GarageGabs

Jerry Jones has publically questioned Marion Barber’s toughness:

“He can play with that injured toe,” Jones said. “He can play with the soreness and a combination of those things. I see nothing that led us to believe he couldn’t.”

Just my opinion on this.  Marion Barber has shown me that he is a pretty tough guy.  If he says he can’t go, I believe that he can’t go.  Rarely am I not on the side of Jerry Jones…I’m generally a supporter of the guy many times when no one else does.  But this is beyond a stupid comment.  Barber is a CORNERSTONE.  Just because Tashard Choice impressed on Sunday doesn’t mean Barber is expendable.

Jerry Jones, keep your mouth shut.

Jerry Jones is apparantly tougher than Marion Barber

Richmond knocked off Appalachian State in the 2nd round of the Division 1AA football playoffs 33-13, ending the Mountaineers 3 year run of FCS Championships.  Armanti Edwards threw 5 second half interceptions allowing Richmond to open up what was a tight game.

Congratulations to the Mountaineers on a great run!

Vaughan and defense help Richmond avenge loss, send Appalachian State home

North Carolina State is headed to Birmingham Alabama where they will play Rutgers in the PapaJohns.com Bowl.  The game will be played December 29th at 3 pm eastern and will be televised by ESPN.

I think it’s a fitting match-up between two teams that struggled early in season only to hit stride in the second half.  Rutgers began the season 1-5 before rolling off 6 consecutive wins.  Included in the streak was a 54-34 win at #17 Pittsburgh, and a 63-14 win over Louisville. The Pack struggled early as well, starting at 2-6 only to win 4 in a row to end the season.

The game also provides a bit of water cooler talk for Pack fans.  UNC dismantled Rutgers 44-12 early in the season only to have Pack fans say the win was meaningless due to Rutgers poor start.  Well, now NCSU has their chance to prove that Rutgers is a pushover….although this isn’t the same Rutgers squad the Heels played.

Either way, I’m glad I’ll have a chance to spend some of my holiday watching Wolfpack football.

This doesn’t mean State doesn’t go bowling.  In fact, it’s all quite confusing.

N.C. State not eligible for bowls with ACC ties (wral)

Russell Wilson became the first freshman quarterback to be named 1st team All-ACC.

Wilson’s final regular season numbers: Passing-  139-252, 1,769 yards, 16 TD, 1 INT.  Rushing- 108 rushes for 540 yards, 4 TD.  (lost 198 yards, sacks)

FIRST TEAM
QB_Russell Wilson, N.C. State (106)
RB_Jonathan Dwyer, Georgia Tech (134)*
RB_Da’Rel Scott, Maryland (76)
WR_Hakeem Nicks, North Carolina (130)
WR_D.J. Boldin, Wake Forest (76)
TE_John Phillips, Virginia (88)
OT_Eugene Monroe, Virginia (117)
OT_Andrew Gardner, Georgia Tech (107)
OG_Rodney Hudson, Florida State (99)
OG_Cliff Ramsey, Boston College (78)
C_Edwin Williams, Maryland (62)
SECOND TEAM
QB_Thaddeus Lewis, Duke (28)
RB_Darren Evans, Virginia Tech (58)
RB_C.J. Spiller, Clemson (50)
WR_Eron Riley, Duke (57)
WR_Aaron Kelly, Clemson (56)
TE_Ryan Purvis, Boston College (45)
OT_Garrett Reynolds, North Carolina (42)
OT_Anthony Castonzo, Boston College (41)
OG_Sergio Render, Virginia Tech (48)
OG_Cord Howard, Georgia Tech (45)
C_Thomas Austin, Clemson (48)

