A Star is Born

If you play sports on the major collegiate or professional level in America, odds are that you're under a pretty strong spotlight. But there are degrees in everything and not all spotlights carry the same glare. There are certain positions that are more glamourous than others; Centerfield for the New York Yankees, Masters champion, head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, etc. In football, the position that carries the biggest spotlight is behind center for the Dallas Cowboys. Not everyone that has taken snaps in Texas Stadium turns out to be Roger Staubach or Troy Aikman, but when you have a big game, people take notice. On Thanksgiving Day in Dallas this season, the Tony Romo Bandwagon made a stop and loaded up a lot of new passengers. Romo threw five touchdown passes against the Tampa Bay Bucs as Dallas moved to 7-4 on the season. Granted, it's waaaaay early to start talking about Tony Romo as if he is the next Troy Aikman(the next Danny White? Maybe) but since replacing Drew Beldsoe as the Cowboys' QB, Romo has brought Dallas' season back from the brink by going 4-1 as a starter. Had it not been for a few drops and one ball that was underthrown, Romo would have emerged from Thursday with a perfect passer rating. It was easy to mistake Romo's #9 for the more famous #8 of the Cowboys as he put on the 22-for-29 for 306 yards performance. The second half alone was enough to wow observers, 9-for-10...which makes him an unreal 29-for-31 in his last three games after halftime. Granted, it won't be that easy for Romo through the rest of the season. Teams will get more tape on him and will start to figure out how to defend the Cowboys, but Romo seems like he has all the tools to adjust and to keep Dallas in the playoff hunt. He steps up in the pocket, doesn't lock onto his receivers, and he has the confidence of his team. This time last year, the Cowboys were also 7-4 after their annual holiday game. But they stubled down the stretch, winning only two more games and missing the playoffs. That team was led by the immobile Drew Bledsoe, this seems like a much different season with Tony Romo making plays in the spotlight.

Gravley's Thanksgiving Pig Pickin'

The ACC regular season winds down this weekend and for some teams it'll be a relief when it's over. NC State faces another rival for the 2nd week in a row in East Carolina. If the Pack players thought Carolina came after them, wait till they face the Purple and Gold. State has to find a way to match ECU's emotional edge...something that didn't happen against UNC. Privately the Pirates feel they need a win to make a bowl game. The fire is hot under Chuck Amato which adds another element to this match-up. One final note. ECU AD Terry Holland and NC State AD Lee Fowler should have NEVER agreed to move this game to 7pm for ESPNU!!! The last time these 2 school played a night game was 1987 which ended with a brawl between some of the fans and security officers.

North Carolina is looking for a 2-game win streak...HUH??? Yep, it's back to back rivalry weeks for the Tar Heels as they travel to Duke in John Bunting's final game as Carolina's head coach. The Heels have played more relaxed and aggressive since Bunting was told of his exit but did they spend it all last week against NC State? Duke gets one more crack at a win. One, single, solitary win. But it would be Carolina and that victory bell would ring in their ears until next years game.

Wake Forest gets it's stable of running backs back as they battle Maryland for a spot in the ACC championship game. Regardless of the outcome, the Deacons have been the positive surprise in the ACC and will earn a bowl bid.

NC Central earned a bye in the 1st round of the division 2 playoffs and Saturday, they'll host Delta State. The Statesmen scored 17 third quarter points to put away Elizabeth City State....the team Central needed a late field goal to beat in the CIAA title game. Rod Broadway has done a spectacular job with the Central program and there's nothing more I'd like to see than if he and the Eagles make it to the National Championship game.

Enjoy the weekend of college football!
Jeff

Panthers Can Still Contend

The Carolina Panthers are above .500 after beating Tampa Bay last Monday night, but is this preseason Super Bowl favorite a contender for the postseason or just a slightly above average team that will struggle over the remainder of the season? How's that for a $64,000 question? John Fox has led the Panthers from a 1-15 team and a franchise that looked lost to one Super Bowl already and a point at which the Panthers are in the mix of favorites every season. But, the NFL is a league in which the window is only open for so long. This season has seen some really bad decisions(the week two disaster in Minnesota) and some awful production from the offense(Carolina has the worst 3rd down conversion rate in the league). The Panthers desperately want to silence the critics, but that will take better play from a patchwork offensive line and some gains from DeShaun Foster and DeAngelo Williams. The Panthers don't have a running back in the Stephen Davis mold that can pound away at an opposing team's defensive line, so it's up to John Fox and his coaching staff to find a way to use the running game that they do have to move the football. If you have a couple of square pegs but only round holes to put them in, then you have to trim the square pegs until their round or cut some square holes. If Carolina can find success against the Rams, then the moribund Redskins are next and that could be the makings of a real roll for the Panthers.

