N.C State's first practice

Highly regarded redshirt freshman quarterback Mike Glennon sure stands out on the football field.

Glennon is listed at 6-foot-6, an inch shorter than offensive tackle Jeraill McCuller. But Glennon obviously was the tallest player on the field Thursday as N.C. State started practice.

It seems likely that Glennon will redshirt. His footwork isn’t as polished as that of his teammates yet, and it’s difficult to imagine him learning the offense quickly enough to be ready to start in the Aug. 28 opener at South Carolina.

Nonetheless, he seems to have a strong arm, and he certainly won’t have trouble seeing over his linemen when he is in the pocket.
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- N.C. State didn’t perform any live contact drills during the one hour of practice reporters were allowed to watch Thursday, so it’s difficult to draw many conclusions about the players or the team.

But judging by pure physique, wide receiver Geron James is impressive. He is listed at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds after earning his way back on the team. James, a junior, was not enrolled in school last fall but returned in the spring with a renewed desire to be part of the team.

More than some of the other receivers, James appears capable of catching a pass and steamrolling over a clinging cornerback to break into the open field.
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- No-nonsense coach Tom O’Brien’s practices always run at a crisp pace.

Junior college transfer LeRoy Burgess learned that the hard way when a couple assistant coaches started yelling at him for loafing at the end of a drill. Burgess was penitent and hustled back into position, saying “yes sir,” as he ran.

It’s unclear if he learned that phrase at Georgia Military College, but it will serve him well under ex-Marine O’Brien.
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- Incumbent starting quarterback Daniel Evans watched a televised interview with Tampa Bay quarterback Jeff Garcia on Thursday discussing the possibility that Brett Favre might be headed to the Buccaneers.

Evans, who is a five-way competition for N.C. State’s starting job, watched Garcia say he would hold onto the Tampa Bay job until somebody wrestled it away from him.

“I’m going to try to approach it the same way,” Evans said.

- Ken Tysiac

Excitement high as UNC opens practice

Football practice starts at North Carolina on Thursday with an unusual amount of excitement.

Season tickets are sold out, with a record allotment of 36,250 gobbled up by fans eager for coach Butch Davisí second season.

Despite a 4-8 record in 2007, many in the media are predicting big things for the Tar Heels. In the ACC Coastal Division, only defending conference champ Virginia Tech was picked higher than North Carolina in the preseason media poll.

Here's why people are so high on the Tar Heels:

• North Carolina has excellent talent at the skill positions on offense. Independence High grad Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate and Brooks Foster combine for perhaps the best group of wide receivers in the ACC. Greg Little is a gifted sophomore tailback, and T.J. Yates broke the school single-season passing record last season as a freshman.
• A secondary anchored by accomplished safeties Deunta Williams and Trimane Goddard gives the team a strong last line of defense.
• Other teams in the Coastal Division are expected to struggle.

Williams discounts that last reason, saying the ACC is better than its critics suggest.

"You can't go into a game in the ACC and think this is going to be a quiet game, that we're going to win this game no matter what happens,' he said.

North Carolina has its share of problems going into camp. Yates is coming off shoulder surgery. The linebackers are suspect again. Place-kicker Connor Barth, who set the school career record for field goals, must be replaced. And there's no guarantee how the defense will react under new coordinator Everett Withers, who's a Charlotte native.

But the mere fact that people are excited about Tar Heel football is a fun development in this state. At least there is hope for the program, and that's not something you could always say during the Carl Torbush and John Bunting regimes. -- Ken Tysiac

N.C. State's Sutton is shining example

At N.C. State’s team awards banquet last season, defensive coordinator Mike Archer had fond words for cornerback Jimmie Sutton.

Last season Sutton lost his starting job at the midseason open date. After that, it seemed he didn’t have much to play for as a senior.

But he continued to work hard in practice. In the North Carolina game, the Wolfpack needed him in the second half, and he made a game-clinching deflection in the end zone in a 31-27 win.

“You had a chance to beat North Carolina for the first time in your career,” Archer said he told Sutton at the banquet, “and you did it because of the play you made, and I respect you for it.”