DEFENSE
FIRST TEAM
DE_Everette Brown, Florida State (131)
DE_Michael Johnson, Georgia Tech (99)
DT_B.J. Raji, Boston College (103)
DT_Vance Walker, Georgia Tech (62)
LB_Mark Herzlich, Boston College (118)
LB_Michael Tauiliili, Duke (110)
LB_Aaron Curry, Wake Forest (106)
CB_Alphonso Smith, Wake Forest (134)*
CB_Victor Harris, Virginia Tech (125)
S_Trimane Goddard, North Carolina (105)
S_Michael Hamlin, Clemson (89)
SECOND TEAM
DE_Orion Martin, Virginia Tech (61)
DE_Jason Worilds, Virginia Tech (39)
DT_Ron Brace, Boston College (52)
DT_Darryl Richard, Georgia Tech (50)
LB_Clint Sintim, Virginia (79)
LB_Alex Wujciak, Maryland (43)
LB_Mark Paschal, North Carolina (40)
CB_Ras-I Dowling, Virginia (49)
CB_Tony Carter, Florida State (34)
CB_Kendric Burney, North Carolina (34)
S_Morgan Burnett, Georgia Tech (85)
S_Myron Rolle, Florida State (55)

SPECIAL TEAMS
FIRST TEAM
K_Graham Gano, Florida State (127)
P_Travis Baltz, Maryland (105)
Specialist_C.J. Spiller, Clemson (66)
SECOND TEAM
K_Matt Bosher, Miami (34)
P_Matt Bosher, Miami (60)
Specialist_Michael Ray Garvin, Florida State (41)

HONORABLE MENTION
OFFENSE: Riley Skinner, qb, Wake Forest (26); Antone Smith, rb, Florida State (33); Cedric Peerman, rb, Virginia (30); Darius Heyward-Bey, wr, Maryland (34); Kevin Ogletree, wr, Virginia (32); Dan Gronkowski, te, Maryland (41); Scott Burley, ot, Maryland (34); Thomas Claiborne, og, Boston College (38); Calvin Darity, og, North Carolina (34); Jaimie Thomas, og, Maryland (33); Nick Marshman, og, Virginia Tech (24); Ryan McMahon, c, Florida State (35); Matt Tennant, c, Boston College (33); Ryan Shuman, c, Virginia Tech (23).
DEFENSE: Derrick Morgan, de, Georgia Tech (26); Willie Young, de, N.C. State (25); Vince Oghobaase, dt, Duke (40); Boo Robinson, de, Wake Forest (31); Jeremy Navarre, dt, Maryland (29); Nate Irving, lb, N.C. State (28); Paul Anderson, s, Boston College (35); Anthony Reddick, s, Miami (23).
SPECIAL TEAMS: Dustin Keys, k, Virginia Tech (25); Brandon Tate, spec., North Carolina (33); T.J. Graham, spec., N.C. State (31).

Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association Announces 2008 All ACC Football Teams (theACC.com)

Wilson Talks All-ACC, Future (Scout.com/WRAL)

State moved to 6-6 overall with a 38-28 victory over Miami Saturday.  The Pack ran for a season high 219 yards, led by 93 from Senior running back Andre Brown.  Brown scored 2 TD’s, 1 receiving & 1 rushing.  Jamelle Eugene chipped in 66 rushing yards and Russell Wilson 58.  Wilson completed 11 of 23 passes for 220 yards, 2 TD’s, and again, no interceptions.  Wilson added a rushing TD as well.

It was a gritty performance from the Pack as they again beat up on a team that was supposedly more talented than them.  The win makes State bowl eligible after starting the season at 2-4.

Pack Turns Back Canes, 38-28 (PackPride)

State kicker stops return (Video, newsandobserver.com)

Just wanted to post this because embarrasingly enough…..it happened about 10 minutes from my house:

Man Hit With Frozen Turkey Suspect In Two Carjackings: WRAL.com

Here’s the 911 Call-

Can things get any worse in Philly?  First, McNabb doesn’t understand overtime rules, then he gets benched…and now, this bit of embarrassment.  Found this over at FAN IQ.  They have a nice 3 picture set of the tackle.  If you didn’t see it over the weekend, realize that is Brian Westbrook’s jockstrap that Antwan Barnes is grabbing.  In all seriousness, this is the tackle the NFL should ban.