Gravley's Pig Pickin' T-minus 2

T-minus 2 weeks remain in the college football regular season and for Duke, State and Carolina that means the end of the season. Congrats to Wake Forest, ECU, NC Central and Appalachain State for having good enough seasons to have them extended to the post season. (ECU better get a bowl bid). This is called rivalry week but in our area that only applies to one game.

NC State @ North Carolina

There will be a powder keg of emotions in this game. It's a rivalry game, senior day in Chapel Hill and the final home game for Tar Heel coach John Bunting. There is no doubt that the Wolfpack has more talent but haven't they the last 2 years as well? Two straight losses to the Tar Heels has given the Pack something to think about. In fact, State running back Toney Baker said he knows this game is personal to Coach Chuck Amato. "The first thing he said to us this summer was, we have to take care of Carolina." Nuff said about motivation for the red and white. On Carolina's side, if they only get 1 win over a Division 1 team this year, beating State would be the one. There were a few pre-game shout-outs before last year's game. It could be an all out dog fight this year. I won't be surprised by either team winning.


Virginia Tech @ Wake Forest

How can you doubt the Deacs?? They dismantled FSU by playing smart, fundamental football. Watch their receivers block down field. Watch their pulling linemen lead receivers on reverses and NOT pick up silly blocking penalties. I like Wake in this one because of their disclipline...something Virgina Tech has not shown in every game.

ECU @ Rice

The Pirates can clinch a spot in the CUSA championship game with a win at Rice. A loss still leaves open a possibility IF Southern Miss loses twice. (they host UAB and Marshall). What a story it would be for Pirates to make the title game. The biggest reason, Skip Holtz. He brought hope, motivation and wouldn't let the Pirates waller in self-pity. Beware of the Owls...they lost their first 4 games to Houston, UCLA, Texas and Florida State but have since gone 5-1. I still like the Pirates.

Duke @ Georgia Tech

Nice homecoming for Duke coach Ted Roof who played for the Jackets but that's about the extent of the trip. Next game please. Oh, there are none so see you next week!

Jeff Gravley

Fines a Weak Response

The NFL announced yesterday that both Tyler Brayton and Jerramy Stevens would be fined and not suspended for their behavior in Monday Night's Raiders-Seahawks game. The Raiders' Brayton got into a post play scuffle with the Seahawks' Stevens and the end result was a national television audience watching Brayton knee Stevens in the groin. Niiiiiiice... If you've seen the video(and I don't know how it's possible that you haven't at this point), then you can see that Jerramy Stevens is hardly an innocent in the matter. Stevens has a bad reputation around the league for being an instigator and that probably helped get him a fine along with Brayton. Here's the thing, though... Why aren't both of these guys suspended? Brayton took most of the initial heat from observers since he was the guy caught clearly on tape trying to make Stevens run his next route a little funny. But the league obviously doesn't think that the Seahawks tight end was just minding his own business. I'm not naive enought to think that dirty things don't go on at the bottom of piles in the NFL, far from the prying eyes of the network TV cameras. But when something obvious like this happens, doesn't the league have to do a little more than just a fine? There are cups in football, but some things are just wrong. It's embrassing for the players and the league. Of course there were those that thought the fine was a bit much, namely Brayton's grandfather, 81-year old Bobo Brayton.

"I told him, 'It will be, what, five hundred, a thousand bucks?'," Bobo Brayton said Wednesday by telephone from Pullman.
Told the league had just taken $25,000 from his grandson, the elder Brayton said, "Holy balls!
"That's a lot of money. Must be inflation," he said. "We could go on a fishing trip — and a hunting trip."

Holy balls indeed, my man.

