7/13/2008 10:22:51 PM

45 - John Ware




Position: Strong Safety
Class: Redshirt Sophomore
Height: 5-11
Weight: 205
Hometown: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (Cardinal Gibbons)

In 2007: Hard-hitting young defender who was the backup at weak side linebacker, but moved to strong safety for 2008 spring drills ... In for 215 snaps for the season, he ranked second in special teams snaps with 238 ... Saw action from scrimmage in all 12 games .... Tallied a season-high five tackles in the Louisville contest.

In 2006: Redshirted the season at linebacker.

Prep: Played on both sides of the ball for Coach Michael Morrill, collecting over 1,000 all-purpose yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior ... Notched 65 tackles and two sacks on defense as a senior ... As a junior, he ran for 800 yards and five scores while collecting 65 tackles and an interception ... Rated the No. 77 prospect in Florida by Scout.com ... Competed in the Broward-Dade all-star game ... Preseason South Florida Sun-Sentinel Super 11 pick ... Enrolled in the first-year college program ... Born 12/22/87.

7/14/2008 1:50:59 AM

^ I liked what I saw in him last year and he does seem better suited to be a Roy Williams type safety

7/14/2008 1:53:24 AM

Heather Dinich re-ranks the stadiums and look at where we fall.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/acc/0-1-45/The-fans-speak--ACC-stadium-rankings-II.html?post=true

[Edited on July 14, 2008 at 8:38 PM. Reason : ]

7/14/2008 8:37:49 PM

WHOOP WHOOP! Our bitching and moaning paid off for once!

7/14/2008 8:48:28 PM

^more like these rankings are more like the truth. Having us at #11 was just ridiculousness. Behind BC and Maryland? And Wake??? wtf......seriously

7/14/2008 9:04:16 PM

Heather Dinich credibility watch....

7/14/2008 9:12:45 PM

wtf is this shit AHMAD jaratet guy is NOT with the football team anymore

someone post the article from PP

7/14/2008 9:39:41 PM

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOOT, EH?

7/15/2008 9:30:15 AM

44 - Ray Michel



Position: Linebacker
Class: Redshirt Junior
Height: 6-0
Weight: 224
Hometown: Ft. Myers, Fla. (Ft. Myers)

In 2007: Backup middle linebacker who earned his first career start in the last game of the season versus Maryland ... In for 40 snaps in that contest - that tied his career high ... Played 114 specialty snaps and 264 snaps from scrimmage for the year ... Tallied a career-high eight tackles versus Clemson ... Had a tackle for loss in each of the last two games of the season.

In 2006: Played in all 12 games, seeing action only on special teams in eight contests ... In for a season-high eight snaps at Maryland, 16 for the year ... In for 66 special teams plays, however, nine of his 15 stops were on special teams ... Had three tackles in the games at Maryland and at North Carolina.

In 2005: Redshirted the season at linebacker, he was a key performer on the Wolfpack special teams ... Listed as a reserve on the weak side for spring drills.

Prep: Finished with 127 tackles, including 65 solo tackles, and six sacks as a senior at Fort Myers High School for coach Sam Sirianni ... Named Florida s 4-A Player of the Year by the Florida High School Athletic Association ... Received the Head Hunter award for leading the county in tackles as a senior ... Also named all-conference and all-district ... Played in the John Carrigon All-Star game after senior season ... A three-year starter ... His high school s all-time leader in career tackles and career sacks ... Also set the county public schools career tackles mark ... Majoring in arts applications ... Born 2/5/86.

7/15/2008 10:21:13 AM

Sign for South Carolina Game



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25677373/

7/15/2008 10:25:40 AM

it would be pretty funny if there were thousands of those in the stands

and you know Clemson is gonna have a field day with it

7/15/2008 10:27:18 AM

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/acc/0-1-57/Checking-in-on-----NC-State-s-Russell-Wilson.html

Checking in on ... NC State's Russell Wilson

Doubling up on two Division I sports is par for the course in Russell Wilson's family. His father played both baseball and football at Dartmouth, and his brother did the same at the University of Richmond.