As N.C. State begins preseason practice today, Archer figures he will use Sutton as an example at some point for players who get discouraged.

“Jimmie was sat down, and Jimmie comes back and makes maybe the biggest play of the year,” Archer said. “We benched him and he still played. He never hung his head.”

Preseason practice is a long ordeal for players. The August heat can be brutal, and the opener (N.C. State starts August 28 at South Carolina) can seem very far away.

At that time, it’s nice to have an example like Jimmie Sutton to rejuvenate your players.

– Ken Tysiac

Sutton's perseverance provides example for Pack

At N.C. State's team awards banquet last season, defensive coordinator Mike Archer had fond words for cornerback Jimmie Sutton.

Last season Sutton lost his starting job at the midseason open date. After that, it seemed he didn't have much to play for as a senior.

But he continued to work hard in practice. In the North Carolina game, the Wolfpack needed him in the second half, and he made a game-clinching deflection in the end zone in a 31-27 win.

"You had a chance to beat North Carolina for the first time in your career,"s Archer said he told Sutton at the banquet, "and you did it because of the play you made, and I respect you for it."

As N.C. State begins preseason practice today, Archer figures he will use Sutton as an example at some point for players who get discouraged.

"Jimmie was sat down, and Jimmie comes back and makes maybe the biggest play of the year," Archer said. "We benched him and he still played. He never hung his head."

Preseason practice is a long ordeal for players. The August heat can be brutal, and the opener (N.C. State starts August 28 at South Carolina) can seem very far away.

At that time, it's nice to have an example like Jimmie Sutton to rejuvenate your players. -- Ken Tysiac

Liberty is top pick in Big South

Liberty University has been picked to repeat as Big South Conference champions, according to a panel of league coaches and media members.

The Flames received 12 of 13 first-place votes, it was announced today at the Big South Football media luncheon in Charlotte.
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League commissioner Kyle Kallander also announced that the league will receive an automatic bid to the national playoffs for the first time in 2010.

Liberty collected 77 points in the voting, and was followed by Coastal Carolina (58), Gardner-Webb (52), newcomer Stony Brook (38), Charleston Southern (30) and VMI (18). Charleston Southern received the only other first-place vote.

VMI's new coach is Sparky Woods, formerly head man at both South Carolina and Appalachian State and most recently an assistant at Alabama.

Flames running back Rashad Jennings was picked as the preseason offensive player of the year, while Gardner-Webb linebacker Mario Brown was the choice on defense.

-- Stan Olson

ASU's Edwards: The NFL can wait

Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards showed the football world just how good he really was last season, leading ASU's upset of mighty Michigan and then pushing the Mountaineers to their third straight national championship.

He's back for his junior year, but because of his success, the question of whether he might leave school early for the NFL came up at Wednesday's Southern Conference football media gathering in Greenville, S.C.

"I have people approaching me (and asking) am I going to stay in school, and all this and that," said Edwards, who added that he's 6-foot and has his weight up to 185. It appears to be a slender 185, but then you can't hit what you can't catch.

"I'm not the biggest person in the world, so I'm not that crazy to try to leave. I'll try to stay in to get as big as possible, and hopefully I'll get a shot at the NFL later. But for right now the focus is on this season."

Count on this season and next, folks.

Edwards had a reputation early in his career as a less-than outgoing interviewee because of shyness, but if Wednesday was any indication, he's conquered that. He spent the better part of three hours chatting with whoever had a question, and was forthcoming and funny in his answers.

- Stan Olson

Preseason All-ACC football team

For most of the summer, experts including Raleigh News & Observer columnist Caulton Tudor http://www.newsobserver.com/2759/story/1148476.html have been explaining that the ACC’s Atlantic Division is superior to the Coastal Division.

The release of the media’s preseason All-ACC team reinforces the idea that the Atlantic will reign in 2008. Sixteen of the preseason All-ACC selections were from the Atlantic Division, led by four each from preseason team favorite Clemson, Wake Forest and Florida State, and three from Boston College.

