilson got loose for a 21-yard run on what was supposed to be a passing play.

"They were in man coverage and everybody was run off, and (he) was able to take off on the boundary," said N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien. "That was a key scramble of the football game for us."

Taking advantage of Pittsburgh's defensive approach, Wilson rushed for a career-high 91 yards. He said he still will look to pass first instead of running regardless of what the coverage is.

But he's bound to get loose as a runner if defensive backs are devoted solely to downfield coverage responsibilities.

"When people are running with their back toward you, you can get more yards," Wilson said. "It's pretty much as simple as that."

Ken Tysiac

N.C. State's 3-1 start has O'Brien in good humor

While N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien spoke at the Raleigh Sports Club on Sept. 2, a disgruntled fan whispered a protest at the back of the room.

The fan complained that the speech was typical of O'Brien. He was calling O'Brien dull. But the fan wasn't listening closely, and you've got to do that to appreciate O'Brien's dry sense of humor.

His weekly news conference Monday was a good example. O'Brien joked about the snap that center Ted Larsen sailed over quarterback Russell Wilson's head. He said Larsen would be better off rolling the ball back to Wilson, if necessary:

"The guy (Wilson) plays second base. He can pick the ball up and play."

O'Brien joked about a snap earlier this season that also sailed.

"He threw it over (Mike) Glennon's head, which is hard to do," O'Brien said.
Glennon is 6-foot-6.

O'Brien's sarcasm even showed after he discussed a timing error by the officials that caused N.C. State to settle for a field goal at the end of the second quarter Saturday against Pittsburgh. He said ACC officiating coordinator Doug Rhoads acknowledged the mistake, which was made by a Big East crew.

"But what good does it do me now?" O'Brien asked.

Good point, and good line. O'Brien, who's soft-spoken and blunt, doesn't work a banquet crowd the way flamboyant predecessor Chuck Amato did.

But O'Brien does have a sense of humor, and it's probably easier to show it when you're 3-1.

・Although O'Brien made light of them, the two bad snaps by Larsen, who moved to center from defense in the spring of 2008, concern the coach.

"That's two too many," O'Brien said. "He gets hyper sometimes. He gets too excited. The blitz was coming and he just let it go. That's inexperience on his part in never having been a center. In those (highly charged) situations, you deaden it even more."

・O'Brien said quarterback Russell Wilson's performance Saturday (322 passing yards, 91 rushing yards, 4 TD passes) still didn't earn him a grade above 90 percent.

You'd have to be just about perfect, O'Brien said, to grade that highly on his staff's scale. But O'Brien said Wilson's performance against Pittsburgh was as good as any in his career.

"The fourth-and-14 (scramble for a first down) was probably the play that turned the game around for us," O'Brien said. "And that was just Russell being Russell."

Officiating chief admits error from Pack vs. Pitt

A timing error by the officiating crew and a brief malfunction of the instant replay review system combined to cost N.C. State valuable seconds at the end of the second quarter Saturday, Big East officiating coordinator Terry McAulay said Monday.

McAulay said the Big East crew improperly started the clock after a dead-ball false start penalty against N.C. State’s Julian Williams while the ball was at the Pittsburgh 2-yard line. The previous play had been an incomplete pass, so the clock should have remained stopped.

"Unfortunately the referee and the crew made a misstep," McAulay said.

The mistake caused N.C. State to call timeout and then kick a field goal on third down. The Wolfpack, which won 38-31 despite the error, should have had time to go for the end zone on third down before kicking a field goal on fourth down, if necessary.

McAulay said that by rule "egregious" timing errors such as that can be corrected in an instant replay review. But the replay system at Carter-Finley Stadium was malfunctioning and officials were switching to a backup system when the problem occurred.

ACC officiating coordinator Doug Rhoads said the replay glitches occurred shortly before the play in question and were fixed by the second half.

N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien said Rhoads told him Saturday night that a mistake was made.

"But what good does it do me now?" O’Brien said.

McAulay said the play would count against the officials’ grade for the game and the season. On every play, officials receive grades that count toward an overall season score that helps determine whether they are assigned to postseason games.

Although the game was played at an ACC facility, it’s common for an officiating crew from the visiting team’s conference – in this case the Big East - to be assigned to a game.

