While most of the attention was on Denver’s Peyton Manning, former N.C. State quarterback Russell Wilson had the bigger game in Seattle’s 30-10 NFL exhibition win Saturday night in Denver.

Wilson, a third-round draft pick, completed 10 of 17 passes for 155 yards and two touchdown strikes. He also rushed five times for 33 yards.

Playing in the second half, Wilson had scoring passes of 34 yards to Tyrell Sutton and 8 yards to Cooper Helfet.

Seattle starter Matt Flynn was 6-for-14 for 31 yards.

Manning played the first half and was impressive, completing 16 of 23 for 177 yards but he did get intercepted twice.

In two games for the Seahawks, both wins, Wilson is 22-for-33 for 301 yards with three TD passes and one interception. He rushed eight times for 92 yards.

The Seahawks are at Kansas City (1-1) on Friday (8 p.m. Eastern) for their third preseason game.

Former ECU quarterback Dominique Davis had a second straight impressive performance for the Atlanta Falcons Thursday in a 24-19 NFL preseason loss to Cincinnati.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound rookie completed 11 of 18 passes for 121 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown pass to Lamark Brown and a 2-point conversion pass to Marcus Jackson.

Davis, who was one of four Falcon quarterbacks to play, also rushed twice for 21 yards. The leading Falcon rusher for the game, with 24 yards, was Jacquizz Rodgers.

In two preseason outings, Davis has completed 17 of 29 passes for 174 yards. An undrafted free agent, Davis is competing against John Parker Wilson and Chris Redman for the No. 2 job behind veteran star Matt Ryan.

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Former UNC wide receiver Greg Little had a big game in Cleveland’s 35-10 win Thursday over Green Bay.

Little, who played high school ball at Durham Hillside, finished with four catches for 45 yards, both game-bests for the Browns.

Former Duke quarterback Thad Lewis did not play for the Browns in the loss. Cleveland coach Pat Shurmur used rookie Brandon Weeden (Oklahoma State) primarily in the game.

It took Russell Wilson less than one game _ one NFL exhibition game at that _ to create a big buzz in the Seattle Seahawks’ preseason camp.

When the former N.C. State and Wisconsin quarterback didn’t get picked until the third round of the April draft, there was speculation among talent pundits that Wilson wouldn’t even get the proverbial cup of Gatorade.

But by the end of Seattle’s 27-17 win over Tennessee last Saturday, Seahawks fans were in a dither. So was head coach Pete Carroll, who is now trying to decide whether to start Wilson or veteran Matt Flynn this Saturday in an exhibition at Denver.

Although the 5-foot-11 Wilson worked primarily against Tennessee’s second-string defense, his pro debut was a basically a replay of what he did in three seasons at State and one at Wisconsin. He completed 12 of 16 passes for 124 yards with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Brylon Edwards and then added a 32-yard scoring run.

Wilson did throw an interception. But so did the 6-2, 220-pound Flynn, the former Green Bay backup who completed 11 of 13 passes for 71 yards.

Wearing jersey No. 3 rather than 16, Wilson called his night at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field “a great experience.”

"I felt like I did a good job, especially for the first time out," Wilson told reporters after the game. "I was really, really calm (and) just trusted what I saw.

Seattle running back Leon Washington, the former Florida State standout, said “the night belonged to Russell … people saw what he can do, how he can make things happen with his quickness.”

Carroll, who worked as State’s defensive coordinator under Monte Kiffin in the early 1980s, has been high on Wilson since his first pre-camp workout.

“Russell was terrific,” Carroll told reporters. “I’m like everyone else _ I’m interested to see what he’s going to do the next time, but it’s a lot of fun watching him play.”

After Tuesday’s practice sessions, Carroll told reporters that the coaching staff was still working its way through the process concerning Saturday’s starter.

The game at Denver (9 p.m. Eastern) will not be on national television even though the Peyton Manning factor has the networks scrambling to air as many Bronco preseason games as possible.

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Wilson wasn’t the only former Triangle quarterback to enjoy some success last weekend.

Former East Carolina standout Dominique Davis played much of the second half in Atlanta’s 31-17 loss to Baltimore.

Davis, who was skipped entirely in the draft, completed six of 11 passes for 53 yards but was intercepted once. Established starter Matt Ryan played the first quarter before being relieved by John Parker Wilson, who completed eight of 13 for 69 yards.

In Cleveland’s 19-17 win at Detroit, ex-Duke star Thad Lewis completed five of eight passes for 90 yards for the Browns.

Colt McCoy, Seneca Wallace and rookie Brandon Weeden (Oklahoma State) shared time about evenly for the Browns.

