ACC football notes: Duke center honored for community service

Below are mid-week notes provided by the four ACC schools in the state of North Carolina.

Duke
Duke senior center Bryan Morgan has been named to the 2010 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® announced by the Allstate Insurance Company and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). “It is a huge honor and I am thankful to have been nominated,” said Morgan. “I love to work in the community and work with the kids and people of
Durham. It makes me very grateful for all of the opportunities I have been given.”

Morgan is the third Blue Devil to earn the honor, joining Zaid Abdul-Aleem (1994) and Re’quan Boyette (2008). A native of Hoover, Ala., Morgan has participated in community service projects involving Duke Children’s Hospital, Durham Rescue Mission, Read with the Blue Devils, Marbles Kids Museum, E.K. Powe Elementary School, Sandra E. Lerner Jewish Community Day School, Veterans Affairs Center, Forest at Duke Retirement Home, among others.

North Carolina
Quarterback T.J. Yates (Marietta, Ga.) has not thrown an interception in his last 89 attempts, dating back to last year’s bowl game vs. Pittsburgh. He has thrown 70 passes without an interception this year. That is the longest streak in his career. His previous best was 67 attempts in 2008 - last 12 vs. McNeese State, 22 vs. Rutgers, 18 vs. Virginia Tech, 3 vs. Georgia Tech and first 12 vs. NC State. The school record for attempts without an interception is 154 by Oscar Davenport in 1996-97. Yates’ 46 attempts without an interception vs. LSU was a school record for a single game. The previous record was 42 by Darian Durant vs. NC State in 2003.

NC State
NC State enters the Georgia Tech game tied for sixth nationally in turnover margin, with seven takeaways to just two giveaways for a +5 mark. The Wolfpack didn’t turn the ball over in its first two games, but fumbled twice in the win over Cincinnati.

Quarterback Russell Wilson (Richmond, Va.) has thrown 101 passes this season without an
interception and even though the Pack is playing two freshmen at halfback, there have only been two lost fumbles.

The Pack’s success in holding onto the ball is even more impressive considering that in 2009, NC State finished the season ranked 114th nationally in turnover margin, with 25 turnovers to just 14 takeaways.


Wake Forest
A number of Wake Forest and Florida State players were high school teammates before heading to college. FSU freshman T Garrett Faircloth (Brunswick, Ga.) is a graduate of the Bolles School where he teamed with Wake Forest freshman P Alex Wulfeck,(Orange Park, Fla.) redshirt sophomore LB Scott Betros (Jacksonville, Fla.), junior C Chance Raines (Jacksonville, Fla.), freshman S Desmond Cooper (Jacksonville, Fla.) and freshman FB Jordan Garside (Jacksonville, Fla.).

The Deacons have five players from the Bolles School on their roster, while Faircloth is the only Bolles graduate on the Noles' roster. Deacon senior WR Jordan Williams was a teammate of two Seminoles at First Coast HS in Jacksonville: junior CB Avis Commack and junior RB Jermaine Thomas. Wake Forest redshirt sophomore WR Lovell Jackson and FSU sophomore T Rhonne Sanderson were teammates at Plant High School in Tampa, Fla. Wake Forest junior G Ryan Britt and FSU senior QB Christian Ponder were teammates at Colleyville Heritage High School in Texas. As a junior at CHHS, Britt protected the senior QB Ponder as the Panthers’ starting left tackle.

Wake Forest redshirt sophomore DE Derricus Ellis is a graduate of Darlington Prep in Rome, Ga., where he played with FSU P Shawn Powell and C Ryan McMahon.