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TAR HEELS LOSE TO LSU 30-24 AFTER HUGE RALLY IN 2ND HALF FALLS SHORT

ATLANTA (AP) – North Carolina nearly rallied from a 20-point halftime deficit before losing 30-24 to LSU on Saturday night.

Patrick Peterson had 257 yards – including an 87-yard touchdown – on kickoff and punt returns, leading No. 21 LSU (1-0) to a 30-10 halftime lead.

But No. 18 North Carolina (0-1) made a game of it, scoring two second-half touchdowns, then getting two shots at the win after recovering an onside kick and a fumble. T.J. Yates drove the Heels to the LSU 2-yard line and got off a pair of passes into the end zone after throwing for a career-high 412 yards.

Both slipped through the hands of Zack Pianalto.

Backed up against his own goal line, Yates rolled to his right and heaved a pass out of the end zone that Jheranie Boyd took to the other end zone for a 97-yard touchdown – the longest play from scrimmage in North Carolina history. Yates then hooked up with Erik Highsmith on a 14-yard touchdown with 2 1/2 minutes remaining.

North Carolina recovered an onside kick, but LSU stopped that drive by forcing Yates to fumble as he tried to scramble. Trying to run out the clock, Stevan Ridley fumbled and the Tar Heels recovered, getting one more shot for an improbable victory.

Former quarterback Russell Shepard, now playing receiver to take advantage of his speed, hauled in a touchdown pass and broke off a 50-yard scoring run for LSU. And the current quarterback, Jordan Jefferson, finished off the first half with a 51-yard scoring pass to Rueben Randle.

Plenty of players stepped up for the Tar Heels, no one more than Yates. He completed 28 of 45 and had three touchdown passes. His favorite receiver was Boyd, who had six catches for 221 yards, making him only the fourth player in North Carolina history to have 200 receiving yards in a game.

Jefferson was 15 of 21 for 151 yards. Ridley rushed for 81 yards and Shepard had 67, while the LSU defense limited North Carolina to 24 yards on the ground.

The Tar Heels gave up a safety when center P.J. Lonergan snapped the ball past Yates, who wasn’t ready for the shotgun hike. It rolled out of the back of the end zone.

Peterson kept it going by fielding a punt at his own 13, gliding to his right, then making a quick cut through the hole that sent him off on the TD that made it 23-10.

He wasn’t done. Peterson set up the final score with a 37-yard punt return to the LSU 49. On the next play, Jefferson found Randle streaking down the middle of the field and hit him in stride for the touchdown.

JohnO September 5, 2010 Featured, Football

EX NORTHERN GUILFORD STAR KEENAN ALLEN SPARKLES IN COLLEGE DEBUT

Ex Northern Guilford star Keenan Allen introduced himself to Cal football fans Saturday to the sound of 58,040 jaws dropping. By now you’ve probably seen the highlights.

There was the 17-yard gain on a lateral on the Bears’ first touchdown drive. There was the 18-yard reception that kicked off their second touchdown drive. The end-around that was supposed to be a wide receiver pass was special — seeing his intended target covered, Allen wove diagonally across the field for an 18-yard touchdown.

By the time Allen caught quarterback Kevin Riley’s short pass early in the second half, you half expected what came next. Allen moved left to right, picking up blockers, outrunning defenders and turning an innocent-looking play into a 48-yard touchdown.

In short, Allen made a spectacle of himself during Cal’s 52-3 pantsing of UC Davis, revealing himself to be the big play ingredient Jeff Tedford’s offense has been missing the past two seasons. Allen, a true freshman, rushed three times for 38 yards, caught four passes for 120 yards and scored twice.

