Tag: North Carolina State Wolfpack

Report: Chargers hosted DL Savion Jackson on pre-draft visit

Savion Jackson was stout against the run at North Carolina State.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Chargers hosted North Carolina State defensive lineman Savion Jackson on a pre-draft visit last week.

Jackson had both his 2021 and 2022 seasons cut short due to injury, but he managed to stay healthy for most of this past season, logging personal bests in tackles (40), tackles for loss (5.5) and sacks (2.5).

A former big-time recruit, Jackson is a strong run defender, finishing with an 80.6 overall grade in that department.

The Chargers signed Poona Ford in free agency, but they still need to find players to fill out the depth chart.

Jackson projects as a Day 3 selection/priority free agent.

Report: N.C. State quarterback M.J. Morris to redshirt remainder of 2023 season

The Wolfpack sophomore led the team to upset wins over Clemson and Miami the past two weeks and won three of his four starts.

North Carolina State quarterback M.J. Morris will redshirt the remainder of the 2023 season, according to a Tuesday report from The Wolfpacker’s Ethan McDowell.

The sophomore quarterback played the past four games for the Wolfpack, taking over for former Virginia signal-caller Brennan Armstrong. The Wolfpack won three of Morris’s four games, including upset wins over Clemson and Miami the past two weeks.

Morris threw for 719 yards and seven touchdowns over his tenure at the helm of the offense, completing 55.8% of his passes for 6.4 yards per attempt. He threw three interceptions in his debut against Marshall, but he has only thrown two in the three games since.

Armstrong will slide back in as N.C. State’s starter. He led the passing offense in the first five games of the season, throwing for 971 yards, five touchdowns, and six interceptions. He completed 58.8% of his passes for 6.1 yards per attempt. The senior has continued to contribute to the offense with his legs while Morris started, rushing for 51 yards on eight attempts against Miami.

The Wolfpack play Wake Forest on Saturday.

NC State coach Dave Doeren blasts Steve Smith Sr. for ‘basketball school’ comment

North Carolina State coach Dave Doeren took major offense to a Steve Smith Sr. comment

Steve Smith Sr. was on the “College Gameday” show in Utah on Saturday.

When it came to discussing Clemson-North Carolina State, Smith tagged the Wolfpack as a “basketball school.”

North Carolina State improved to 5-3 with a 24-17 victory over the Tigers.

And when Doeren was interviewed post-game, he leveled the former NFL star wide receiver.

Doeren told Smith he could, um, kiss his posterior, in not so gentle terms.

Doeren explained his feelings to the media after the win.

Series of gaffes sink Virginia in late loss to North Carolina State

North Carolina State edged mistake-prone Virginia after a series of mistakes by the Cavs

Virginia did everything imaginable to lose its game to North Carolina State in the final minutes on Friday while trying to send it to overtime.

And, the third flub proved to be the charm as the Wolfpack downed the Cavaliers, 24-21, on a field goal after time expired.

A touchdown brought Virginia within 21-19 when the gaffes started.

The mistakes:

3rd & Goal at NCSU 3

(0:36 – 4th) Anthony Colandrea pass complete to Malik Washington for 3 yds for a TD Virginia Penalty, UNS: Unsportsmanlike Conduct (Ty Furnish) to the NCSU 0

On the then 18-yard 2-point conversion, Colandrea was flagged for another personal foul, earned in a combination of his helmet being removed and flexing to the crowd.

The ensuing kickoff was pushed back 15 yards because of the penalty on Colandrea.

That set up Julian Gray for a 35-yard return to the Virginia 48.

NC State positioned itself for a field-goal attempt as time was set to expire.

The 48-yarder was blocked.

However, another blockhead play by Virginia as special teamer James Jackson was flagged for a personal foul.

3rd & 8 at UVA 30
(0:03 – 4th) Narveson,Brayden field goal attempt from 48 yards NO GOOD blocked by Jackson,James (H: Noonkester,Caden, LS: Shimko,Joe), clock 00:00 PENALTY UVA Personal Foul (Jackson,James) 15 yards from UVA30 to UVA15, 1ST DOWN. NO PLAY.

On the second field-goal attempt with 0:00 on the clock, Brayden Narveson’s 33-yard field goal was good and the Cavs fell to 0-4 on the season.