Wilson, a second baseman and designated hitter for the Wolfpack's baseball team, is just keeping up his family tradition. This spring, he hit .296 in 16 starts with two home runs and eight RBIs. And he didn't miss a single day of spring football while doing it.

His desire to be NC State's quarterback kept him busy -- Wilson literally went from one field to the next.

Exhausted?

"I was a little bit," he said, "but I would never tell anybody. Mainly I would never tell myself that. You get tired waking up at 4:20 in the morning, every morning, anyway. There are so many people in the world who wish they could do the things I could and other players in the ACC could, like step on that field, and I realize that."

Wilson, a redshirt freshman in football and a sophomore in baseball, said he plans to keep up both sports.

"I definitely believe I can do it, especially going through it once," he said. "I never played football, but being on the scout team I learned a lot, especially how to manage my time, and you go in extra to lift, too, since you don't play any games."

That might change this year. The quarterback job in Raleigh is wide open.

"I definitely have a good shot," he said. "I want to fight every day. Other quarterbacks like to compete as well, but I'm one of the hardest competitors there is. I always keep my head up good or bad. I'm going to have fun with it. It's a dream come true if I do get it. Whenever I do step on that field it could go wrong, it could go amazing, it could great, but I know that there are so many people in the world who wish they could have that opportunity and I'm going to try to take full advantage of it every second I get."

7/16/2008 9:36:18 PM

Quote :

"His father played both baseball and football at Dartmouth"

did not know that.

7/16/2008 9:59:46 PM

43 - Thomas Barnes





Position: Linebacker
Class: Sophomore
Height: 5-11
Weight: 225
Hometown: Dublin, GA (Dublin)

In 2007: Hard-hitting middle linebacker who made an impact early in his career .... On just his third collegiate play, he scored a touchdown ... Two plays after entering the Wofford game, he recovered a fumble and rumbled five yards to the endzone for the score ... Played in the last 10 games of 2007, he was in for 168 snaps from scrimmage and also got in special teams work ... Had a high of eight tackles versus Wofford, he tallied sacks in the FSU and Virginia contests.

Prep: Outside linebacker who finished with 67 tackles, four sacks, two interceptions, and an interception return for a touchdown as a senior at Dublin HS ... Added 765 yards and seven touchdowns as the starting fullback ... Scored on a 77-yard kickoff return ... Helped lead his team to its first state title in 43 years with a record of 14-0-1 in Class AA ... Garnered all-conference honors and was named conference player of the year ... A first-team all-state selection and the Class AA Defensive Player of the Year ... Ranked among the top-50 players in Georgia and a three-star player overall by Rivals.com ... Won a state championship in basketball as a junior ... Played for head coach Mike Holmes ... Enrolled in the first-year college program .. Born 1/2/89.

7/17/2008 1:44:37 AM

42 - Audie Cole




Position: Linebacker
Class: Redshirt Freshman
Height: 6-5
Weight: 229
Hometown: Monroe, MI (Monroe)

In 2007: Redshirted the season at linebacker.

Prep: Played quarterback, safety and linebacker at Monroe HS for coach Greg Hudkins ... Rivals.com top-30 player out of Michigan ...Threw for 3,285 yards and 23 touchdowns in his career and was named all-league as a senior ... Rushed for 10 touchdowns his final season and threw for more than 1,700 yards ... Was a three-year starter at quarterback and also played defense as a senior ... Lettered in baseball and basketball in addition to football .. Enrolled in the first-year college program ... Born 6/1/89.

7/17/2008 1:48:07 AM

Quote :

"CAN'T FUCKING WAIT"

7/17/2008 1:52:08 AM

Quote :

""CAN'T FUCKING WAIT""

and Audie Cole impressed me in Spring Game

7/17/2008 3:00:27 AM

Old article but still a good read.