Lewis signed as an undrafted free agent with St. Louis out of Duke in 2010 and was picked up by Cleveland last summer. He hasn’t yet played in a regular season game.

UNC product T.J. Yates helped Houston stop the Carolina Panthers, 26-13. Yates, who completed eight of 12 for 89 yards, is expected to back up Matt Schaub (Virginia).

Ex-ECU and Southern Durham High star David Garrard was scheduled to start for Miami but was slowed by a knee injury and underwent arthroscopic surgery Saturday. He’s expected to be sidelined for approximately two weeks but could be ready for the Dolphins’ regular-season opener at Houston on Sept. 9.

Former Green Hope High standout golfer Ben Kohles will make his PGA Tour debut later this week in Greensboro’s Wyndham Championship.

Wyndham officials  announced Monday that Kohles, 22, had been granted a sponsor’s exemption to compete in the $5.2 million tournament, which starts Thursday at Sedgefield Country Club.

Kohles gained national acclaim during the past month by winning his first two tournaments on the PGA’s web.com Tour. In only three weeks on the web.com, Kohles is already second on the money winnings list with more than $260,000.

In 12 rounds as a pro, the former Virginia star has posted only three rounds higher than 69 and two of those were 70s.

The defending Wyndham champ is Raleigh native Webb Simpson, who went on to win the 2012 U.S. Open.

•Television coverage:

Thursday and Friday: 3-6 pm, Golf Channel.

Saturday and Sunday: 1-2:30 pm, Golf Channel and 3-6 pm, CBS.

At this rate, 22-year-old Ben Kohles will become history’s most successful golfer in no time flat.

No kidding.

The 6-foot-2, 165-pound former Green Hope High School standout has entered two professional tournaments _ last weekend in Omaha, Neb. and the weekend before in Columbus, Ohio on the PGA’s web.com Tour.

Kohles won both.

After eight professional rounds he’s  shot 62, 65, 66 twice, 67 twice, 69 and 70. Combined, he’s 36 strokes under par and has won $261,000.

Jack Nicklaus didn’t start that hot. Neither did Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan or anyone else. A handful of players had won in their pro debut. No one had won two straight to start.

Kohles, whose family moved to Cary from Texas when he was 10 years old, didn’t even seriously begin playing golf until he was 13 or so and entered the junior developmental program at Prestonwood Country Club.

Out of high school, he went to Virginia and was a star, winning seven tournaments, but certainly wasn’t projected to be the next pro luminary when he graduated in May.

“My head’s been spinning,” Kohles said by phone Monday.

“It’s totally been a dream come true. I never expected anything like this to happen to me. It was way beyond any of my wildest expectations and it’s still kind of hard to take it all in. But now, of course, I want to make it three straight.”

Kohles’ astonishing liftoff has turned his father into an unofficial public relations manager.

An investments manager for the Silverback asset fund of Chapel Hill, Kevin Kohles spent Monday fielding interview requests, including one from ESPN.

Ben and his best friend/caddy Will Almand spent Monday driving from Omaha, Neb. to Springfield, Mo. for this week’s stop on the web.com Tour (formerly Nationwide).

“They thought about getting a flight,” Kevin Kohles said. “But that would have been about $600, so they just decided to rent a car and drive it.”

If Ben continues to win at the current rate, he should be able to buy an airplane _ maybe an airlines _ soon.

It began when Kohles won Atlanta’s Dogwood Invitational amateur in June and received bid to play in the web.com Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational at Columbus, Ohio after Peter Uihlein withdrew late.

At that point, Kohles changed his plans and turned pro a month or so before he originally had planned, which would have been after the Aug. 13-19 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills, Colo.

Kohles won his first pro start on the difficult Ohio State Scarlet Course with a 12-under 272 and after a playoff triumph over Luke Guthrie. Kohles sank a 22-foot birdie putt on the first sudden death hole.

After Sunday’s win Until the and last weekend at the Cox Classic in Omaha, he’s already up to No. 2 on the web.com money list.

The top 25 winners on the tour earn berths on the PGA Tour for 2013. No. 1 on the web.com list is Casey Wittenberg, who has entered 15 Web.com tournaments, won two and leads Kohles by less than $30,000.

At Omaha on Sunday, Kohles’ 9-under 62 allowed him to wipe out a two-stroke deficit at day’s start and won by three strokes.

With 11 more tournaments on the schedule, there’s no way to comprehend what Kohles might accomplish.