1st & 10 at UVA 15

(0:00 – 4th) Brayden Narveson 33 yd FG GOOD

 

NC State’s Lauren Olivares Leon becomes first woman to shoot 60 in college golf history

Golfstat originally listed Olivares Leon with a 59 but an error was made during the round.

North Carolina State’s Lauren Olivares Leon made college golf history in the opening round of the Cougar Classic, becoming the first woman to shoot 60. The round of 11 under at Yeamans Hall Club included 13 birdies and two bogeys. A total of 17 men have shot 60 in collegiate events.

Golfstat’s live scoring originally had Olivares Leon down for a 59 – a number that no male or female collegiate player has ever shot. There was a scoring error, however, on the seventh hole. Golfstat had Olivares Leon down for a birdie, though she’d made par. The score was noted correctly on her official card.

The Seth Raynor design played to 6,269 yards.

North Carolina State’s Lauren Olivares Leon scorecard (courtesy Page Marsh)

Olivares Leon, a junior from Mexico who is 182nd in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, began the day on the 10th hole with birdie. She birdied the last two holes of the back nine to make the turn in 32, and then shot 28 on the front nine with eight birdies.

She then headed back out for the second round of a 36-hole day.

“She was so calm and simply amazing,” texted head coach Page Marsh, “on fire.”

Five women have recorded rounds of 61 in the history of women’s college golf:

  • 61 – Anna Zanusso, Denver University: Second round of the Westbrook Invitational in Peoria, Arizona, on Feb. 23, 2020
  • 61 – Julia Johnson, University of Mississippi: Third round of the Battle at the Beach in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, on Nov. 3, 2019
  • 61 – Bianca Pagdanganan, Gonzaga: Second round of the Pizza Hut Thunderbird Invitational in George, Utah, on March 17, 2017
  • 61 – Esther Lee, University of Colorado: First round of the Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Sept. 12, 2016
  • 61 – Mariah Stackhouse, Stanford: Second round of the Peg Barnard Invitational in Stanford, California, on Feb. 17, 2013

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Top 10 Big Ten expansion candidates following Colorado’s Big 12 exodus

After the Colorado and Prime Time acquisition, the Big 12 has declared war. Here’s 10 programs the Big Ten should pursue in response.

The Big 12 has declared war.

A formal resolution to arms may not have been drafted by the conference, but make no mistake about it. The Big 12 sees what’s happening across college football. It has seen the moves the SEC and Big Ten have made over the past year. The Big 12 will not idly sit by and wither away to a slow death while college football becomes a two-conference system.

Before anyone else had any ideas, the Big 12 hit the Pac-12’s newest rising star, Colorado. While the Buffs haven’t made any real noise in recent years on the field, they told everybody that they mean business by hiring head coach Deion Sanders. One of the most recognizable names in all of football, “Coach Prime” is exactly the type of figure who can bring Colorado back to its glory days.

Now, the Buffaloes are going back to the Big 12, a conference in which they experienced a lot of success in the early 2000s. It’s a power move by the Big 12 to grab Coach Prime before one of the other big conferences could, and it still has one move to make. It’s a bit of a risky maneuver, considering Colorado is going to have to reverse a mediocre tenure in the Pac-12, but it is a potential sleeping giant.

The Big 12 has taken its shot, now it’s time to aim for the head. Any self-respecting Big Ten fan knows now is the time to strike back for conference superiority. While the Big 12 congratulates itself on the coup, it’s time to show them how the big boys play. It starts by showing one of these schools the light and benefits that the premier athletics conference in the NCAA has to offer.

These are the top 10 expansion candidates for the Big Ten!

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Alabama MBB reaches out to North Carolina State transfer Isaiah Miranda

North Carolina State transfer Isaiah Miranda is receiving interest from the Alabama coaching staff.

North Carolina State transfer Isaiah Miranda has garnered quite the interest since entering his name into the transfer portal. One of the schools that recently reached out is Alabama.

Miranda was a 2023 prospect but chose to re-classify and enroll early in Raleigh. However, he did not play for the Wolfpack.

Now, the former top 50 prospect is looking for a new home. Outside of Alabama, other programs like Oklahoma State, DePaul, and Ole Miss have reached out to the talented prospect.

Miranda would likely start at center for the Crimson Tide next season. After losing Charles Bediako to the NBA Draft, the coaching staff has placed an emphasis on landing transfers in the frontcourt. With a limited number of big men available in the transfer portal, Miranda might make the most sense.