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/football/articles/2007/01/09/change_of_environment/

New N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien is looking ahead to the challenge of moving to an area where college football is king. (BARRY CHIN/FILE/GLOBE STAFF)

By Michael Vega, Globe Staff | January 9, 2007

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Tom O'Brien was perched high in Section 110 of the RBC Center, watching the Boston College men's basketball team thrash North Carolina State, 74-58, in an Atlantic Coast Conference romp Saturday afternoon. Frustrated by BC's whopping 23-point lead with 15:10 remaining in the game, N.C. State fans suddenly launched into chants of "Tom O'Brien! Tom O'Brien!," a not-so-subtle reminder of how BC's former football coach was now, in fact, the leader of the Wolfpack.

"I guess they can't wait for football season," O'Brien said the next day.

Sitting in his fourth-floor corner office in the Wendell P. Murphy Center -- with its vaulted ceiling, wall-mounted plasma TV, and panoramic view of Carter-Finley Stadium -- O'Brien spoke at length Sunday afternoon, choking back the emotions at one juncture, about the reasons he decided to leave BC after 10 seasons and a 75-45 record, best in school history, to succeed Chuck Amato as N.C. State's coach.

"If you saw this place 10 years ago, and you saw it as we walked into it this year, it's night and day," O'Brien said of his new surroundings. "The commitment to this program has been incredible. There's a great passion here for football and these fans are the best in the state of North Carolina."

O'Brien, 58, seems prepared to make the transition from Boston's pro-oriented sports landscape to this rabid college environment in the heart of the ACC.

"I knew what I was getting myself into, I saw it for 15 years at Virginia, the spring caravans and all that," said O'Brien. "So I know exactly what I'm getting myself into and I'm happy to be a part of it. There's a passion here. It's on a much larger scale, and that's good for me, because I want to be a part of something like that."

Fully aware of the demands that will be placed on him as the face of a program whose Wolfpack Club numbers 19,000 strong and ranks as one of the largest in the conference, if not the country, O'Brien said he doesn't plan a personality makeover. He intends to remain the way he was at Navy, at Virginia, and at BC: steady and solid.

"I can't be anybody else; I can only do the best job I can do," O'Brien said. "I only know one way to do it and I've been trained one way to do it, and to try to do an out-of-body experience and be somebody I'm not, that's how, in my opinion, most coaches fail; they try to be somebody else and they don't try to be themselves."

At BC, O'Brien projected an image as a taciturn coach with little emotion. Until, that is, it came time for him to leave, a decision that resulted in a tearful farewell meeting with his players and staff, two days after word leaked about his imminent departure.

"Oh, that was hard," O'Brien said, tears welling and voice quivering. "I always prided myself in doing things the right way, and that certainly didn't come out the right way."

While he will bring six members of his BC staff with him to Raleigh -- Jerry Petercuskie, Dana Bible, Don Horton, Jim Bridge, Jason Swepson, and Keith Willis, in addition to grad assistant Jay Civetti and strength coach Todd Rice -- O'Brien became emotional at the thought of those people he left behind at BC, people he felt were just as responsible for the program's success over the last 10 seasons.

"It certainly wasn't just me, it was a lot of people, people who are still there," O'Brien said. "Certainly there's Spaz [defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani] and Billy [McGovern, linebackers coach]. Steve Bushee and the training staff. Jill Hegarty [assistant director of football operations].

"You think about them and what an amazing group of people we had. That was the hardest thing. As I said to them [at a going-away Christmas party Dec. 23], 'It's all your fault I was as emotional as I was,' because they were great friends."

O'Brien was asked about his working relationship with BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo, one some thought was on the rocks.

"It was professional," O'Brien replied. "But I wouldn't say we were drinking buddies or anything like that. It was professional."

So why is BC's winningest coach now at N.C. State? After a USA Today report last fall placed O'Brien's $733,626 total salary among the bottom third of the league's 12 coaches (a figure DeFilippo disputed and put at $1 million), did O'Brien feel compelled to seek greener pastures?

"The timing was right," said O'Brien, who got a seven-year deal at N.C. State that will pay him a minimum of $1.1 million per year and up to $1.8 million with incentives.

"It was time, time to move on, and if I was going to do it, it was going to have to be sooner rather than later," he said. "As I said before, 10 years is a long time to be a head coach [at one school].

