College Football Notebook: Wake offense hitting its groove
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Associated Press
WINSTON-SALEM — Wake Forest is flinging the ball all over the field with surprising success. The only ones who don’t seem surprised are the Demon Deacons themselves.
They rank third in the Atlantic Coast Conference in passing and have surpassed 300 yards in the air in both games. That’s a big reason why they’re in position to move above .500 for the first time in a year.
The Demon Deacons (1-1) play Gardner-Webb of the Championship Subdivision this weekend.
“I’m happy with our production right now,” coach Jim Grobe said Tuesday. “With points and yards and all those kinds of things we’ve played a couple of good football teams. I think if we can protect better up front and run the ball better that would be nice, but when you are averaging over 400 yards a game, that’s pretty good.”
Quarterback Tanner Price threw for 297 yards in a 34-27 upset of over North Carolina State last week. The Demon Deacons are averaging 422 yards and 31.5 points per game.
“It’s not a surprise to me,” running back Josh Harris said. “I saw the receivers and Tanner really work hard this summer and as soon as we got back to practice, I could see a difference. I’m starting to see it on the field and that’s great.”
UNC’S RAMSEY
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina fullback Devon Ramsay has had surgery on his left knee.
The school said Ramsay underwent the operation on Tuesday at UNC Hospitals to reconstruct the anterior cruciate ligament and repair the medial collateral ligament and meniscus.
Ramsay has been ruled out for the rest of this season, and North Carolina is pursuing a sixth year of eligibility for him due to medical reasons. He was injured during a 4-yard run by teammate Ryan Houston in the third quarter of the opener against James Madison.
Ramsay played in only four games last year before being ruled permanently ineligible for academic misconduct during its NCAA investigation of the football program. He appealed, and the NCAA later reversed its decision and restored his eligibility, saying Ramsay hadn’t committed a violation.
DUKE DISAPPOINTED
DURHAM — This season sure hasn’t gone as planned for either Duke or Boston College.
The Blue Devils and Eagles have the two worst offenses — and the two worst records — in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Both are 0-2 entering this weekend’s meeting in Boston and are coming off blowout losses against nonconference opponents.
It’s a position that’s all too familiar for Duke, which hasn’t had a winning season since 1994. That was also the last time BC opened with two losses.
The only guarantee in this matchup is that one team will pick up a much-needed victory — and the other will become the ACC’s first to reach 0-3.
MARYLAND FANS
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland officials are asking Terps fans to be respectful of others during football games after receiving complaints related to the season opener against Miami.
Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson wrote a letter to the fans after receiving an email from a fan who brought his 11-year-old son to last week’s game in College Park, Md.
The fan complained about profane language and signs in the home crowd and struggling to explain it to his son.
Anderson says aggressive and offensive behavior paints the university in a bad light.