Brian Westbrook gets tackled by his jockstrap

Just a few more articles in regard to State’s victory over the Heels:

Too Early To Tell (WRAL.com) Butch Davis Responds to Tom O’Brien’s comments about NCSU being the best program in the State: “But before anybody anoints themselves, I’d say there probably needs to be some time invested into the programs, and then we’ll see what happens.”

From what I can tell, Butch is saying it’s too early to tell whether he is a failure or not….the jury is still out.  O’Brien backed up his comments again in the WRAL article.  Personally, in the PC, don’t say anything to offend the other team world, I like it that O’Brien made a statement like that.  Let’s me know that he’s willing to stick around and back it up…..much like he did this Saturday.

Wolfpack on the Right Path:  (Caulton Tudor, News & Observer): “When N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien on Saturday proclaimed his Wolfpack as the “best football program in the state,” there wasn’t a convincing counterpoint to be argued and certainly not by North Carolina.”

The Evolution of Andre Brown: (Technician)

Week 13 National Awards (Rivals.com)  Russell Wilson, Freshman of the Week

Six weeks ago the Dallas Cowboys lost starting QB Tony Romo to a banged up pinky finger.  They also lost the game to the Arizona Cardinals, 30-24.  Dallas, a team many had prematurely annointed as NFC Super Bowl representatives was all of the sudden in BIG trouble.

The media & rival fans didn’t let it slide.  All of the sudden, the Cowboys were toast.  Sure enough, they came out the following week & were promptly hammered by the lowly St. Louis Rams, 34-14.  Romo was all the talk as former Buccaneer Brad Johnson was awful in his place.  Little was made of other injuries the Cowboys had sustained.

Super rookie running back Felix Jones was out.  Starting cornerback (and their best) Terrence Newman…out.  Strong safety Roy Williams…..out.  Nickel back Adam Jones…suspended.  Starting guard Kyle Kosier…out.  Hell, they even lost their punter for the year.

The Cowboys would go on to eke out a 13-9 win over Tampa, before getting throttled by the Giants, 35-14.  Somehow a 5-4 Cowboys team was a terrible team if you listened to the media.  I decided to look at things in a more positive light.  They had a bye week coming up to heal.  Then a match-up with rival Washington….nothing like a win vs. an arch enemy to spark your season….then match-ups with not so great San Francisco & Seattle.

Dallas saw the return of Romo & Newman vs. the Skins.  Both played pretty well and had a huge hand in knocking off Washington, 14-10.  This weekend vs. San Francisco the offense finally awakened as they dealt the Niners a 35-22 defeat.  All of the sudden….Dallas feels good about themselves again…and wouldn’t ya know, a little adversity seemed to do the team some good.

Linebacker Greg Ellis:

“I’m going to put it to you this way: I like what I’m smelling from this team. All right? I really do. I like what I’m smelling from this team. … You can put that in big, bold print. You can use those words: I like what I’m smelling from this team. I like what I’m smelling from this team.”

Corner Terrence Newman:

“The early losses if you ask me are informative for us because we thought we were a better team than what we were. It showed we weren’t as good as we thought we were. Everybody had to come back out here and go to work. It was kind of a blessing in disguise. It makes us have to work. If we run the table we will be 12-4, you know.”

Shame on the media for burying Dallas.  They are 7-4, likely to be 8-4 after Thursday and will enjoy a LONG layover before the homestretch.  Keep in mind, it was the Cowboys who were sitting pretty last season at this point in the year while the Giants were battling for a playoff spot.  We all know how that turned out.

The Cowboys schedule down the stretch is brutal at best…At Pittsburgh, home vs. the Giants, Baltimore, and then at Philadelphia.  They’re gonna need to go 3-1 in that stretch, which I believe they can.  Felix Jones is not going to return & it’s looking like Kosier might not be able to go either.  I still like Dallas to make a run here.  Adversity can do a lot for a team.  Nothing has been handed to this bunch.  This isn’t last years team that cruised through the regular season facing few tests or feeling too good about themselves.  This bunch has learned they have to show up and play every week to win.

Cowboys Team Report (Cowboys Feeling Good About Themselves)- Yahoo