"You look back, when I took the job [at BC], there were 21 positions open that year and now there's only two guys still at their schools: Pat Hill is still at Fresno State and Joe Tiller is still employed at Purdue; everybody else is out of a job.

"So there's not ever one reason why you do anything, I don't think, especially in this profession. A bunch of things came together and it was just too good of an opportunity for us not to take."

The opportunity to return to the South also was irresistible. O'Brien spent the formative part of his coaching career in Charlottesville, Va., where he toiled for head coach George Welsh.

After 10 years at BC, O'Brien figured he and his wife, Jenny, now empty-nesters after their three children graduated from BC, didn't have many more moves to make and had begun planning for retirement by purchasing a home in Charleston, S.C., some four hours from Raleigh, N.C.

"I don't have any left; this was it," O'Brien said. "I mean, the next move as far as I'm concerned is to South Carolina [to retire]. So I think that all played into it, too."

In his 10 seasons at The Heights, O'Brien restored discipline to a program that had been sullied by a gambling scandal in 1996. He pushed for his players to excel not only on the field but in the classroom, evidenced by BC's exemplary graduation rate. And he guided the Eagles to eight consecutive bowl berths and the first six of seven consecutive bowl wins.

Though he dedicated it to O'Brien, interim coach Spaziani was credited with BC's 25-24 victory over Navy in this season's Meineke Car Care Bowl, which kept intact the nation's longest active bowl winning streak. O'Brien, who watched the game from his home in Charleston, was awarded the game ball. It now sits as the only memento on the mantel in his office.

And yet, for all his accomplishments, O'Brien continued to be haunted by those things he had not accomplished -- specifically, taking the Eagles to the "next level" by landing a Bowl Championship Series berth.

"I remember after losing at Temple, my first game, I had to speak to the Touchdown Club that week," O'Brien recalled. "I made them the promise that every day I'd work as hard as I could to make Boston College's football program the best program in the country. And so that's what I always did. That wasn't going to change.

"Sometimes you can't change people's perception of you, but I think I did my job to the best of my ability and I accomplished the things I needed to accomplish at Boston College."

7/17/2008 8:33:31 PM

100 Years History of NC State Football

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2ceGHEhPBM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6zDkDT1Lx0&feature=related

7/17/2008 8:46:03 PM

OUR FOOTBALL SCHEDULE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My 10 year class reunion is the day of the USF game at 6:00pm. No matter what time of day we play, it will be a tough reunion to make. As for the wedding, why couldn't we be playing someone like USF that week who isn't that big of a deal?

7/17/2008 9:11:50 PM

I'm not gonna read through this thread or hunt around other threads...so flame if you wish, but whats the deal with tickets? wolfpack club is sold out, stubhub has some for 100$, and the USC website says they haven't gone on sale yet. Should I just expect to pay 100$ for a ticket or what?

7/17/2008 9:24:55 PM

It should be a criminal offense to schedule weddings during football season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgC94i0BnfE&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaCf4QSo-DU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRyUYbn4MAg&feature=related

And my favorite of them all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT4d41VdZ3U&feature=related

7/17/2008 9:37:32 PM

^The last time I had a sister get married the weekend schedule caused me to miss a State basketball game on Friday and a football game on Saturday (Loss to ECU in 2006).

7/17/2008 9:54:10 PM

http://heismanpundit.com/archives/1618

TJ Graham named the 8th fastest player in college football, even though his 100 time is better than #4-7 and tied with #3. Regardless, if he can get his hands on the ball, good things can happen.

7/17/2008 11:05:01 PM

^so what you really mean is he is T-3rd fastest player in college football

edit: wind aided but whateva

[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 11:24 PM. Reason : edit]

7/17/2008 11:19:07 PM

in other news. I continue to see my football boys black out drunk around my apt complex. GO PACK!

