CHARLOTTE — East Carolina football coach Skip Holtz was thinking ahead.
His Pirates trailed by two points as Virginia Tech prepared to punt late in their season-opener Saturday at sold-out Bank of America Stadium. Holtz, speaking into his headphones to his assistant coaches perched high in the press box, wanted to make sure the Pirates would be in their two-minute offense after the Hokies' punt.
East Carolina, as it turned out, wouldn't need that last-minute drive.
While UNC walk-on Casey Barth is preparing to share kicking duties against McNeese State tonight, his older brother Connor, UNC's kicker from the previous four seasons, will continue to look for an NFL kicking job.
According to the Kansas City Star, the Chiefs have chosen Nick Novak after a tight kicking competition.
"The told me that if Nick doesn't do as well as they think he will, I should stay ready,'' Barth, an NFL rookie, told the paper.
That the ACC needs to begin this football season with a big win is as obvious as its 2-6 bowl record to cap 2007.
“No one was happy with that,” said Florida State coach Bobby Bowden. “We’re a better league than that. It’s time to turn over a new leaf.”
Wake Forest rolled to a 41-13 victory at Baylor on Thursday night in its season-opener.
Coach Jim Grobe said he was pleased with his team's ability to push aside high expectations from outsiders and start the season strong on the road.
The Deacs amassed 376 yards of offense on 80 plays, while holding the Bears to 250 offensive yards.
Listen to Grobe talk with reporters after the game:
N.C. State quarterback Russell Wilson was released from the hospital after the team left Columbia on Thursday night and was on his way back to Raleigh on Friday, according to his older brother Harrison.
Wilson had been hospitalized after suffering a Grade 3 concussion during the second quarter of the Wolfpack’s 34-0 loss to South Carolina.
He was released into the custody of his mother, Tammy Wilson.
"We're just trying to get a first down,'' he said.
Staff video by Travis Long
COLUMBIA, S.C. — N.C. State started August practice with five options at quarterback. It might need to find five more.
State's offense was brutal, with and without Russell Wilson, who won the preseason quarterback scramble but got knocked out of the game with 4:09 left in the second quarter.
Wilson, Daniel Evans and Harrison Beck combined to go 5 of 20 for 49 yards with two interceptions, both by Evans. Evans and Beck showed why they got beat out by Wilson, repeating the same mistakes — poor decision-making, forced throws, holding on to the ball too long — they made in State's 1-5 start in 2007 when they shared the job.
WACO, Texas (AP) — Riley Skinner tossed three touchdown passes, two to Chip Brinkman, and No. 23 Wake Forest played up to its first preseason ranking in school history with a 41-13 win over Baylor on Thursday night.
Skinner, whose 72 percent completion percentage led the nation last season, was coolly efficient against the Bears, going 27 of 36 for 220 yards, adding a 43-yard TD strike to Ben Wooster in third quarter. He also earned his 19th career victory, a school record for a quarterback.
Staff photo by Chuck Liddy
COLUMBIA, S.C. — N.C. State fans wondered what could happen next to their injury-prone football team. The answer is lose quarterback Russell Wilson and the season-opener to South Carolina.
South Carolina knocked out Wilson and the Wolfpack, 34-0 at Williams-Brice Stadium.
