Reactions to State's win over South Alabama:
-- South Alabama falls to N.C. State 35-13, losing first game in program's history
"We played our guts out the entire game," said Jags linebacker Jake Johnson, a Virginia Tech transfer. "We had our mistakes here and there on defense, myself included. We played a great game, but mistakes in big-time football kill you. I'm optimistic and proud of how we played.
"I think this was real eye-opening for some of the guys on the team to see what the speed is like. I'm proud of our guys. I'm disappointed we lost but that's football. You have your wins and losses."
Kid's got a good sense of perspective. They acquitted themselves pretty well, I thought.
-- South Alabama learned valuable lesson at NC State.
-- Pack dispatches South Alabama.
-- Wolfpack shows progress in romp past South Alabama. I suppose progress is the right word, for lack of a better term. I mean, at least we outgained a team finally. That's a start.
-- Glennon sparks Wolfpack past South Alabama.
-- Backfield too much for Jaguars. Okay but could we cut out some of the fumbles please? I expect more from running backs with a combined 24 years of college football experience. The Taylor Gentry carry watch continues--through three games and two I-AA opponents, Gentry still hasn't gotten the carry he's been promised. It would've been easy to find a no-stakes spot in either home game, but it's clear Tom O'Brien is a fan of suspense. My guess: Gentry gets a goalline carry against Central Michigan and kills three defensive backs en route to the end zone.
-- Grading week 3 in the ACC. Andrew Jones gives State a C- for its performance on Saturday, wonders if "maybe this just isn't a very good football team." I'd say that's a fair thing to wonder about at this point in the season.
-- Brett Friedlander is troubled by State's giveaways against South Alabama.
Expansion items:
-- ACC's break from tradition helps preserve its tradition. That's a good way of putting things, and it's illustrative of the between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place atmosphere that's defining the college sports landscape right now. It's hard to like any changes from the standpoint of tradition, and what this is doing to college basketball really stinks, but in doing this the ACC has helped secure its future by eliminating its closest competition for the fourth superconference. Assuming we're heading that way, it at least solidifies the ACC alongside the Pac-X, Big Ten, and SEC.
-- Syracuse, Pitt add possibilities to ACC.
-- These are the comments from Swofford that had the Big East "steamed":
ACC commissioner John Swofford said on a teleconference with news reporters Sunday morning that "we'd probably be remiss if we didn't think in those terms. ... We would be open to that as part of our rotation."
See, no one's drinking anyone else's milkshake here. In this specific case, anyway. We just want to roll up there on occasion and offer a painfully immediate reminder to the Big East of what it once was.
-- In an interview that will air on 620 AM on Monday morning, Debbie Yow said that the ACC will move to North/South divisions. Now the challenge is finding new division names that are as confusing and forgettable as the current set.