7/18/2008 1:55:56 AM

41 - Dwayne Maddox





Position: Linebacker
Class: Freshman
Height: 6-2
Weight: 225
Hometown: Shelby, N.C. (Crest)

In 2008: Graduated from high school early, he enrolled at NC State in January ... Went through the offseason conditioning program and spring practice with the Wolfpack ... Led the defense in tackles in one spring scrimmage with eight.

Prep: A 2007 Shrine Bowl participant, Maddox tallied 169 tackles, including a dozen for loss, last season, earning all-state honors ... He was also named his conference s defensive player of the year ... Enrolled in the first-year college ... Born 3/16/90.

7/18/2008 3:02:35 AM

That's awesome about TJ Graham. I don't know how an incoming freshman makes that list, but it's good to see. Hopefully he'll be another Alvis Whitted for us.

7/18/2008 9:16:43 AM

Someone post the youtube vid of Alvis Whitted's 96 yard kickoff return against FSU. Everyone was like "whoo now we are only losing by a score of 44-17!"

7/18/2008 9:23:24 AM

Quote :

"Born 3/16/ 90 "

Wow, that puts things in perspective

7/18/2008 9:43:02 AM

As far as TJ Graham goes he really is that fast but the last time I saw him play he got the ball ripped out of his hands by a 5-5 cornerback. Let's hope that he gets a little stronger but still keeps that speed.

7/18/2008 4:23:58 PM

Quote :

"And my favorite of them all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT4d41VdZ3U&feature=related"

I don't know how I posted the wrong link, but this is the one that is actually my favorite. <3 Tool!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fv-703AcGM&feature=related

7/18/2008 4:36:27 PM

Quote :

"Frustrated by BC's whopping 23-point lead with 15:10 remaining in the game, N.C. State fans suddenly launched into chants of "Tom O'Brien! Tom O'Brien!," a not-so-subtle reminder of how BC's former football coach was now, in fact, the leader of the Wolfpack. "I guess they can't wait for football season," O'Brien said the next day. "

probably the best chant ive ever started

7/18/2008 5:02:30 PM

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/ncsu/story/1146910.html

Wolfpack's Evans eager for fall camp

RALEIGH - With two surgically repaired shoulders, a higher release point on his passes and better arm strength, N.C. State quarterback Daniel Evans understandably is eager to get into preseason camp.

"I feel good. I'm 100 percent," Evans said after a recent workout at the Murphy Center. "I'm doing all the lifting, all the throwing, doing everything,

"I feel better than I have in two years. I'm excited."

With 17 career starts, Evans is the Pack's most experienced quarterback. Entering his fifth season, the former Broughton star has thrown for 3,873 yards -- seventh-best in school history -- and 17 touchdowns, and is called the "incumbent" at his position by State coach Tom O'Brien.

But recurring shoulder problems have hampered Evans the past few years. His left shoulder would pop in and out -- a separation he first suffered in 2006. He played much of last season with a torn labrum in his right shoulder, an injury from the 2007 spring game that he reaggravated last season against Florida State.

"I had to compensate a little bit," said Evans, who had 11 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions last year. "My delivery point definitely wasn't where it needed to be."

In the Pack's win over Virginia last season, Evans had a touchdown pass to wide receiver Donald Bowens that was more a sidearm sling than a throw.

"Daniel and I were watching game videos and we looked at each other like, 'Can you believe how low the arm was?' " said Johnny Evans, Daniel's father and a former State quarterback.

Adding injury to insult, Evans again hurt his left shoulder in the first half of Pack's last game, a 37-0 mauling by Maryland that left State 5-7 and cost the Wolfpack a bowl trip.

A few days later, Evans had surgery to repair the labrum -- cartilage in the shoulder joint that gives it stability. In January, he underwent surgery on his left shoulder.

A torn labrum isn't an uncommon injury in football. Quarterback Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints has had labral surgery. So, too, North Carolina's T.J. Yates.

But for Evans, it meant missing all of spring practice. It meant standing on the sideline with a football in his hands but being unable to throw it for the first time in his athletic career.

"I'd never had a serious injury," he said.