But given his start, Kohles is virtually certain to land sponsor’s exemptions to at least a few PGA events, one of which could very well be the Aug. 16-19 Wyndham Championship in Greensboro. That’s the tournament in which Raleigh’s Webb Simpson scored his first pro win last season.

“I’m hoping to get a spot in Greensboro for sure. That would be great,” Kohles said. “I know there’s some talk of that possibility going on, so I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. I’d love it if it would work out.”

An example of how fast the Triangle golf dynamic can change: Kohles said Simpson, the former Broughton High star, was a role model. Simpson will turn 27 Wednesday.

“My dad took me to see Webb when he won the ACC championship in 2008,” Kohles said. “I followed his career in high school and college, and all the other golfers, especially the Green Hope guys. Coach (David) Allen was a great influence for me.”

This week, Simpson and the big tour players will be in Kiawah Island (S.C.) for the PGA Championship.

Kohles and Almand will be in Springfield, Mo. for the Dr Pepper Price Cutter Charity Championship at the Highland Springs Country Club course. The tournament purse is $650,000 with the winner’s share at $112,500.

“I’d love to be at the PGA, but maybe I’ll be there next year or one day,” Kohles said. “It’s great to be where I am, too, and just having this much good fortune so early. I couldn’t ask for more. I realize it can’t go on forever, but it’s fun trying.”

USA team finally won the Cup back after an eventful   missed putt by Europe's Bernhard Langer in last match.

Barring a change of plans by the school, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound sophomore all-America candidate will not attend the league’s preseason ACC Kickoff activities July 22 and 23 in Greensboro.

There’s a case to be argued that Pete Brennan made the most important shot in ACC basketball history.

The former North Carolina star died from cancer in Chapel Hill Friday at the age of 75, but his legacy may last as long as ACC teams contend for national basketball championships.

A street-tough but affable 6-foot-5 forward from Brooklyn, it was Brennan and not teammate Lennie Rosenbluth, who hit the first crucial shot in the 1957 Final Four in Kansas City.

Against Michigan State in the national semifinals, Carolina’s undefeated season seemed certain to end at 30-0.

The Spartans led 58-56 with eight seconds left and had all-American “Jumpin’” Johnny Green at the free-throw with a one-and-one free-throw opportunity.

When Green missed his first attempt, Brennan grabbed the rebound, dribbled past half-court and hit a long jump shot that sent the game into the first of three overtime periods.

The Tar Heels eventually escaped 74-70.

Before fouling out, Brennan finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds. Rosenbluth had 29 points and wing guard Bobby Cunningham had one of his best games ever with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

The following night, UNC defeated Kansas with Wilt Chamberlain 54-53 in three more overtimes.

The 32-0 finish, the NCAA title and the drama sent basketball enthusiasm in the state zooming. What already had become a regional fancy _ ignited by Everett Case’s early N.C. State teams _ almost instantly became an addiction.

In quick order, Wake Forest and Duke built national contenders that eventually made the state ground zero for college hoops.

That clutch shot by Brennan against Michigan State became a foundational brick in ACC success.

A few years ago, Brennan reflected on that night and that season.

“God, it was fun,” he said. “What memories we’ve had. But when it was all happening, I don’t think any of us on that team had any idea of what would follow in the ACC.”

With the death of Brennan, there are only three remaining starters of that ’57 team _ Rosenbluth, center Joe Quigg and playmaker Tommy Kearns.

While this is a big week for the UNC and ECU baseball teams, which begin NCAA play Friday in Chapel Hill, it’s turning out to be anything except that for some of the two programs’ best former players.

Former Pirate Chad Tracy (Washington Nats) and ex-Tar Heel Chris Iannetta (Los Angeles Angels) recently have landed on the injured reserve list.

Tracy, a utility man who was leading the Majors in pinch hits, went out with a groin injury in a Sunday at game against Atlanta.

Iannetta, a catcher in his first season with the Angels, is expected to be sidelined until mid-June with a wrist injury.

Meanwhile in Seattle, former UNC stars Dustin Ackley and Kyle Seager have slipped into batting slumps at virtually the same time.

Ackley, a second baseman and the No. 2 overall pick the 2009 draft, was given a day off Monday after having gone 3-for-22 during the previous week.

Seager, a third-round pick in ’09, had two hits in last 30 at-bats entering Tuesday’s game at Texas.

For the season, Ackley is batting. 242 with three homers and 16 runs batted in. Seager, after a hot start, is down to .255 with five homers and 26 RBI.

But on the positive side, former Tar Heel teammates and pitching stars Andrew Miller and Daniel Bard are performing well for the Boston Red Sox.

