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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Victories at Wake Forest in recent years have been few and -- for the offense, anyway -- forgettable.The Demon Deacons started the season with another one of those on Thursday night.Kendall Hinton ran for a short early touchdown and Wake Forest overcame some offensive struggles and held on for a season-opening 7-3 victory over Tulane.It brought to mind that 6-3, double overtime victory over Virginia Tech in 2014. Or the 3-0 win at Boston College last year.The result is, it looks a lot like the other games weve won here, Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said. Were 1-0, were excited, theres a lot to teach off of, but clearly, we have to be a lot more productive on offense. That was certainly the disappointment of the night. But again, Id rather be coaching those mistakes after being 1-0.Nothing came easy for the Demon Deacons (1-0) against a Tulane team playing its first game under new coach Willie Fritz and breaking in his run-heavy offense that produced the Bowl Subdivisions top rushing team in each of his two seasons at Georgia Southern.Wake Forest managed just 175 total yards -- 59 yards and three first downs in the second half -- yet won a matchup of teams coming off consecutive 3-9 seasons.Obviously, on offense, we werent as productive as we need to be, Clawson said.Tulane (0-1) finished with 280 total yards for the game and held a nearly 10-minute advantage in time of possession.The defense was phenomenal, man, quarterback Glen Cuiellette said. They kept us in the game.The only touchdown came on Hintons 1-yard run on the third play of the second quarter.Andrew DiRocco capped Tulanes opening drive with a 41-yard field goal, but had a 43-yarder blocked early in the fourth quarter. That loomed large late because Tulane came up empty on its final two possessions: The Green Wave were stopped inside the Wake Forest red zone with 4:22 left, and got the ball back before Julian Jones stripped Cuiellette on fourth down near midfield with 50 seconds left.TAKEAWAYSTULANE: The Green Wave rode their new option game as hard as expected and out of a range of formations, including out of an I in the shotgun. Tulane had 47 carries to 23 pass attempts, with none of the four running backs in the rotation carrying it more than seven times, while Cuiellette added 54 yards rushing in his first college start at QB.I felt comfortable -- honestly, people were texting me, calling me, `Are you nervous, are you good? My mom was like, `Are you OK? Cuiellette said. Overall, I felt fine. I wasnt really nervous. I was just ready to just play and show people what I could do because its been so long. I was just ready to lead these guys.WAKE FOREST: Its only one game, but there are already some huge questions about the offense. To put the Demon Deacons yardage numbers in perspective, they averaged 216.3 yards in 2014 -- when they ranked last in the Bowl Subdivision in total offense. The leading passer -- John Wolford -- was 9 of 17 for just 79 yards, while the leading rusher -- Hinton, his backup -- managed just 24 yards.Its going to be worth watching how Clawson handles his quarterbacks the rest of the year. Wolford started but both he and Hinton played, just as Clawson said they would, with the pocket-passing Wolford even lining up at receiver once while Hinton took the snap. But little seemed to work.They were playing a lot of man coverage and a lot of blitz, and when you do that, youve got to make plays on the outside, Clawson said. I think were really improved at receiver, but we didnt make those plays today. ... (Tulane) won the one-on-ones against our receivers today.KEY NUMBERSWake Forest ran just 26 plays in the second half -- and two of those were kneels by Wolford to end the game. ... The Demon Deacons didnt have a play cover more than 16 yards -- a pass by Wolford to Matt Colburn in the first quarter.UP NEXTTULANE: The Green Wave return home to take on Southern, a Championship Subdivision school from just up Interstate 10 in Baton Rouge.WAKE FOREST: The Demon Deacons jump into Atlantic Coast Conference play when they visit instate rival Duke, which they havent beaten since 2011, in their league opener.---Follow Joedy McCreary at http://twitter.com/joedyap. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/joedy-mccreary---AP college football site: http://collegefootball.ap.org Wholesale Custom Jerseys .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park. Sale Custom Jerseys . 