Evans watched as quarterback Russell Wilson, a redshirt freshman, threw the ball well and impressed. Justin Burke, a redshirt sophomore, had a strong spring game. Harrison Beck, a junior who started four games last year, had his moments.

Also observing at times was Mike Glennon, the highly recruited quarterback out of Virginia. Although a true freshman, Glennon will be in the mix when practice begins, O'Brien said.

But Evans doesn't believe the missed spring work was costly.

"I sat in all the meetings," he said. "Sure, I'd love to have the [repetitions] in practice, but I'm getting that this summer, going out and throwing with the guys.

"I mean, I'm better now than I was at the beginning of last season from the sheer physical standpoint. So I'm not behind at all. If anything, I'm ahead.

"It's kind of weird. I'm ahead despite missing the spring."

Evans' rehabilitation, under the watch of head football trainer Jamey Coll, went smoothly and "by the book," Johnny Evans said.

"I remember in mid-March when Jamey first let Daniel lift the ball over his shoulder," Johnny said. "All he could do is shot-put it five yards."

Call it a start. By May, Evans had good velocity on 40-yard passes although restricted by throw counts. Finally, he was completely cleared by Coll.

"He's back throwing over the top again," Johnny Evans said.

A year ago, Evans beat out Beck and Burke in fall camp and started the season opener against Central Florida. This year, there's a gaggle of guys and O'Brien said a starter may not be named until a few days before the Pack's Aug. 28 opener at South Carolina.

"I'm used to competing for the job," Evans said. "I've done it for four years."

Evans, who has his degree in business, said he never considered giving up his fifth year. Not after that 37-0 loss, he said, that remains a motivating factor for him and his teammates.

"We would have liked to have gone to a bowl and used that as a springboard, but we can use that kind of a loss as a springboard, also," he said. "I'm expecting a lot this year. We definitely have the talent. I think it's going to be fun."

7/19/2008 12:50:07 PM

so help us if we have to sit through another season of daniel evans.

7/19/2008 12:53:35 PM

Honestly, if our o-line and running game improve then this year's qb doesn't really matter. It is next year when we should have some definite production there.

7/19/2008 4:59:58 PM

TJ graham may be a good player for jet motion or a few reverses

7/19/2008 7:31:45 PM

39 - Derrick White


Position: Fullback
Class: Junior
Height: 6-1
Weight: 225
Hometown: Midway Park, N.C. (White Oak)

7/20/2008 1:30:57 AM

39 - Chaz McQueen


Position: Tight End
Class: Sophomore
Height: 6-4
Weight: 200
Hometown: Raleigh, N.C. (Ravenscroft)

7/20/2008 1:34:41 AM

Getting married October 25th. Honey moon the week after that. Look how the football schedule fell around that.

<3

7/20/2008 9:54:36 AM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/ncaa/07/15/clemson.expectations.ap/

Bowden downplays expectations

SUNSET, S.C. (AP) -- With a new, long-term contract and nearly every offensive impact player back, it sounds like a carefree summer for Clemson coach Tommy Bowden.

"Never," Bowden said Tuesday. "You're never relaxed before the season."

Still, there are many in Tigertown excited about Clemson's prospects for an Atlantic Coast Conference championship and beyond in Bowden's 10th season.

The Tigers went 9-4 a year ago and featured a multifaceted attack with record setters in quarterback Cullen Harper and receiver Aaron Kelly. If that wasn't enough, the team's "Thunder and Lightning" duo of James Davis and C.J. Spiller was there to control the clock and strike for long, stunning touchdowns.

Despite missing out on the ACC title game because of a 20-17 November loss to Matt Ryan and Boston College, Bowden was rewarded with a raise and a deal that ties him to the Tigers through 2014.

Things continued to go Clemson's way after the season ended.

Harper and Kelly quickly turned aside notions of leaving after their junior years. Davis, who initially declared for the NFL draft, changed his mind a week or so later and returned to the team.

On defense, standouts in safety Michael Hamlin and lineman Dorrell Scott also chose to play one final season.

The lone junior star who left was defensive lineman and sack leader Phillip Merling, drafted in the second round last April by Miami. Clemson, though, brought on first-year lineman Da'Quan Bowers, considered by some the country's top prospect, to fill in.

