University of North Carolina Athletics
Football Gets Set for Las Vegas Bowl
June 21, 1999 | Football
December 7, 1998
GAME DATA: The University of North Carolina (6-5, 5-3 ACC) meets San Diego State (7-4, 7-1 Pacific Division WAC) from the Western Athletic Conference on Saturday, December 19th at the seventh annual Las Vegas Bowl in Las Vegas, Nev. Gametime is scheduled for 6 p.m. Eastern Time and the contest will be televised nationally by ESPN2. The Las Vegas Bowl will be played at Sam Boyd Stadium (capacity 35,000). This is the first meeting ever between UNC and San Diego State. Carolina last played a team from the WAC in 1997. The Tar Heels defeated Texas Christian in Fort Worth, Texas, 31-10, behind the record-setting performance by quarterback Chris Keldorf (UNC record 415 passing yards).
SEVEN BOWLS IN A ROW: The University of North Carolina has advanced to postseason play for a school-record seventh consecutive season. The previous longest span of consecutive bowl games was five in a row from 1979-83. Over the last six years, the Tar Heels have defeated Mississippi State in the 1993 Peach Bowl in Atlanta (played after the 1992 season), lost to Alabama in the 1993 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., lost to Texas in the 1994 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, defeated Arkansas in the 1995 Carquest Bowl in Miami, defeated West Virginia in the 1997 Gator Bowl (after the 1996 season) and defeated Virginia Tech in the 1998 Gator Bowl (following the 1997 season).
This is Carolina*s 23rd appearance in a bowl game. Last year's win over Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl raised UNC*s record to 10-12 in bowl games. The Tar Heels have won eight of their last 12 postseason football games, including three in a row and four overall with Carl Torbush as defensive coordinator. Carolina*s seven-game bowl streak is the eighth-longest active streak in the country. Only Nebraska (30), Michigan (24), Florida State (17), Ohio State (10), Tennessee (10), Penn State (10) and Florida (8) have been to more consecutive bowls. UNC is one of only three schools in the country to have won bowl games in each of the last three seasons. Carolina, Nebraska and LSU (not bowl eligible this year) have accomplished that feat.
UNC AND THE BOWLS: Carolina is third among Atlantic Coast Conference schools in bowl game appearances. The Tar Heels are making their 23rd appearance alltime. Florida State will be playing in its 28th bowl game and Georgia Tech is playing in the postseason for the 27th time. Carolina is making its first appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl. This is UNC's 10th different bowl game. The Tar Heels are 5-2 in the Gator Bowl, 2-2 in the Sun, 1-0 in the Bluebonnet, 1-0 in the Carquest, 1-3 in the Peach, 0-1 in the Cotton, 0-1 in the Liberty, 0-1 in the Aloha and 0-2 in the Sugar. A complete listing of Carolina's bowl game results may be found on the inside front cover of this brochure and on page 263 of the 1998 Media Guide.
TAR HEELS RALLY FOR SIX WINS: The 1998 Tar Heels won six of their last eight regular-season games to finish with a 6-5 overall record. That included a 5-3 mark in the ACC, good for a fourth-place tie with NC State, whom the Tar Heels beat, 37-34 in overtime on November 28th in Charlotte, N.C. Carolina opened the season with three consecutive defeats for the first time since 1988 and the seventh time in school history.
However, the Tar Heels fought back to post a winning record at the conclusion of the regular season for the first time in a year in which they lost the first three contests. The 6-5 record marks the ninth straight year in which the Tar Heels posted a winning record in the regular season. A win in the bowl game would equal the longest stretch of winning records in school history and would be the longest span in the modern era. The Tar Heels posted nine straight winning seasons from 1897 to 1905.
FIRST YEAR HEAD COACH: East Spencer, N.C., native Carl Torbush became the UNC head coach on December 8, 1997, and led the Tar Heels to a 42-3 win over Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 1, 1998. Torbush, who has been Carolina*s defensive coordinator since 1988, is the first UNC head coach to post a winning record in the regular season in his first year in charge since Tom Young led the Tar Heels to a 6-3 record in 1943. (Carl Snavely and Jim Hickey each led their teams to 5-5 records in their first seasons in 1945 and 1959, respectively).