Just nine preseason All-ACC selections play for Coastal Division schools, led by Georgia Tech’s three selections.Three schools didn’t have any preseason All-ACC selections. It’s not surprising that Duke and N.C. State were shut out – they were picked last in their respective divisions.

But considering Miami’s history and tradition, it’s stunning that no Hurricanes were on the All-ACC list. Second-year coach Randy Shannon obviously still has a lot of recruiting to do to restore Miami’s national prominence.

Here’s the complete All-ACC list, led by the player of the year selection, Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper:

Offense: QB - Cullen Harper, Clemson; RB – Josh Adams, Wake Forest; RB – James Davis, Clemson; WR – Aaron Kelly, Clemson; WR – Hakeem Nicks, North Carolina; TE – Ryan Purvis, Boston College; T – Andrew Gardner, Georgia Tech; T – Eugene Monroe, Virginia; G – Rodney Hudson, Florida State; G – Sergio Render, Virginia Tech; C – Edwin Williams, Maryland.

Defense: DE – Everette Brown, Florida State; DE – Michael Johnson, Georgia Tech; DT – Ron Brace, Boston College; DT – Vance Walker, Georgia Tech; LB – Aaron Curry, Wake Forest; LB – Clint Sintim, Virginia; LB – Brian Toal, Boston College; CB – Victor Harris, Virginia Tech; CB – Alphonso Smith, Wake Forest; S – Michael Hamlin, Clemson; S – Myron Rolle, Florida StateSpecialists: PK – Sam Swank, Wake Forest; P – Graham Gano, Florida State; RET – Brandon Tate, North Carolina

ASU picked to win

GREENVILLE, S.C.— The media followed the coaches’ lead in overwhelmingly picking Appalachian to win the 2008 Southern Conference football championship today at the league’s annual rouser. The Mountaineers collected 29 of 30 first-place votes, with Georgia Southern grabbing the other.

Points were awarded based on each team’s position on each ballot, and the overall totals (nine for first, and so on) were led by Appalachian with 268 points, followed by Elon (215), Georgia Southern (191), Wofford (185), Furman (158), The Citadel (148), Chattanooga (83), Western Carolina (53) and league newcomer Samford (49).

The Mountaineers also placed nine players on the coaches’ preseason all-conference team, including quarterback Armanti Edwards. And one ASU player — CoCo Hillary — made it at two positions, wide receiver and return specialist. No other team had more than four on the squad, the number of spots collected by Georgia Southern.

Edwards was the preseason offensive player of the year, while Mountaineers linebacker Pierre Banks took defensive honors.—STAN OLSON

Appalachian tops media poll, too

GREENVILLE, S.C. — The media followed the coaches’ lead in overwhelmingly picking Appalachian to win the 2008 Southern Conference football championship today at the league’s annual rouser. The Mountaineers collected 29-of-30 first-place votes, with Georgia Southern grabbing the other.

Points were awarded based on each team’s position on each ballot, and the overall totals (nine for first, and so on) were led by Appalachian with 268 points, followed by Elon (215), Georgia Southern (191), Wofford (185), Furman (158), The Citadel (148), Chattanooga (83), Western Carolina (53) and league newcomer Samford (49).

The Mountaineers also placed nine players on the coaches’ preseason all-conference team, including quarterback Armanti Edwards. And one ASU player—CoCo Hillary—made it at two positions, wide receiver and return specialist. No other team had more than four on the squad, the number of spots collected by Georgia Southern.

Edwards was the preseason offensive player of the year, while Mountaineers linebacker Pierre Banks took defensive honors.

-- Stan Olson

Appalachian picked to win Southern

Appalachian State received eight of nine first-place votes in the preseason Southern Conference coaches poll today. The Mountaineers have won the past three FCS national championships.

Elon, which finished 7-4 a year ago and 4-3 in the Southern Conference, got the other first-place vote -- from Appalachian's Jerry Moore, who was not allowed to vote for his own team.