The returnees and newcomers make Clemson the likely choice to win the ACC, and perhaps challenge for more.

Bowden, in typical coach summer-speak, isn't so sure.

He's worried over his offensive line, which has only center Thomas Austin as a returning starter. Bowden's also concerned about his linebackers, all three starters gone from last fall.

"I don't see this as a veteran team," Bowden said.

Of rampant talk of coming success, he says, "I would say it was premature."

Bowden's opinion probably won't keep Clemson from a spot in the preseason top-10.

It may, though, get his players focused on completing a job they couldn't the past two seasons. In 2006, an unexpected 13-12 loss at Death Valley to overmatched Maryland cost the Tigers a spot in the ACC's title game.

Last fall, Clemson fell victim to Boston College in a showdown for an ACC championship slot.

The Tigers had rallied to a 17-13 lead in the last six minutes. But a scrambling Ryan found Rich Gunnell for the winning 43-yard TD catch with 1:46 left.

Clemson had a good look at answering back down the stretch. However, Harper's pass fell through the hands of Kelly near the goalline.

The Eagles were off to the ACC's title game. Clemson's streak without an ACC crown grew to 16 years.

Bowden says he thinks about that loss every day and understands he'll be marked by the Tigers failings until they bring home a championship. "My father carried that for a long time," Bowden said.

His dad, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, won the first of his two national titles with the Seminoles in 1993 -- 17 years after he was hired.

Until you succeed, the reputation that you'll stumble as the Tigers have done, "is deserved," Tommy Bowden said.

What Bowden won't do is overhaul a program that's been close. If Clemson had contained Ryan at the Boston College game, not allowed Gunnell to get so wide open, or caught the TD pass at the end, the Tigers title drought might already be over.

"And then I won't have to answer that question anymore," he said.

Maybe these Tigers will make sure he won't have to next year.

7/20/2008 2:52:46 PM

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/ncsu/story/1147618.html

Pack duo sets pace in football

RALEIGH - It was 5:22 a.m., with a full moon still aglow in the southern sky Friday when N.C. State tight end Anthony Hill wheeled his car into the Murphy Center parking lot.

It was time to meet tailback Jamelle Eugene. Time to lift weights, sweat, work, run.

Time to be leaders.

"They're the first ones here every morning," said Todd Rice, the Wolfpack's director of strength and conditioning. "And when your best players are your hardest workers, everything else kind of falls into place."

Eugene was one of State's best players last season. Taking over as the starter at midseason after injuries to Toney Baker and Andre Brown, the redshirt junior had three 100-yard rushing games and was named the team's most valuable player for 2007.

As for Hill, he also was one of the Pack's best -- two years ago.

Last July, Hill was forlorn. Arguably the top tight end in the ACC heading into his senior year, he tore up his left knee in an informal passing drill and was facing reconstructive surgery. There would be no football.

"It was," Hill said, "a bad time."

But just look at him now. Rangy at 6 feet 6, he weighs 264 pounds. He has lowered his body fat.

"I can see my abs for the first time since my sophomore year," Hill said, flashing a smile.

He's also ready to hit, and be hit, again. Hill, his left knee in a heavy brace, was in on much of the Pack's spring work but held out of contact drills.

"But I can't wait for preseason practice," he said. "I've been waiting a long time. I can't wait to get that first hit behind me and move on to the second one.

"It's just going to be great to be 100 percent, come in and be just like the rest of the guys."

As for the Pack's opening game, Aug. 28 at South Carolina, just the mention of it can get Hill's heart rate racing.

"It may be the most emotional game I've ever played in," he said.

Most expect Hill, a redshirt senior from Houston, to be named a team captain this season. With it comes responsibility, but Hill will gladly accept it and do all he can to help, encourage -- and possibly inspire -- his teammates.

One way is setting his cell-phone alarm for 5 a.m. this summer, then ignoring the urge to smash it or toss it in another room and get in a few more winks. Eugene does the same.