Torbush is the only first-year head coach in Carolina football history to lead his team to the postseason in his rookie season. He is also the only UNC coach to lead his team to a winning record in the regular season after opening the year with three losses. Torbush has a 7-5 record as Carolina*s head coach and is 10-13 in his two-plus seasons as a head coach. He was 3-8 at Louisiana Tech in 1987, the year before he came to Chapel Hill as the defensive coordinator. He is a 1974 graduate of Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn., where he played for head coach Dal Shealy and linebackers coach Ron Case. Case is in his third year as defensive backs coach at Carolina.
Torbush played center and linebacker at Carson-Newman, was a first-team NAIA All-America in both football and baseball, played a year of professional baseball with the Kansas City Royals' farm system, and has been inducted into the Carson-Newman and Knoxville Sports Halls of Fames. Torbush was the National Defensive Coordinator of the Year in 1996 and was one of five finalists for top assistant of the year in 1997. Three of his defensive standouts - end Greg Ellis (Dallas Cowboys), linebacker Brian Simmons (Cincinnati Bengals) and tackle Vonnie Holliday (Green Bay Packers) were selected in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft. Holliday is considered a favorite to win NFL Defensive Rookie-of-the-Year honors.
LAST YEAR IN JACKSONVILLE: Senior quarterback Chris Keldorf earned Most Valuable Player honors with a sensational passing performance as he led an inspired Tar Heel team to a 42-3 rout over Virginia Tech on New Year's Day. Keldorf completed 17 of 28 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns. He connected with Octavus Barnes for touchdowns of 62 and 14 yards. Carolina came into the game having scored just 16 points in the first quarter in 11 games, but blitzed the Hokies for 16 in the first 14 minutes and another six seven seconds into the second quarter.
Carolina led 22-0 at the half. Key plays in the half included the 62-yard Keldorf to Barnes scoring pass, a blocked punt by Quinton Savage that Dre' Bly returned six yards for a score, and a fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown by defensive end Greg Ellis. The win capped an 11-1 season and solidified the team as one of the best in UNC history. The Tar Heels finished the year ranked No. 4 in the final ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll and No. 6 in the final Associated Press poll.
BLY ACC'S FIRST THREE-TIME ALL-AMERICA: Cornerback Dre' Bly is a 1998 first-team All-America by the Walter Camp Foundation. It is the third consecutive year Bly has been named a Camp All-America. He is the first player in Atlantic Coast Conference football history to earn first-team All-America awards in three seasons. Last year, Bly became the only player in UNC history and the fifth player in ACC history to be named consensus first-team All-America in two seasons. Bly*s other first-team All-America awards include: Associated Press 1996 and 1997, Football Writers Association of America 1996 and 1997, Sporting News 1996, and Football News 1997.
BLY, EKUBAN EARN FIRST-TEAM ALL-ACC HONORS: Cornerback Dre' Bly and defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban were named first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference by the Atlantic Coast Sportswriters Association. Ekuban was the third defensive lineman selected after Corey Simon of Florida State and Patrick Kerney of Virginia. Bly, who led all players in voting in 1997 and was the second-highest vote-getter among all players in 1996, was the third defensive back picked after Virginia's Anthony Poindexter and Clemson's Antwan Edwards. Bly is the fourth Tar Heel in history and second in as many years to earn first-team All-ACC honors three times by the Atlantic Coast Sportswriters Association.
Defensive end Greg Ellis (1995-96-97), offensive lineman Pat Crowley (1987-88-89) and defensive lineman William Fuller (1981-82-83) also were three-time All-ACC recipients by ACSWA, recognized as the official All-ACC team. Kelvin Bryant also was a three-time All-ACC recipient in 1980-81-82. He was an ACWSA choice in 1980 and 1981 and an Associated Press pick in 1982. Charlie Justice was a four-time All-Southern Conference selection in 1946-47-48-49 and Art Weiner was All-Southern Conference in 1947-48-49. Bly, from Chesapeake, Va., intercepted four passes, broke up 10 passes and a had a career-high 44 tackles. He has 20 career interceptions, three more than any player in ACC history. Ekuban*s selection marks the fifth straight year at least one UNC defensive lineman has been named first-team All-ACC.