Gold: Taking a shot at Week 10

The late great Tug McGraw could have taught us all a few things. One day, as the Mets were having a team meeting in the early part of September in 1973, McGraw jumped up in the locker room and shouted “Ya’ gotta believe!”

The Mets were 9 games under .500 after a 7-4 loss at St. Louis and getting ready to open up a 4-game home series with the Philadelphia Phillies when McGraw offered that rallying cry. They were in 5th place in their division, but just 5 ½ games behind the first place Cardinals at the time. New York took 3 of 4 from Philadelphia and closed the season by winning 19 of their final 26 games and capturing the NL East with a record of 82-79.

The point of this is that the Mets had faith in themselves and many of their fans also kept that faith and rallied behind Tug McGraw. He’s still one of the most beloved players in both Mets and Phillies history.

I’d really love to see some of that in State fans today, because the Pack still has a chance to make something out of this season. There’s no doubt that they’ve fooled a lot of us this season. They lost games that they should not have lost (Akron, just 2-5 against teams not named NC State), and won a couple you might not have expected them to win. But, this game tomorrow night against Georgia Tech is typical of games that the Wolfpack normally play well. It’s at night, on national television (okay, so it’s ESPN-U) and it’s against a nationally ranked opponent.

Regardless of what happens in this game, Georgia Tech is almost certainly going to finish their season in Jacksonville, representing the Coastal Division in the ACC Title game. Maybe the lack of real incentive will work in State’s favor. Either way, even at 3-5 and coming off of a trio of losses – the last two of which were extremely disappointing – this team still has a chance to reach a bowl game. And, should they do so, they will have likely beaten their two most intense rivals.

So, to that end….

YA GOTTA BELIEVE!!!!

ACC Football….and every single game on the schedule this weekend has something very important riding on the outcome…locals first

1 pm at Wallace Wade, Navy visits Duke just one win away from being bowl-eligible. The Middies have lost their last two games (to Rutgers and Notre Dame) by a combined score of 72-14, but could very easily win out the season and end up 9-3. A finish like that could have Navy taking on an ACC team in the Meineke Bowl in Charlotte, and it’s hard to imagine Duke beating a team that could end the season with 9 wins. Duke, in spite of last week’s horrible defensive performance against Vanderbilt, is still a team on the verge of a breakthrough. I don’t see it happening this week unless they can force Navy to turn the ball over.

The Pick: Navy 38, Duke 22

2:30 pm at Notre Dame Stadium, North Carolina heads to South Bend to play on arguably the most hallowed turf in the sport. It’s a great way to put aside the incredible disappointment and despair that this 1-7 season has brought. The Irish aren’t the elite team that they would have you believe, and I’ll be surprised if the Heels don’t have success running the football. Sadly, Carolina will not be able to stop Notre Dame from scoring, and when you factor in that the Heels are 119th in the country in turnover margin (yes, there are only 119 teams), there’s just no way that Carolina comes close.

The Pick: Notre Dame 48 North Carolina 17

7 pm at Carter-Finley, the Wolfpack look to win their 5th straight game against a ranked opponent when they host #20 Georgia Tech. Hard to believe, but State has been the classic “play to the level of their competition” team over the last two years, and both of their wins of this nature have come under exactly the same conditions. Night time, ESPN in the house and at home. Can they stop Calvin Johnson and Tashard Choice. I’ll be surprised if they stop both. The only way the Pack keeps their bowl hopes alive is if Daniel Evans is allowed to throw the ball down the field. Tech is going to force Evans to beat them, much like Florida State did. You must make them pay for that game plan.

The Pick: Georgia Tech 23 NC State 20

7 pm at Groves, the only meeting of two ranked teams takes place when #16 Boston College takes on #22 Wake Forest. These teams have played some incredibly close and dramatic games against each other the last three years with the Demon Deacons winning twice as each game was decided on the final play. In order to win this game Wake is going to have to throw it with success. The Eagles have been very hard to run against and even though Jim Grobe wants to run the ball, his team hasn’t done so with a ton of success. Mostly, they’ve had an effective rush attack, but that’s not enough against BC. Kenneth Moore moves from wide receiver to tailback for this game and I’d expect him to get the bulk of the work load. Could this be a meeting between the two leading candidates to coach in Chapel Hill next year?