JohnO September 5, 2010 Featured, Football , , ,

GREENSBORO COLLEGE SQUEAKS PAST GUILFORD 17-15 IN GATE CITY SOUP BOWL

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Quarterback Seth Adams (Burlington, N.C./Williams) ran for two second-half scores in Greensboro College’s 17-15 win over Guilford College Saturday night in the 14th annual Gate City Soup Bowl.
The Pride (1-0) evened the series between Greensboro’s two NCAA Division III football teams at seven wins apiece with its second straight victory.
On third and goal, Adams snuck the ball across from one yard out, capping a 10-play, 99-yard drive that gave Greensboro a 9-8 third-quarter lead. The Pride’s game Most Valuable Player also scored on the Pride’s next possession on a seven-yard keeper that opened a 15-8 edge. Two penalties moved the point-after-attempt to the Quakers’ 23-yard line, but Adams hooked up with Antwan Thorpe (Oxford, N.C./Webb) for the conversion that ultimately provide the game-winning points.
Guilford scored on its opening drive of the fourth quarter on a 27-yard end-around run by wideout Ben King (Archdale, N.C./Trinity (Appalachian State)), the sophomore’s second score of the day. He also tallied the game’s first touchdown on an 11-yard pass from Luke Vandall (Graham, N.C./Southern Alamance) and earned Guilford’s game MVP honor.
Greensboro enjoyed an over 17-minute edge in time of possession, rolled up 335 total offensive yards and earned seven of its 23 first downs via Guilford penalties. Nick Bryant (Los Angeles, Calif./Burroughs) gained a game-high 73 rushing yards on 16 carries and Robert Byrd (Atlanta, Ga./Grady) added 47 rushing yards on 11 carries. Thorpe finished with 172 all-purpose yards, including 77 receiving yards on a team-high five catches.
King made a game- and career-high six catches for 53 yards and a touchdown in his first Guilford game. Vandall completed 10-of-17 passes for 87 yards and a score in his first college start. Sophomore De’Shawn Lindsey (Charlotte, N.C./Independence) made a game-high 11 tackles for Guilford.
The Quakers host Methodist University Saturday (9/11) at 7:00 p.m. The Pride host Emory & Henry College next Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
The annual canned-goods drive that accompanies the game yielded 7,101 non-perishable food items for the benefit of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina and the Greensboro Urban Ministry.
JohnO September 5, 2010 Featured, Football

SCM WRITER DESMOND JOHNSON ANSWERS 5 QUESTIONS ON THE 2010 CAROLINA PANTHERS

CAROLINA PANTHERS

Five Important questions going into the 2010 season

Desmond Johnson

            Welcome, Panthers faithful!  Many of you know me as your fearless reporter for SportsCarolina Monthly.  This is a monthly column that will track our home state Panthers with Five questions for each month based on where we are record and moral wise.  High hopes are running wild with this year’s young team.  So without further ado…