Ken Tysiac

No lineup changes for Tar Heels after loss

Coming off the first loss of the season and out of the top 25 for the first time, North Carolina's not going to panic.

Tar Heels coach Butch Davis said he won't make any changes for the sake of making changes and the lineup that lost to Georgia Tech remain in tact against Virginia on Saturday.

"We're playing the best players that we've got," Davis said. "The worst thing that we could do is try to do some kind of a magical, hodge-podge."

Davis pointed out again the Heels need to clean up their mistakes on third down, on both sides of the ball, and take better care of the ball. The Heels went 1 of 11 on third-down conversions, compared to 10 of 19 for Georgia Tech.

The three turnovers, compared to none for GT, continued the rudimentary trend that when UNC has a negative turnover margin, it loses. They were minus-3 on Saturday and minus-12 in their five losses in 2008.

-- J.P. Giglio

Virginia impresses Tar Heels' Davis

Virginia's 0-3 with a home loss to a Division I-AA team but the Cavaliers have a fan in UNC coach Butch Davis.

Davis called the Cavaliers a "talented" and "dangerous" football team on Monday. Maybe it's because Davis is 0-2 against UVa as UNC's head coach, or maybe Davis is genuinely impressed.

"Look at the film, don't read the newspapers, don't listen to talk radio, look at the film," Davis said. "The film says this is a talented, good football team."

Virginia's coming off a bye week after opening the season with a 26-14 home loss to Richmond, a 30-14 home loss to Texas Christian and a 37-34 road loss to Southern Miss.

The Hoos are making a rough transition to a spread offense under first-year coordinator Gregg Brandon. They rank last in the ACC in total yards (278.3 yards per game) and scoring (20.7 points per game).

-- J.P. Giglio

Heels out of AP Top 25

Georgia Tech ran North Carolina out of the AP Top 25 this week with the Jackets' 24-7 win at Atlanta. The Heels, ranked No. 22 last week, only received 2 points in voting this week.

The Yellow Jackets, meanwhile, jumped back into the AP poll, landing at No. 25 .

No other Carolinas team is ranked in the AP writers' poll, but South Carolina is in striking distance with 154 points after knocking off previous No. 4 Ole Miss Thursday night.

In the coaches poll, no Carolinas teams were ranked but South Carolina (92), North Carolina State (8) and North Carolina (7) picked up points. -- Staff and wire reports

• Read more
• AP Top 25 (writers poll)
• USA Today Top 25 (coaches poll)

Garcia, Gamecocks go prime time

South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia was bumped, bruised and delighted as the clock approached midnight Thursday, the victory yells still piercing the night around Williams-Brice Stadium.

Asked where the Gamecocks' 16-10 victory over fourth-ranked Misssisippi ranked on the list of South Carolina's most significant football victories, Garcia said, "(It's) probably the biggest win in forever but I don't know all the history. It's the biggest since I've been here by far."

Garcia, a redshirt sophomore, is in his third year at South Carolina so it's fair to say his perspective is rather narrow.

But it was a significant win for a program that needed one. On national television, the Gamecocks shut down Mississippi and quarterback Jevan Snead with a defensive performance that was relentless. Less than two weeks ago, the Gamecocks couldn't stop Georgia and quarterback Joe Cox when they needed to but they put the clamps on Snead.

It was only the second win over a top-five team in the school's history, a fact not lost on Garcia.

"It's huge," he said, nursing sore ribs from having a helmet stuck into them on a quarterback sneak.
"It's the No. 4 team in the country. It was pretty ugly but it was a win and we'll take it."
-- Ron Green Jr.

Gamecocks led 6-3 at the half

The South Carolina Gamecocks are halfway there.

Attempting to beat a top-five team for only the second time in school history, the Gamecocks lead fourth-ranked Mississippi 6-3 at halftime in Williams-Brice Stadium.

South Carolina is 1-31 lifetime against teams ranked in the top five. Its only win came against third-ranked North Carolina 28 years ago in Chapel Hill.

The Gamecocks neutralized Mississippi's offense and star quarterback Jevan Snead but offensive mistakes kept South Carolina from having a larger lead.

Two long offensive drives -- a 12-play, 69-yard drive and a 13-play, 75-yard drive -- produced just two Spencer Lanning field goals after penalties deep in Ole Miss territory stalled potential touchdown drives.