Miller, 27 and frequently injured in previous stops at Detroit and Miami, began the season in the minors but has a 1-0 record with a 1.86 earned run average in 10 appearances since joining the Red Sox in mid April.

Bard, after a disappointing 2-9 record last season, took a 4-5 record with a 4.60 ERA entering Tuesday’s game against Detroit and its ace Justin Verlander.

And aside from rehabbing Matt Kemp, one of the hottest hitters in the Pacific Coast League of late has been ex-Tar Heel catcher Tim Federowicz of the Albuquerque Isotopes (L.A. Dodgers AAA farm team).

Federowicz, for the season, was batting .295 with four homers and 26 RBI entering Tuesday’s game.

Thirty schools begin a chase Tuesday for the NCAA men’s golf championship at legendary Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., and the most surprising qualifier in the field could well be East Carolina.

Not only have the Pirates never before reached an NCAA national golf tournament, they’re there with a group of players so lightly recruited out of high school that coach Press McPhaul chuckles when asked how he pieced the team together.

“It’s not too very far from you’d have to describe as divine intervention,” said McPhaul, a Sanford native and former N.C. State player and assistant coach.

“These guys have probably surprised everyone except themselves and their families. They defy the odds just about every day, but that’s what makes them so special, too. I doubt if ECU was the first choice in high school for any of them, but they wouldn’t trade places now with any team in the country. I certainly wouldn’t trade ‘em for anybody anywhere.”

Seeded 23^rd in the NCAA field, the Pirates are led by 5-foot-9, 165-pound Harold Varner, a 21-year-old product of Gastonia Forestview High School who tackled an extraordinary 18-hour academic course load in his final semester and still managed to get selected as Conference USA player of the year.

“It was a real learning experience in every sense of the word,” Varner said of spring semester. “I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

“But the only I could graduate in May was to load up all of those hours and just go for it. Somehow I made it.”

A marketing major, Varner said a course in operations management almost made him double-bogey the mission.

“It came down to the final exam, and I was nervous. I mean really nervous, but golf can make you nervous, too. So maybe that sort of helped me with that exam,” he said. “It was all worth it, though, on graduation day.”

Although he’s not blessed with great size, Varner is deceptively strong according to his coach.   

“Harold’s like a lot of our guys. You might see him around the clubhouse and he doesn’t strike you as a big hitter. But on the course, he can really move the ball,” McPhaul said.

Last summer in Greensboro, Varner became the first African-American to win the N.C. Amateur and the first player in history to win both the State Amateur and the State Amateur Match Play titles.

“Those were both huge thrills obviously,” Varner said. “But qualifying for the NCAA was just as thrilling because this was something we accomplished as a team.

“Just about every guy on our team is from North Carolina. We weren’t big deals in high school, but we’ve become a great team. We all care for each other. Coming here to school has turned out to be the greatest thing I could have ever hoped for. I’ll always love this place.”

In the NCAA lineup with Varner are fellow seniors David Watkins of Hamlet (Richmond County High) and Adam Stephenson (Greenville Rose), junior Zach Edmondson (Morrisville, Cary Christian) and sophomore Ryan Eibner of Cary, who went to high school in Texas.

“This is a group of terrific youngsters,” McPhaul said. “When we qualified in the regionals at Georgia, the guys who weren’t in the lineup packed up their cars, drove down there, slept on the floor and were out at the course every day to support their teammates. There’s a really strong bond.”

In the NCAA, the first challenge for the Pirates will be to survive the 54-hole stroke play cut after Friday’s round. Only eight teams will advance to the match play final segment, which will end Sunday.  For the first two rounds _ Tuesday and Wednesday _ ECU is in a pod with Oklahoma and Illinois. Third round tee times will be based on 36-hole scores.

The top five seeds are Texas, Alabama, California, Auburn and UCLA.  Three ACC teams qualified _ Virginia (13^th seed), Florida State (18) and Virginia Tech (28). In addition to the Pirates, four other C-USA reached _ Central Florida (19), Alabama-Birmingham (25), Memphis (27) and Tulsa (30).

After the final NCAA round Varner is scheduled to be in a U.S. Open Sectional qualifying tournament on Monday in Rockville, Md.

“It’s going to be a busy summer, hopefully,” Varner said. “I would love to get to the Open (June 14-17, San Francisco Olympic Club), but I know that’s a long shot.

“Long-range, I’ll turn pro at some point this summer and then try for the tour in PGA qualifying school (Nov. 28 -Dec. 3, La Quinta, Calif.).  But right now all that matters is this one last tournament with my teammates. It’s going to be exciting, but at the same time it’s going to be a little sad, too.”

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