-- Some special teams notes from The Wolfpacker:
Czajkowski averaged a respectable 63.6 yards per kickoff against WCU, and his first kick reached the goal line. Last year Czajkowski did not have a single touchback while averaging 58.3 yards per kickoff. Petercuskie though was more concerned about Czajkowski's hang time on the first kickoff.
"Josh did okay," Petercuskie noted. "The first kick was 3.54 and he's better than that. All we're looking for is to get it to the 5-yard line with a 3.9 hang time, and if the coverage is right we'll be okay."
If Czajkowski can maintain that 63.6-yard average and still meet Petercuskie's hang time requirement, we're going to be in much better shape than I thought. That yardage would have put us in the top 30 in kickoff distance last season.
Later in the article, Petercuskie praises UCF's kick coverage and returns. Sounds like they have an edge there.
-- The Sports Xchange's breakdown:
KEYS TO THE GAME: Start strong and run the ball. The Wolfpack fell behind early when the two teams last met, and gave up an early score last weekend to Western Carolina. If it can hold the line on defense, it should be able to score enough points to win, but it will have to run the ball effectively to open up the deep passing game.
No no no. Use the passing game to open up the running game. It's like woth said the other day: the best thing we can do is let Russell Wilson do Russell Wilson things and go from there. Air raid first, handoffs later.
-- If you're planning on going to the game and haven't bought tickets yet, UCF still has a few.
-- George O'Leary wasn't happy with the way fans behaved during the Knights' opener:
"You know, I get a little disturbed at some of our student body," O'Leary said during his weekly press conference Tuesday. "You know before the game, [Eric Kohler is] announcing the starting lineups and we've got the students booing your starting quarterback. I turned around and they saw me looking and stopped, but you know that's not how that kid should be treated."
I know the kid has played poorly in the past, but maybe give him a snap or two before you start booing mercilessly.
-- Andrew Brackman is having an excellent 2010--he's made a relatively smooth transition from A to AA and could be set to start next year in AAA.
-- Some NCSU students are producing a show called The Suite.
Lance Lambert is very fashion conscious, and as a result, every time he says anything, someone says, "Man, that is so gay!" Lambert consistently responds with "How is that gay?" and then business continues as usual.
It's a comedy.
-- John Blake and his BFF Gary Wichard sure made a lot of phone calls to each other. What's it all mean? Pull up a chair and watch me work some magic: I'll bet the call Blake made on 12/26 was to see how Wichard's Christmas went. Deciphering the other 60 calls should be cinch from here.