The Pick: Boston College 27 Wake Forest 24

Virginia is at Florida State at noon, and the Seminoles will be a completely different team than they’ve been all year. Xavier Lee will play and if he carries over from his strong second half in College Park last week, this could be a blow out. If Virginia loses, their bowl hopes are all but shot.

The Pick: FSU 31 Virginia 10

Clemson hosts Maryland at noon as well and the Tigers have had 10 days to purge their beating up in Blacksburg. The Tigers WILL pay this one forward as Maryland is 100th in the country against the run (VT was 21st) and 83rd in total defense (VT was #3). James Davis and CJ Spiller get theirs this week.

The Pick: Clemson 38 Maryland 20

And, remember when Virginia Tech at Miami was the game for the ACC Title? Heck, that was only two years ago, when the Hokies went to Miami and went across the ocean to beat the Hurricanes for their first conference championship. Last year, Miami ruined Tech’s perfect season in Blacksburg. Sounds like a road team trend. But, can Tech stay on the high after their domination of Clemson last week? Miami’s beaten no one of note, other than Houston, the second best team in Conference USA.

The Pick: Virginia Tech 20 Miami 16

East Carolina is headed for Orlando to take on a Central Florida team that is in complete disarray. They’re 2-6 and George O’Leary has pledged wholesale personnel changes to put more speed on the field. ECU’s on a roll, they’ve won 4 of their last 6 and have a chance to reach the conference championship game if they win out. How they bounce back from a huge win will say a lot about the continuing development of Skip Holtz’ team. If Pinkney to Allison is as good as it’s been over the last two weeks, this one goes in the “W” column.

The Pick: ECU 26 Central Florida 20

I don’t know what the mathematical reaction is going to be to Thursday night’s Louisville win over West Virginia, but if the Cardinals can finish the season 12-0 I think we’ll see Bobby Petrino’s team in the BCS Title game.

I’d love a committee, and even more than a committee I’d love a “plus one” game which would put the top four teams in the BCS standings into a Final Four.

Gravley's Pig Pickin' Nov 3

Is it already week 10 of the college football season?? How rough has it been for the triangle's representatives in the ACC? How about a combined record of 4 and 20...let me type it another way...four and twenty. It still stinks. Thank goodness for East Carolina, Wake Forest and North Carolina Central. Three great local stories in college football. The Eagles of NCCU will try to become the schools first football team to post a perfect season. What an accomplishment that would be.

NC State needs to win 3 of it's next 4 to be bowl eligible. Saturday night the Pack hosts Georgia Tech and need I remind you that the Jackets have won 4 of their last 5 trips to Carter-Finley Stadium. At least this isn't a 4th straight noon game for the Wolfpack. They have dropped their last 3 early starts. But that still doesn't explain a baffling stat. NC State has been outscored 33-12 in the opening quarter. 9 of those 1st quarter points came against App. State in the first game!! Traditionally this has been a tough match-up for State having lost 9 of the last 11 games. They did intercept one last year at Tech.

North Carolina at Notre Dame is a great field trip for the Tar Heels. If they can't get pumped to play the Irish in South Bend then turn in the uniform. Better find a way to knock Brady Quinn out of the game. Maybe John Bunting is a candidate to lay the wood to Quinn! Bunting did have one of his best games as a Tar Heel linebacker back in 1971 at Notre Dame.

Duke hosts Navy and there may be some Tar Heel fans in Durham scoping out Navy coach Paul Johnson. He's been mentioned as someone Carolina fans would like to have as their coach. Saturday is a good chance to get a scouting report on his coaching. Duke has played better but their defense has struggled with "different" offenses. Duke has some complicated names to pronounce but nothing compared to the Midshipmen's QB. Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada will start for the 2nd straight week. The Devils don't have to pronounce his name..just stop him.

ECU sits in 1st place in the CUSA's East division. No toe stubbing this weekend at Central Florida (2-6). Play hard and keep fighting Pirates. You have been a joy to watch this season.

Gotta give a hollar to NC Central and coach Rod Broadway. The Eagles have a shot at perfection and not many college teams at any level can lay claim to that. Central plays host to JC Smith and already have a spot locked up in the CIAA championship game on November 11th. That game is also in the Eagles nest.

Enjoy the weekend!
Jeff