The predicted order of finish, with first place votes in parentheses and voting points (9 for first, 8 for second, etc.):

1. Appalachian State (8) 64
2. Elon (1) 47
3. Wofford 45
4. Georgia Southern 44
5. Furman 41
6. The Citadel 37
7. Chattanooga 19
8. Western Carolina 17
9. Samford 10

-- Stan Olson

Cutcliffe wants good students

GREENSBORO, Ga. - Before hiring football coach David Cutcliffe, then-Duke athletics director Joe Alleva said the school would not compromise its academic standards in order to get recruits.

The high admissions standards often have been used as a reason for Duke's football struggles because some top recruits who get into other schools can't gain admission to Duke.

"I really embrace who we are," Cutcliffe said Monday. "It's our greatest advantage, a Duke education. If you're a great football player and a solid student, the reason they won't come is the sorry football program. It wasn't the academic requirements. It was the football program."

Cutcliffe said Duke's administration wants good students but will interview recruits and work with the Duke staff as long as the players have good character and credentials.

"We don't have to have all perfect ACT and SAT scores," Cutcliffe said. "We've just got to sign good students, good people, people who want to excel academically and athletically."

The goal, Cutcliffe said, is for Duke to get to the point where players want to play in a great football program and get a good education on the side. He doesn't want players just coming to get a good education without caring about the football program.

With the Blue Devils in the midst of of 25-game ACC losing streak, that time may be years down the road.

Will Georgia Tech's option game work?

GREENSBORO, Ga. - The most hotly debated subject at the ACC preseason media kickoff has been whether first-year coach Paul Johnson's option game can work at Georgia Tech.

Opposing coaches seem concerned about the offense that helped Navy average 39.9 points per game last season. But the option has seldom been used in BCS conferences over the past 10 years to the extent that Georgia Tech will use it.

"I think Paul will drive people crazy," said Wake Forest's Jim Grobe. "I wish he (Johnson) would have gone somewhere else," said Clemson's Tommy Bowden.

The question people have is whether Johnson will be able to recruit good enough athletes to that offense to win in the ACC and defeat rival Georgia, which owns a seven-game winning streak against Georgia Tech.

Will elite wide receivers and offensive linemen sign with Georgia Tech to play in an offense that's not used in the NFL? Johnson doesn't anticipate a problem with that.

"Navy recruits against Army just as hard as Georgia Tech recruits against Georgia," Johnson said. "So that part of it's not hugely different. The pool of recruits are different but the way you go about it is the same."

Georgia Tech defensive tackle Vance Walker, who's from Fort Mill, S.C., near Charlotte, said Johnson is more fiery during practice than former coach Chan Gailey. If a player made a mistake, Gailey would quietly correct it after practice through an assistant coach.

Johnson gets in players' faces immediately after mistakes. After lining up against Johnson's offense during spring practice, Walker predicts it will work.

"Not many people have seen the offense," Walker said. "I’ve talked to a couple players here already and they say it gives them headaches. It’s just like a machine. Once it gets going, it’s hard to stop." – Ken Tysiac

Clemson fans not believing, yet

GREENSBORO, Ga. - When Clemson safety Michael Hamlin dines with teammates at Zaxby’s, it’s inevitable that a restaurant manager or customer will approach the players and tell them this is the year the Tigers win it all.

“That’s all everybody has talked about,” Hamlin said. “This is the year the team is going all the way.”

Add the ACC media to the believers. Fifty-one of the 65 voters in the preseason poll picked Clemson to win the conference. It’s the first time since 1991 that Clemson has been a preseason ACC favorite. That year also was the last time the Tigers won the ACC.

The next year, Florida State joined the conference and cast a huge shadow over the league, winning or sharing 12 of the next 14 conference titles.

Within a few years, Clemson was so insignificant on the national stage that I didn’t know who the Tigers’ coach was when I was working at the Watertown (N.Y.) Daily Times in 1995. I had to call sports information director Tim Bourret to learn that Tommy West was the coach before I interviewed for the Clemson beat reporter job at the Anderson Independent-Mail in South Carolina.

Neither West nor Tommy Bowden has won more than nine games in a season. Bowden both embraced and rejected the media’s ranking Sunday.

“I’ve been coaching long enough to know it’s insignificant,” Bowden said. “. . .The end (of the season) is the big part, but this does say we’ve accomplished something, stability in the program.”