"You have to set the tone," Eugene said. "We do more before 8 o'clock than most people do in a day.

"Hopefully the team will follow our lead. Eventually, they'll jump ahead of you and make you jump ahead of them. That's what it takes to win."

Once at the Murphy Center, there is little chit-chat or laughter. Not in the weight room. While defensive end Willie Young predictably has a few things to say -- "Look at Anthony's pretty smile," he teases -- it is mostly business, the floor constantly shaking as dead weights slam down.

"Jamelle was always our hardest worker and used to be a clear-cut exception," Rice said. "Now, that kind of work is more the norm for everyone.

"Last year was frustrating for Anthony. He felt like he was on the outside looking in, like he wasn't a part of it. But he battled through it to become one of our really good leaders."

On Friday, Hill and Eugene stretched, then hit the weight room. They did 300-pound power cleans, followed by squats, lateral pulls, hanging leg raises.

Next, Hill, Eugene and about 50 players -- the others work out later in the day -- took to the practice field for agility drills, running around cones. Then more running -- 60 yards up and back.

"Pretty intense," Hill said.

While Rice was in charge, Pack coach Tom O'Brien was on hand for a look. So, too, were offensive coordinator Dana Bible and defensive coordinator Mike Archer.

After one drill, Rice shouted, "Gather 'em up, Anthony."

Hill did just that, the players running to surround him.

"One, two, three, FULL SPEED," they chanted, with Hill's the loudest voice.

"I'm supposed to be the leader of the team," Hill said later. "That's the role I'm taking on now. A much bigger role."

Hill, a brutally effective blocker, was the Pack's leading receiver with 45 catches in 2006, when he was named second-team All-ACC. With 20 career starts and more than 1,000 offensive snaps, he has invaluable experience.

O'Brien didn't have Hill available in his first season with the Pack. Now, he does.

"I look at last year as it happened for the better for me," Hill said. "I'm ready. I haven't played a game yet for Coach O'Brien. I can't wait until Aug. 28. I really think this can be a special year."

7/20/2008 3:27:01 PM

38 - Ulysses Tuft, Jr.




Position: Wide Receiver
Class: Sophomore
Height: 5-11
Weight: 190
Hometown: Lawndale, NC (Burns)

Prep: Played wide receiver at the Naval Prep School after high school for coach Mark Williams ... He caught 4 passes for 75 yards and a touchdown while also returning a kickoff for a touchdown last season ... Caught 66 passes for 1,086 yards and seven touchdowns in his last two season at Burns High School where he was coached by Ron Greene ... Named Offensive MVP in the Army vs. Navy game at Navy Prep ... Earned SW Foothills All-Conference honors as a junior and was named a FCA Honor Athlete his senior season.

7/21/2008 7:51:33 AM

Quote :

"ICE CRITICS FANNIES"

[Edited on July 21, 2008 at 7:57 AM. Reason : we need to go to the bowl in orlando because florida chicks are easy]

7/21/2008 7:56:35 AM

38 - Jeff Ruiz


Position: Punter
Class: Redshirt Sophomore
Height: 6-2
Weight: 185
Hometown: Chula Vista, Calif. (Southwestern JC)

In 2007: Redshirted the season, he was listed as the backup punter.

Prep/JUCO: Named a junior college All-American and was all-conference ... Led the Foothill Conference and the state of California with a 43.3-yard punting average ... That mark ranked second in the nation ... Had 23 total punts downed inside the opponent's 20-yard line ... Also played baseball ... Played football for Walt Justice at Southwestern ... Majoring in sport management .... Born 8/26/88.

7/21/2008 8:12:12 AM

^ so the punting average last year was ~36 yards, and that guy was a backup??? why didn't he start?

7/21/2008 9:00:53 AM

yeah i don't get it either. i assume there's a good reason somewhere.

7/21/2008 9:13:21 AM

Is anyone else not a fan of these quasi-turtleneck shirts they picked for the profile pictures?

7/21/2008 9:22:54 AM

yeah whatever happened to shirts and ties?

7/21/2008 9:27:14 AM