Late Hits archive

ECU: The oft-ignored Pirates beat the ACC's best team at its own game and have humbled their reeling ACC neighbors. They have consecutive wins over two of the top-five winningest programs of the past 10 years (1, Boise State; 5, Virginia Tech). Given two extra shots — the Conference USA title game and a bowl — Skip Holtz has ECU in line to win 12 games for the first time in school history.

Pregame festivities: Aerial Adventures was supposed to deliver the game ball via skydivers for UNC's opener at Kenan Stadium. The parachute team descended on Duke's Wallace Wade Stadium instead.

Clemson had a similar plan for its offensive line, but the Georgia Dome roof kept the players out.

DURHAM — The ACC is truly upside down, or in trouble, probably both.

On a day when its preseason favorite got drilled by an SEC team, the best team since expansion lost to a Conference USA team and a third team lost at home by 45 points to a Pac-10 team, it was Duke — Duke! — who flew the conference flag with a 31-7 win over James Madison.

Staff photo by Chuck Liddy

• Photo gallery

• Extended photo gallery

DURHAM — Lightning delayed the start of the David Cutcliffe Era by 90 minutes but it did not derail it.

The Blue Devils stuffed James Madison 31-7 to give Cutcliffe a win in his first game as Duke's head coach.

Football season starts tonight. Finally.

(Programming note: We'll be in Columbia tonight, check ACC Now during and after the game for full coverage.)

To kick off the new season we'll start a new feature. Columnist Caulton Tudor picks selected games in the print edition every week. In addition, Tudor and J.P. Giglio will pick six games each week on ACC Now.

• Composite schedule
• UNC analysis
• N.C. State analysis
• ACC highlights

Home: Delaware, Georgia Southern or Presbyterian, Rhode Island, Montana, Duquesne, UNC-Asheville, Loyola (Md.), Davidson, Georgetown

Road: Purdue, Michigan, St. John's

Neutral site: Xavier, two Coaches vs. Cancer Classic games at Madison Square Garden

Analysis: You can't hear me, but I'm applauding Duke. The Blue Devils will actually play two true road games before their first ACC road trip.

• Composite schedule
• Raycom TV schedule
• ACC-only schedule 

The 2008-09 basketball schedule promises to be historic for the ACC with UNC and Tyler Hansbrough chasing Duke for both team and individual honors in the record books.

UNC, who will almost certainly open the season ranked No. 1 in the country, has all the parts — five returning starters and three new McDonald's All-Americans — to match Duke's perfect 19-0 ACC season from 1998-99.

Psycho T trails J.J. Redick by 601 points on the ACC's career scoring list.

Speaking of history, Sidney Lowe’s third season at N.C. State includes two games at Reynolds Coliseum.

And how will Mike Krzyzewski hold up on his day job?

Monday, Nov. 10
Duke 80, Presbyterian 49

Tuesday, Nov. 11
Duke 97, Georgia Southern 54

Friday, Nov. 14
BC 80, Central Connecticut 65
Wake 94, N.C. Central 48
Va. Tech 65, Gardner-Webb 62
Maryland 81, Bucknell 52
Ga. Tech 92, Winston-Salem State 47
Clemson 98, Hofstra 69

The ACC released the basketball schedules this afternoon.

Details and analysis to come. 

BEIJING — Former Duke standout middle-distance runner Shannon Rowbury seems to have an exciting future ahead of her after a seventh-place finish in the women's 1,500-meter run at the Bird's Nest in the Beijing Olympics on Saturday.

The San Francisco, Calif., native talked about it after the race. She sounds winded because this interview was given about 10 minutes after she finished.

Desmond Scott, one of the top running backs in the state, showed some flash in Hillside's 35-0 win over Southern Vance in Friday's opener.

The senior Duke recruit had to share the ball, but gave a lot of different looks.

Scott didn't waste time, breaking away for a 19-yard run on the first play from scrimmage.

Then in the second quarter he broke away for an 80-yard touchdown reception from senior quarterback CJ Gattis, breaking a tackle and finding the lane to sprint and score.