Stability and the ranking won’t prevent Clemson fans from worrying that their team will fall short of expectations. Their hearts were broken in 2000 when Georgia Tech’s Kerry Watkins made an acrobatic touchdown catch under the shadow of Howard’s Rock to ruin an 8-0 start.

Last season, Aaron Kelly dropped a pass against Boston College that would have sent the Tigers to the ACC championship game. On Sunday, a concerned Bourret scribbled a statistic as I asked quarterback Cullen Harper about the Tigers’ four new offensive line starters. “79-66-4,” Bourret wrote.

That’s Clemson’s record since 1965 in seasons with four new offensive starters.

The crowd at Zaxby’s might be right. This may be the year Clemson wins the ACC. Its skill players and speed are magnificent. But after all the anguish I’ve witnessed at Clemson, I will have to see the trophy hoisted to believe it. – Ken Tysiac

ACC summer football meetings begin

• Freshman quarterback Mike Glennon should be well prepared when he reports to N.C. State after spending time working out with his brother this summer.

Sean Glennon, who helped quarterback Virginia Tech to an ACC championship last season, said he supported highly recruited younger brother Mike’s decision to attend N.C. State.

“He has the chance to play right away,” Sean said Sunday at the ACC football media kickoff in Greensboro, Ga. “He’s in a good system for his strengths, and he’s in an up-and-coming program.”

Mike Glennon will join Daniel Evans, Harrison Beck, Justin Burke and Russell Wilson in a crowded competition for the starting quarterback job in August. Sean said it’s yet to be decided whether Mike will play immediately or redshirt.

“If the team needs him, he’s all for going in there,” Sean said. “He knows it might be better for his career to redshirt and learn (the offense). Either way, everything’s going to work out for him there.”

Sean stands 6-foot-4 and said Mike is 3 inches taller. Sean – who’s not known for his foot speed – claims to be more athletic than Mike.

Sean said Mike’s intelligence will help him in N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien’s system, which helped groom Matt Ryan at Boston College as a successful drop-back passer.

“He can see over the line,” Sean said. “He has a big arm, I think a stronger arm than I had at that age. I wouldn’t say my arm right now is much stronger than his. Maybe a little bit. Physically we’re similar.”

Sean is one of two players representing Virginia Tech at the ACC’s annual summer media event. He shared time with speedy Tyrod Taylor last season and isn’t sure if Virginia Tech will continue using a two-quarterback system.

According to Sean, coach Frank Beamer has told the players he would like to settle on one quarterback but will continue using two, if necessary.

• First-year Duke coach David Cutcliffe might have ventured into the realm of political incorrectness when he said the players he inherited were fat.

Defensive tackle Vince Oghobaase doesn’t dispute Cutcliffe’s characterization.

“You really can’t object to something when you haven’t done anything to change it,” Oghobaase said. “If we were a fat football team and we won eight or nine football games last year, well, we were a fat football team but we won. We were a fat football team and we lost every game except the Northwestern game.”

The Blue Devils faded late in some narrow defeats during a 1-11 season that resulted in coach Ted Roof’s firing. North Carolina and Navy were among the opponents who defeated Duke with late scores.

Like many of the Blue Devils’ players, Oghobaase has set out to become slimmer and increase his stamina during the offseason. His body fat fell from 20 percent in January to 15 percent in April, and he predicts he will show another decrease when he is tested again soon.

• While driving west through Georgia on Saturday evening to attend the ACC media kickoff, I pulled off Interstate 20 to do a guest segment via cell phone on Peter Brown’s show on Sporting News Radio.

Brown declared that North Carolina was his surprise pick to win the ACC’s Coastal Division. The Tar Heels are a trendy pick to move up in a weak division after posting a 4-8 record in coach Butch Davis’ first season.

North Carolina has highly regarded skill players at wide receiver (Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate), quarterback (T.J. Yates) and tailback (Greg Little).

“This is the turnaround year,” said Nicks, a former Independence High player.

Nicks said he spent time this summer in Charlotte with former high school teammates Joe Cox and Mohamed Massaquoi of Georgia and Dominique Lindsay of East Carolina.