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The NBA season is only a week old, and, entering Wednesday, every team has played somewhere between three and five games, so were not exactly talking about a big sample size here.But basketball isnt baseball, and we dont need 200 plate appearances to get a better idea of each players value. A set of eyes and a look at the numbers can be very revealing, even in a short amount of time, and already we are seeing some early-season trends that have drastically changed the rankings since our last update in mid-October.Moving upRussell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder: We slid Westbrook down to No. 2 once James Harden received point guard eligibility, but its difficult to consider Westbrook anything but No. 1 after the numbers he put up in his first week without Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City. Facing lower-tier opponents in his first three games, the Thunder star posted two triple-doubles and missed a third by one assist, averaging 38.7 points, 12.3 rebounds, 11.7 assists and even throwing in 2.7 3s per game. If hes going to put up near triple-double averages while also making 3-pointers this season, he has the edge on not only Harden but on everybody in the league.Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans: Davis has never played more than 68 games in a season, which is why we ranked him at No. 9 for much of September before sliding him down to 11 after the news of a preseason ankle injury. His lack of durability makes him a huge risk, and we all know that. Still, as far as pure production goes, hes right there with Westbrook for the top spot and has to be considered almost a 1B to Westbrooks 1A. The Pelicans star power forward averaged a mind-blowing 37 points, 13 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 3 blocks in his first four games.Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors: In some ways, the Warriors already feel like Durants team, which is weird to even think about, but it shows in his early-season numbers. His scoring (28.5 PPG), rebounding (9 RPG) and shooting percentages (57.4 FG/91.7 FT) are all ahead of last seasons pace, as are his steals and blocks, and some metrics have Durant ranked ahead of Westbrook and Davis for No. 1 thus far. Weve moved him up from No. 5 to No. 3.Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks and Hassan Whiteside, Miami Heat: Both of these players were considered low first-rounders or high second-rounders, and if drafts were held again today theres a good chance theyd each go in the middle of the first round. Antetokounmpos well-rounded game is ahead of even the loftiest of expecttations at this point (23.dddddddddddd3 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 5.8 APG, 1 SPG, 2 BPG and 0.8 3PG), while Whitesides combination of scoring (19.8 PPG), rebounding (13.8 RPG), shot-blocking (3 BPG) and efficient shooting (60 percent from the field) makes him one of the games elite big men.Gorgui Dieng, Minnesota Timberwolves and Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers: We thought we had Dieng and Turner ranked aggressively in our last update, and guess what -- we were wrong! Whats interesting is the difference in hype, as Dieng tends to float under the radar on a young Minnesota team with a number of much higher-profile stars, while Turner entered the season with as much fanfare as any second-year player. Whats clear is both should be ranked much higher, and thats why weve moved Dieng and Turner to No. 21 and 22, respectively. Dieng simply does it all (14.3 PPG, 11 RPG, 2 APG, 1.7 SPG, 1.7 BPG while shooting 64.3 FG and 87.5 FT), while Turner makes the most of his 29-30 minutes on the court each night, particularly as a scorer (18 PPG), rebounder (9.3 RPG) and shot-blocker (3 BPG). Aging big man Al Jefferson doesnt appear to be someone who will hinder Turners upside this season, as we feared might be the case.Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers: Another big man who oozes superstar, Embiid is doing things on the court most 7-footers can only dream of; taking players off the dribble and spotting up from 3-point range. The 76ers are taking it slow with his return to the court after two missed seasons, but his 17.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG and 2.7 BPG stand to increase when his minutes restriction is lifted. Remember, hes averaged less than 21 minutes a game so far!Other notable risers:DeMar DeRozan, Toronto RaptorsJonas Valanciunas, Toronto RaptorsWesley Matthews, Dallas MavericksAvery Bradley, Boston CelticsJusuf Nurkic, Denver NuggetsGeorge Hill, Utah JazzTim Frazier, New Orleans PelicansT.J. Warren, Phoenix SunsKris Dunn, Minnesota TimberwolvesWill Barton, Denver NuggetsJustise Winslow, Miami HeatMarkieff Morris, Washington WizardsBojan Bogdanovic, Brooklyn NetsNotable fallers:Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota TimberwolvesSerge Ibaka, Orlando MagicDevin Booker, Phoenix SunsTrevor Ariza, Houston RocketsRicky Rubio, Minnesota TimberwolvesBrandon Knight, Phoenix SunsEnes Kanter, Oklahoma City ThunderNerlens Noel, Philadelphia 76ersJahlil Okafor, Philadelphia 76ersAl-Farouq Aminu, Portland Trail Blazers ' ' '