Marcus Jones (1994 and 1995), Ellis (1995-96-97) and Vonnie Holliday (1997) were first-team selections. Ekuban, from Riverdale, Md., set a UNC single-season record with 23 tackles for loses for 98 yards, had seven sacks for 69 yards and was third on the team with 96 tackles. Two first-team selections is the fewest by UNC since 1994. It is the first time since 1990 that no Tar Heels made the All-ACC Offense.
THREE NAMED TO ALL-ACC SECOND TEAM: Linebackers Brandon Spoon and Keith Newman and punter Brian Schmitz were selected to the 1998 All-ACC Second Team. It is the first All-ACC honors of any kind for each of the players. Spoon led the Tar Heels and was fourth in the ACC in tackles with 138, an average of 12.5 tackles per game. The Burlington, N.C., native led the team with 78 primary tackles, was second on the squad with five sacks for 37 yards and was fourth in tackles for losses with eight. Newman was fifth in the ACC with 132 tackles, an average of 12.0 hits per contest. The Tampa, Fla., native was second on the team with 12 tackles for losses for 61 yards, had four sacks for 43 yards, caused two fumbles, broke up two passes and intercepted one.
Schmitz tied a UNC record as he averaged 40 yards or better per punt in each of the 11 games. He averaged a season-best 49.3 yards on seven punts at Florida State, had a 60-yard punt in three games and had at least one 50-yard kick in 10 of the 11 games. Wide receiver Na Brown was an honorable mention selection, despite tying his own school record with 55 receptions and setting the career mark at UNC with 165 catches. He was the fifth-highest vote-getter at wide receiver in what is likely the deepest and most talented position in the ACC. NC State's Torry Holt, Florida State's Peter Warrick, Georgia Tech's Dez White and Wake Forest's Desmond Clark finished ahead of Brown in the balloting. Holt is the ACC's alltime yardage leader and Clark is the alltime receptions leader in ACC history.
EKUBAN WINS TATUM AWARD: Senior defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban is the 1998 Jim Tatum Award winner. The award, named after the former UNC head football coach, is given by the Atlantic Coast Conference to the top senior student-athlete football player in the ACC. Ekuban is a Dean*s List student and a first-team All-ACC defensive lineman. He is the first UNC player to receive the award since offensive tackle Russell Babb, who was the recipient in 1995.
OVERTIME THRILLER MAKES UNC BOWL ELIGIBLE: Oscar Davenport hit Na Brown with a 14-yard touchdown pass to lift Carolina to a 37-34 win over arch-rival NC State on November 28th in Charlotte's Ericsson Stadium.
It was the first time in history the teams had met on a neutral site.
The game was played in a front of a crowd of 68,797, the largest crowd to watch a college football game in the state of North Carolina.
The win was Carolina's sixth in a row over NC State and the 19th consecutive over in-state rivals Duke, NC State and Wake Forest.
The win gave Carolina a "Big Four" sweep (Duke, NC State and Wake Forest) for the sixth straight year.
It was the first overtime game in UNC history.
It gave Carolina its sixth win in eight games, made the 1998 team the first in school history to bounce back from three season opening defeats to post a winning record, and made UNC bowl eligible.
Senior quarterback Oscar Davenport threw three touchdown passes in a game for the first time in his career.
Senior wide receiver L.C. Stevens caught two touchdown passes. They were the 12th and 13th of his career, but the first ones of the 1998 season. Stevens is the fifth-leading receiver in UNC history. He last caught a TD pass on Oct. 30, 1997, against Georgia Tech. It was his first two-TD catch game since he had three against Maryland in 1996.
Stevens had a season-high five receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns. In the first eight games this year, Stevens had 12 catches. In the last three games, he made 13 receptions.