Massaquoi told Nicks that Georgia is moving him exclusively back to the “X” wide receiver position after he played in the slot at times last season.

• Four years ago, Vance Walker’s mother was calling around shortly before signing day to college coaches lobbying for a Division I-A scholarship offer for her son.

When Janet Walker called East Carolina, Vance had offers from Appalachian State and Georgia Southern of the Football Championship Subdivision’s Southern Conference. After East Carolina came on board, Georgia Tech gave Vance his first I-A offer.

The Fort Mill native committed immediately, and now is rated the No. 4 defensive tackle prospect for the 2009 NFL draft by WalterFootball.com. Walker, who weighed just 240 pounds as a high school senior defensive tackle, has retained his quickness and added 60 pounds.

His bench press has increased 95 pounds to 415.

“I really had no control over who offered me, and we were trying to get in touch with as many coaches as possible to see who was out there,” Walker said. “There’s no reason why [another player] is better than me just because he weighs more.”

• N.C. State tight end Anthony Hill said his knee is back to 100 percent.

He was expected to contend for All-ACC honors last season but required surgery for a ligament lorn during a workout shortly before preseason practice began. Coach Tom O’Brien has said he expects Hill to be an All-ACC-caliber player.

Hill has even higher goals.

“I definitely want to be the best tight end in the whole country,” he said.

• Defending ACC champ Virginia Tech will begin its season Aug. 30 at Bank of America Stadium against East Carolina.

Defensive end Orion Martin said he has been outside the Carolina Panthers’ home stadium but never inside.

“Anytime you get to play in a pro stadium you get a little extra excited,” Martin said. “It’s going to be our first game and playing in a new stadium, we’re excited about that.”

8 reasons to look forward to ACC football

There are plenty of reasons to be interested in ACC football with the conference’s annual media kickoff approaching Sunday, July 20.

The ACC has lost eight straight BCS bowl games. No ACC team is considered a serious national championship contender. (Clemson probably has the most talent in the ACC, but has a reputation for agonizing losses under coach Tommy Bowden).

But the ACC always is worth watching, even if it doesn’t make a splash nationally. Here are some reasons to tune in this fall:

1. Jim Grobe. He may be the best coach in the nation and is back at Wake Forest after Arkansas took a serious run at him. With junior QB Riley Skinner and sophomore RB Josh Adams in the backfield, Grobe will get Wake Forest in the ACC title hunt again.

2. Tar Heels rising? North Carolina still has a lot of growing to do entering coach Butch Davis’ second season. But the Tar Heels possess promising skill players (WRs Hakeem Nicks and Brandon Tate, RB Greg Little and QB T.J. Yates) and have a chance to move up in the Coastal Division – which might be the worst division in any BCS conference.

3. C.J. Spiller. Clemson RB and kick returner is one of the most exciting players in college football and is a threat to score every time he touches the ball.

4. New regimes. David Cutcliffe’s 44-29 record at Ole Miss demonstrated that he can win at a program that often struggles, and that’s encouraging for Duke. It will be fascinating to see if Paul Johnson’s option game at Georgia Tech can be as successful in a BCS conference as it was at Navy.

5. QB search. Daniel Evans, Justin Burke, Harrison Beck, Russell Wilson and freshman Mike Glennon all have a chance to earn the N.C. State starting quarterback job entering camp. Here’s a guess that Wilson – a cerebral redshirt freshman with dual-threat skills – winds up as the starter while highly recruited Glennon redshirts.

6. What about Bobby? Bobby Bowden, 78, enters the season with Florida State reeling from an academic scandal. If the Seminoles struggle, don’t be surprised if Bowden retires at the end of the season and turns over the team to designated successor Jimbo Fisher.

7. Miami LBs. Coach Randy Shannon’s first full recruiting class includes the most celebrated group of linebackers in the nation. Watch for early-enrolled spring game standouts Arthur Brown and Sean Spence.

8. Hokie Platoon. Sean Glennon had the more impressive spring after sharing time with Tyrod Taylor at quarterback last season. Can a two-QB system lift Virginia Tech to a second straight ACC title?