UNC investigations getting old; overshadowing NC teams accomplishments

N.C. State's offense looked powerful in a shellacking of Boston College, Coach Tom O'Brien's first win over his former team. Johnny White's runs and UNC's fourth-down conversions led to a 21-16 victory over Clemson, a team the Heels haven't defeated in almost a decade. East Carolina comes from 20 down to defeat conference favorite Southern Miss in the waning moments 44-43.

Yet, the news leads with the fact that Devon Ramsey, a fullback at Carolina, has been dropped from the team because of the ongoing investigations into academic fraud and inappropriate connections to NFL scouts. The speculation is that UNC could have to forfeit two of the games in which Ramsey played. Another player who has been held out all year, it was announced, will not be back this season.

The ABC crowd was enjoying the travails of Carolina but now it's overshadowing their team's efforts, performances and wins. If the Tar Heel players weren't admirably fighting through the adversity and hadn't won their last three games in impressive fashion, I'd be tempted to call for forfeiting the season just to stop all the bleeding and move on.

UNC officials have been diligent (holding out anyone they thought might have been involved) - Ramsey evidently fell through the cracks.

I'm not going to speculate about what sanctions there may be. Let the chips fall where they may, whenever they fall. As hard as it is, I'm going to try to focus on UNC's play on the field, as well as the fine play of State and the excitement of ECU.