Junior fullback Deon Dyer scored on 1-yard and 36-yard runs. It was his first career two touchdown game. Dyer's 36-yard scoring run was the longest touchdown run by a UNC running back this year.
Dyer rushed for a career-high 58 yards on 13 carries.
Senior quarterback Oscar Davenport had his finest game of the year. The St. Petersburg, Fla., native was 19 for 33 for 213 yards and three touchdowns. The highly regarded NC State secondary did not have a single interception. The Pack led the ACC this year with 19 pickoffs.
Davenport's pass efficiency rating was 141.76. His rating in the win over Duke a week earlier was 164.86.
Senior Na Brown had a season-high eight receptions for 83 yards, including the game winning, 14-yarder in the corner of the end zone in overtime.
Na Brown finished the season with 55 receptions, tying his own school record for catches in a season. Last year, the Reidsville, N.C., native had 55 receptions for 610 yards. This year, his 55 catches went for 897 yards.
Defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban had a key tackle for a loss in overtime, forcing State to kick a field goal. The tackle for a loss was the 23rd of the year for Ekuban. That broke the former UNC record of 22 which was shared by William Fuller and Lawrence Taylor.
Cornerback Dre' Bly picked off a pass that was intended for ACC Player of the Year Torry Holt. It was the 20th interception of Bly's career, extending his alltime ACC record.
Cornerback Steve Fisher broke up three passes and intercepted two, both that were intended for Holt. Fisher finished the year with 17 pass breakups, the second most in UNC history. Robert Williams had 23 in 1996. Fisher also led the team in interceptions this year with five. That includes one he returned 37 yards for a touchdown at Virginia. A former walkon from New Bern, N.C., Fisher had four interceptions in the last four games.
Carolina led 24-3 at the half before State rallied for three fourth-quarter touchdowns to send the game into overtime. The 21-point lead at the half was Carolina's largest this season. It was the most points in a half since UNC scored 36 against Duke in the second half of the 1997 game.
Wide receiver Kory Bailey had six receptions giving him 38 catches this year. That establishes a UNC freshman receptions record. The previous mark was 37 by Randall Felton. Both Felton and Bailey are from Durham, N.C.
Junior linebacker Brandon Spoon made a game-high 18 tackles, caused a fumble on the goalline that UNC recovered to prevent a touchdown, and made a hit on a fourth-down play that gave Carolina the ball at midfield. On the next play after the fourth-down stop, Davenport hit Stevens for a 49-yard touchdown.
It was the fourth time in school history Carolina had gone into the final game of the regular season with a 5-5 record and the second straight occasion in which UNC knocked off NC State to become bowl eligible. In 1995, Carolina beat the Wolfpack, 30-28, in Raleigh and went on to defeat Arkansas in the Carquest Bowl in Miami.
Carolina had a season-high 24 first downs and compiled 432 total offense yards. The Tar Heels totaled more offense than NC State, who came into the game as the No. 1 offense in the ACC. The 432 yards were the second-highest single-game figure by the Tar Heels this year and the fourth time in 11 games Carolina had 400-plus yards.
Carolina forced a season-high five turnovers (Wake Forest also committed five turnovers against UNC) and did not commit a single turnover.
Carolina committed a season-low three penalties against Florida State and NC State. The Tar Heels were flagged just seven times combined in the wins over Duke and NC State in the final two games of the regular season.
SEASON STAT NOTES
The Tar Heels finished the season "plus-one" in turnovers. Carolina committed 24 turnovers (10 interceptions and 14 lost fumbles) and forced 25 turnovers (12 interceptions and 13 fumbles recovered).
Carolina was one of five teams in the ACC to create more turnovers than it committed. Not coincidentally, all five teams with a positive turnover ration are playing in bowl games. (Florida State +11, Virginia +10, Georgia Tech +5, NC State +4 and UNC +1)
Carolina was plus 14 in turnovers its six victories and minus 13 in the five losses. The Tar Heels were a season-high plus five in the 37-34 win over NC State and a season-low minus four in the 37-34 loss at Stanford.