  1. Can Matt Moore run this offense and be a leader of the team???  Maybe the REAL question should be why we didn’t let Moore run the offense after week 1 of the 2009 season.  Moore started 5 games at the end of the 2009 season, helping beat the stuffing out of the Vikings in a very important game for them, the Giants in the last game ever in the Meadowlands, who were also fighting for a playoff spot, and the World Champion New Orleans Saints.  Moore went 4-1, yet the Panthers still drafted QB’s Jimmy Clausen and Tony Pike.  Clausen was a value pick but Pike?  Plus 2nd year QB Hunter Cantwell appears to be performing better this year also.  Make no mistake, its Moore’s job to lose.  Moore throws a tighter ball than Jake Delhomme and it has a funny habit of hitting actual receivers instead of defensive players.  Look for Moore to be the breakout player of the year. Not for the Panthers, for the entire league.
  2. Who will start in the backfield, Deangelo Williams or Jonathan Stewart?  My money is on Deangelo.  He’s my favorite of the two backs, due to his speed.  Williams reminds me of Marshall Faulk in terms of open field speed.  Stewart is a grind it out back that can also break a long run.  Both backs rushed for 1100 yards last season, a NFL record.  Teams will gear up against the run when playing the Panthers, sometimes even putting an unheard of nine guys in the box to protect against “Double Trouble”.  You know the cool thing about it?  The Panthers don’t care.  I’ve watched them do draw plays on 3rd and 10 and get 13 yards on it.  They believe.  The running backs and the offensive line are top five in the NFL, talent wise.
  3. Who will replace Julius Peppers?  The quick answer is no one.  Defensive Coordinator Ron Meeks will use a rotation of players including DE Tyler Brayton, DE Charles Johnson and DE Everette Brown.  Brown will be used primarily for passing downs though.  Look for most of the pressure to come from the linebacking group and the secondary on zone blitzes.
  4. Why would the Panthers move LB Jon Beason to outside linebacker even though he wants to stay in the middle?  This was done not by choice.  When OLB Thomas Davis went down a few months ago with an injury to the same ACL he hurt in 2009 it left a spot on our roster that was deep incredibly thin.  Beason moves to weak side linebacker.  In Meeks’ defense the weakside linebacker makes the “plays” .  Think Derrick Brooks from Tampa Bay.  Former All-American Dan Conner will move to middle linebacker and James Anderson will man the strong side position.  An injury here could be devastating to this unit.
  5. What happens to John Fox after this year?  Who knows?  Probably depends on the outcome of the season.  If we have another lackluster, subpar season…Fox is probably gone (my theory is that he wants the New York Giants position and will take it when they fire Coughlin).  Fox wants top five coach money and Owner Jerry Richardson hasn’t tipped his hand to whether or not he will get it.  Fox is the third longest tenured coach currently in the NFL and people seem divided on his future.  But its not just Fox…the ENTIRE coaching staff is in their final year of their contracts as well.  Richardson is on the committee that is negotiating to avoid a lockout in 2011 and didn’t give out any large contracts to any players or coaches during the offseason.  It remains to be seen if Fox stays, but my gut says he’s out the door at the end of the season and wants to end on a good note.  Bill Cowher fans, wait one more year….

 

BONUS QUESTION!!!  Who will start opposite WR Steve Smith as the #2 receiver?  My money is still on 4th year receiver Dwayne Jarrett getting the nod first, but words out of camp are encouraging for rookies Brandon Lafell and Armanti Edwards.  Appalachian State WR Dexter Jackson has also made a good impression.  It remains to be seen, but Im willing to bet that its either Jarrett or Lafell.  Remember the years Moore was 2nd string, so was Jarrett so they have had a lot of snaps together…

Schedule 2010

Sunday 9/12/10 Away NY Giants 1:00pm (FOX)

Sunday 9/19/10 Home Tampa Bay Bucs 1:00pm (FOX)

Sunday 9/26/10 Home Cincinnati Bengals 1:00pm (CBS)

Sunday 10/03/10 Away New Orleans Saints 1:00pm (FOX)

Sunday 10/10/10  Home Chicago Bears 1:00pm (FOX)

Bye Week

Sunday 10/24/10 Home San Francisco 49ers 1:00 (FOX)

Sunday 10/31/10 Home St Louis Rams 1:00pm (FOX)

Sunday  11/07/10 Home  New Orleans Saints 1:00pm (FOX)

Sunday 11/14/10 Away Tampa Bay Bucs 1:00pm (FOX)

Sunday 11/21/10 Home Baltimore Ravens 1:00pm (CBS)

Sunday 11/28/10 Away Cleveland Browns 1:00pm (FOX)

Sunday 12/05/10 Away Seattle Seahawks 4:15pm (FOX)

Sunday 12/12/10 Home Atlanta Falcons 1:00pm (FOX)

Sunday 12/19/10 Home Arizona Cardinals 1:00pm (FOX)

Thursday 12/23/10 Away Pittsburgh Steelers 8:20pm (NFL Network)

Sunday 12/30/10 Away Atlanta Falcons 1:00pm (FOX)

JohnO August 16, 2010 Featured, Football , , , , ,

Wake Forest Completes First Day of Two-a-Days

Wake Forest Completes First Day of Two-a-Days

The Demon Deacons will hold their first scrimmage on Saturday at BB&T Field

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest football team went through its first day of two-a-days on Friday at the Doc Martin Practice Complex. The Deacons practiced in shells during the morning practice, which was held in hot and humid weather, but switched to helmets, shorts and jerseys for the cooler evening session.

The Demon Deacons worked on specific game situations, such as third down and red zone plays, in the morning, and used the evening section to spend their first significant time working on special teams.