He has a lot of upside and potential to thrive in Oats’ system. Miranda is a 7-footer that can protect the rim and block shots.

There have been rumors that Miranda is working on scheduling an official visit to Alabama. A date has not been set at this time.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the Alabama basketball program and its involvement in the transfer portal.

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NC State QB Ben Finley becomes third Wolfpack quarterback to enter transfer portal

North Carolina State loses yet another quarterback to the transfer portal.

On Tuesday, the North Carolina State Wolfpack lost a quarterback to the transfer portal for the third time this offseason as Ben Finley announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal.

Finley joins Zo Wallace and Devin Leary as quarterbacks to leave the program since the beginning of the offseason. While Wallace has yet to find a new destination, Leary will continue his collegiate career at Kentucky.

Finley finished up his third season with NC State this past fall where he completed 65-of-123 passing attempts for 741 yards and three touchdowns. Over his career, he’s played sparingly, appearing in eight games and passing for 912 total yards and four touchdowns.

A member of the 2020 recruiting class for NC State, Finley was a consensus three-star prospect and considered a top-25 quarterback in the country. He committed to the Wolfpack over Arizona, Arizona State, Iowa State, Colorado State, and Nevada.

Finley is the younger brother of NFL free-agent quarterback Ryan Finley who last played with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019 and 2020. Ryan was a fourth-round draft pick by the Bengals in the 2019 NFL Draft after playing his college ball at both Boise State and NC State.

While the Wolfpack have lost three quarterbacks to the portal, they did bring in former Virginia signal-caller Brennan Armstrong to the program. Armstrong is expected to be the Wolfapack’s starting quarterback after passing for over 9,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in his first five seasons at Virginia. Last season, the Wolfpack went 8-5 including 4-4 in ACC play before losing to Maryland 16-12 in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

North Carolina State announcer Gary Hahn suspended after ‘illegal aliens’ comment during bowl broadcast

North Carolina state announcer Gary Hahn has been indefinitely suspended for a comment made during the Duke’s Mayo Bowl broadcast

North Carolina State played Maryland in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Friday.

Radio announcer Gary Hahn was indefinitely suspended after the Wolfpack’s loss to the Terps for a comment he made during the broadcast.

While referencing the UCLA-Pitt game, Hahn said, “down among all the illegal aliens in El Paso it’s UCLA 14 and Pittsburgh 6.”

Per Newsobserver.com:

Hahn is an employee of Learfield Communications, the N.C. State broadcast rightsholder, and was disciplined by that company. N.C. State athletic director Boo Corrigan deferred comment to Learfield.

“Learfield has suspended Wolfpack Sports Network play-by-play announcer Gary Hahn from his agreement indefinitely following comments made during today’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl radio broadcast,” Wolfpack Sports Properties general manager Kyle Winchester said in a statement.

Hahn, the North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year in 2011 and 2020, has been the voice of N.C. State football and men’s basketball since 1991.

Maryland’s Twitter account dunked on former conference rival N.C. State after Duke’s Mayo Bowl win

Maryland took a shot at its former ACC foe after Friday’s win.

It’s easy to bemoan bowl season’s diminishing returns year after year, both in terms of the quality of the contests and fan interest in what are increasingly becoming glorified exhibitions for next year’s team.

Those criticisms are still fair, but apparently, Friday’s win over North Carolina State in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl was meaningful for Maryland. Or at least, meaningful to whoever runs the athletic department’s Twitter account.

After the 16-12 win over the Wolfpack, which was sealed on an ugly interception from Ben Finley — the fourth quarterback to start for N.C. State this season — the Terrapins’ official account had a dunk ready in the drafts.

Aside from the malpractice in the spelling of “y’all,” which offends my sensibilities as a lifelong southerner, it’s easy to see why the Terps are taking some bragging rights from this one. Both founding members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the two programs spent six decades in the same conference and were division rivals before Maryland left for the Big Ten after the 2013 season.

This was the first time the two teams have met since then, and the Terrapins extended their winning streak in the rivalry to two.

It’s always nice to renew a rivalry, but considering Maryland hasn’t finished higher than third in the Big Ten East since making the jump (and has only finished better than fifth twice), I’m not sure leaving the ACC in the dust is the dunk Maryland thinks it is.

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