Associated Press
The college football notebook …
GREENSBORO ó Two players from both North Carolina and Florida State have been honored by the ACC.
The ACC named Tar Heels receiver Hakeem Nicks and cornerback Kendric Burney, and Seminoles defensive end Everette Brown and kicker Graham Gano as four of the league’s six players of the week.
Joining them were Virginia offensive tackle Will Barker and Miami freshman quarterback Robert Marve.
Nicks scored four touchdowns and caught eight passes for 139 yards in North Carolina’s 45-24 victory over Boston College. In that game, Burney had two interceptions, returning one to the 1-yard line.
EAST CAROLINA
GREENVILLE ó Nothing like some extended time off to turn East Carolina’s hot start into a distant memory.
The Pirates played only two games in October, and that made for a rather restful month for the one-time BCS threat that spiraled out of the national rankings just as quickly as it entered them.
Now it’s finally game week again for coach Skip Holtz’s team, which is counting on two quarterbacks and several freshmen in key roles on an injury-ravaged defense to help lead it into a critical five-game stretch in Conference USA play that will determine whether ECU will claim the division title.
“We know what we’re battling for at this point,” Holtz said Monday.
While the nation took notice of East Carolina (4-3, 2-1) with season-opening upsets of then-ranked Virginia Tech and West Virginia, the Pirates’ more pressing concern was preventing the kind of late-season meltdowns that wound up costing them a pair of East Division crowns.