““We’re looking at a lot of different guys on special teams right now, so we have to start narrowing that down, and we’ll probably start doing that at the beginning of next week”  said head coach Jim Grobe. “I think we’re in pretty good shape right now as far as the number of repetitions that we’ve given to special teams.”

Friday’s pair of practices were the last before the first scrimmage of the season, which will take place at BB&T Field on Saturday afternoon.

“It will be a good day tomorrow,” said Grobe. “We’re looking forward to having a good physical practice and maybe getting a better idea of who our first and second units are made up of. We’re going to keep trying to get a look at everybody. A lot of our young players have gotten as many reps as our older players and we did that by design; we’re really trying to evaluate the young guys right now. We’ll come out of the scrimmage tomorrow and everybody will be able to say that they got looked at.”

The no-contact evening practice gave the offense an opportunity to run through some skeleton passing drills, and Grobe liked what he saw from the quarterbacks.

“I thought that both Ted Stachitas and Tanner Price did some nice things throwing the football today,” said Grobe. “One of the things that’s been very impressive to me is that at the end of spring I was very concerned with our ability to throw the football. (Stachitas and Price) in particular have been good, and tonight, Brendan Cross and Skylar Jones also threw some good passes. Probably the thing that I’m most pleased about right now is that I think all of our quarterbacks are throwing the ball very well. Ted and Tanner are a little bit ahead of the other two, but overall it’s a lot better than it was last spring.”

Wake Forest will hold its first preseason scrimmage at BB&T Field on Saturday. The session is set to start at 2 p.m. and is open to the public.

JohnO August 14, 2010 Featured, Football , ,

WAKE FOREST DONS FULL PADS FOR FIRST TIME THIS SEASON

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The familiar sound of pads popping returned to the Doc Martin Practice Complex Tuesday evening as the Wake Forest football team was in full regalia for the first time this fall.

The Deacons practiced for a little under two and a half hours in muggy conditions.

“We didn’t have the greatest practice mentally but it was a good night effort wise,” head coach Jim Grobe said of his squad. “The guys are working real hard, flying around and bumping into each other. We have a lot in right now offensively and defensively and the young guys are a little flustered but at least when they’re making mistakes, they’re making them in a hurry.”

With the graduation of talented senior classes each of the last two years, Grobe knows he has a young team in camp this fall.

“We have nine seniors and quite a bit of juniors but some of our most talented guys at spots are freshmen and sophomores,” said Grobe. “So there is quite a bit of competition right now and there are number of spots were you can feel comfortable at the top of the depth chart one day and be at the bottom of the chart the next. It’s a good position for us because we don’t just have guys that are talented at the top and there’s no one pushing them. We have talent at every position and guys know they have to come out to practice each day and get after it.”

One of the hottest battles this fall is at the quarterback position. The Deacs have a stable of young talented quarterbacks all fighting for that starting spot.

“We have a great group of guys right now at quarterback,” Grobe explained. “I think you get a little concerned if you don’t have any talent back there but we have three or four guys that have enough talent to win. What we’re looking for right now is a guy who makes very few mental mistakes and does not turn the football over. That’s going to be the key. The flashiest guys, the fastest guy, the guy with the best arm may not end up being our quarterback. It’s going to be the guy that doesn’t get us beat. The guy that takes care of the ball the best and makes the fewest mental mistakes is probably going to be the guy.”

Despite not knowing exactly the makeup of the team at this point, Grobe likes what he sees on the field.

“I have a great sense for this team,” Grobe said with smile. “This is a fast, athletic, tough, hard-nosed group of kids and they love to play the game. I think there’s something going on with this group. There is a different feel with this team than there was last year. I can’t put my finger on it, but I like it. I really like what they’re doing right now.”

The Deacons continue to practice this week as they prepare for their first intra-squad scrimmage on Saturday, August 14, at 2 pm at BB&T Field. The team will practice again Wednesday evening from 8-10 pm at the Doc Martin Practice Complex on campus.

JohnO August 12, 2010 Football , ,

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