Carolina scored 32 of 34 times it had the ball in the red zone (20 and in). The Tar Heels scored 18 touchdowns and 14 field goals when it had the ball in the red zone. The only failed attempts were: at Virginia when Carolina advanced to the Cavalier 14-yard line, but a 36-yard field goal attempt by Josh McGee was blocked; and against NC State when the Tar Heels had the ball fourth-and-one at the NC State 20-yard line and failed to pick up the first down. Carolina converted seven of 11 fourth down conversion chances.
The Tar Heels averaged 328.7 yards on offense, the lowest figure since 1990. UNC rushed for 1,431 yards, the highest figure in three years. The opponents scored 270 points. In 1996 and 1997, the opponents combined for 253 points.
Carolina allowed only 127.6 rushing yards per game. That's the ninth straight season in which the defense has allowed less than 150 rushing yards per game and the eighth time in nine years it has yielded less than 130 yards per contest.
Carolina and its opponents each averaged 4.84 yards per play, but the opponents ran 40 more plays to account for almost 19 yards more per game in total offense.
Carolina finished fourth in the ACC in scoring defense, allowing 24.6 points per game.
The Tar Heels scored more points in 1998 than they scored in 1997 against Stanford, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Wake Forest, Florida State and NC State.
The Tar Heels' most productive scoring period was the second quarter. UNC scored 112 of its 268 points in the second quarter (41.8 percent). For the second straight year, UNC averaged less than a field goal in the opening quarter. Last year, Carolina averaged 1.5 points in the first 15 minutes. In 1998, UNC averaged 2.4 points in the opening quarter.
Freshman Rufus Brown led the Tar Heels in rushing with 534 yards on 133 attempts (4.0 per carry). Brown is the first freshman to lead the team in rushing since Natrone Means had 849 yards in 1990. Brown was the only Tar Heel to post a 100-yard rushing game. He had 143 against Wake Forest. The 534 yards are the fewest by a team leader since 1989 when Aaron Staples had a team-high 463 yards.
Wide receiver Na Brown is the first player in UNC history to catch 50 or more passes in three seasons. No other Tar Heel has even done it twice. Na Brown is the first player to lead UNC in all-purpose yards whose primary yardage category was receiving yards since Randy Marriott in 1987. Brown had 1,023 all-purpose yards, including 897 on receptions.
Quarterback Ronald Curry is the first freshman to lead the Tar Heels in total offense since 1977 when Amos Lawrence had 1,231 yards (all rushing). Curry amassed a UNC freshman record 1,394 yards (975 passing and 419 rushing).
Carolina returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in a season for the first time in school history. Tyrell Godwin, who will miss the bowl game due to arthoroscopic surgery on his right knee, set the school record with a 100-yard return at Stanford. Kory Bailey added a 95-yard return for a TD against Georgia Tech.
Carolina recorded 93 tackles for losses for 385 yards, including 33 quarterback sacks for 265 yards.
CAREER STARTS
Senior wide receiver L.C. Stevens has started 37 games (including bowl games) in his career. That*s more than any other player on the team. He had a streak of 26 consecutive starts snapped when he injured his knee at Stanford in the second week of the season and was unable to play against Georgia Tech. Stevens is the only current player on offense to have started every game in 1996 and 1997.
Wide receiver Na Brown currently owns the longest streak for consecutive starts on offense with 23 games. Brown started all 12 games last year and every game in 1998. Brown also started the first eight games in 1996, and played in, but did not start due to a sprained ankle, the final four games in 1996.
Cornerback Dre' Bly is the only Tar Heel who has started every game since the start of the 1996 season. Bly will be making his 36th consecutive start when the Tar Heels meet the Aztecs.
Last year, four true freshmen played for UNC. They were kick returner Tyrell Godwin, linebackers Sedrick Hodge and Merceda Perry and tailback Domonique Williams. In 1998, four true freshmen have played. They include quarterback Ronald Curry, wide receiver Bosley Allen, center Adam Metts and defensive tackle Ryan Sims. Allen seriously injured his left knee in the final regular-season game and will not be available for the Las Vegas Bowl.
