TarHeelBlue Game 2000 Georgia Tech

North Carolina Tar Heels
vs.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Date: Saturday, September 30, 2000, at 3:30 p.m. ET
Site: Kenan Stadium (capacity:60,000, natural grass) in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Series Record vs. Georgia Tech: 16-16-3
Tickets: Available at 919-962-2296, 1-800-722-HEEL
TV: ABC, Sean McDonough (play-by-play), Ed Cunningham (color analyst), Leslie Gudel (sideline)
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Radio Network, a division of Learfield Communications. Woody Durham (play-by-play), Mick Mixon (color) and Stephen Gates (sideline) provide the call. A live broadcast also is available on the University of North Carolina's official athletic website, TarHeelBlue.com
Websites: North Carolina (TarHeelBlue.com), Georgia Tech (ramblinwreck.com)
Injuries: LB Merceda Perry (out for season) fractured right ankle, CB Errol Hood (probable) right groin strain, FB Anthony Saunders (left shoulder) probable, OT Greg Woofter (questionable) neck strain

Tar Heels Host Georgia Tech at Kenan Stadium
North Carolina and Georgia Tech, each coming off close games last week, face each other on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at Kenan Stadium. The Tar Heels enter the game 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the ACC. Tech is 2-2 overall and 0-2 in conference play. Last week, Carolina beat Marshall, 20-15, and the Yellow Jackets dropped a 30-23 overtime decision at NC State.

The Tar Heels are 3-1 for the first time since the 1996 season. In 1997, Carolina was 4-0 through the first four games en route to an 11-1 season. oth teams have already played Florida State. The Seminoles edged Georgia Tech, 26-21, in Atlanta on September 9, and beat the Tar Heels, 63-14, the following week in Tallahassee.

Saturday is Monogram Day and North Carolina High School Athletic Association Day.

Carolina-Georgia Tech Series Notes
The teams have split 35 games. Both UNC and Tech have 16 wins and three ties in the 35-game series. Since Georgia Tech joined the ACC, Carolina has enjoyed a 13-6-1 advantage. However, the Yellow Jackets have won the last two games, including 43-21 in Chapel Hill in 1998 and 31-24 in overtime in Atlanta last October. The 1998 game marked Tech's highest scoring output ever against the Tar Heels.

The Tar Heels have not lost three in a row to Georgia Tech since four straight losses in 1943-44-45 and 1974.

The 1998 game marked Georgia Tech's first win over the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill since 1945.

Last year's overtime game was Carolina's second and the first time UNC had lost in overtime. The Tar Heels beat NC State in an overtime thriller in Charlotte in 1998. In the last 14 meetings (beginning in 1986) the teams have played to a margin of seven or fewer points on nine occasions. The Tar Heels are 5-3-1 in those nine games decided by a touchdown or less.

The Tar Heels are 9-5-2 against Tech in Chapel Hill (all of those games have been played in Kenan Stadium).

Last Year's Game in Atlanta
Carolina suffered a heart-breaking defeat and a season-ending injury to starting quarterback Ronald Curry on October 9, 1999. Heisman Trophy candidate Joe Hamilton rushed for a 6-yard touchdown in overtime to beat the Tar Heels, 31-24. It was the second OT game and first OT loss in UNC history.

Curry scored on a sparkling, 30-yard run in the first quarter to open the scoring. Early in the second quarter, Curry was sacked and ruptured his right Achilles' tendon, ending his season. Freshman Luke Huard took over for Curry and passed for 45 yards and rushed for a touchdown.

Anthony Saunders and Domonique Williams led a Carolina ground game that ran for 276 yards. Saunders rushed 17 times for a career-high 110 yards and Williams added 76 yards on 15 attempts.

Carolina led 13-0 in the second quarter before Hamilton struck for 47-yard and 59-yard touchdown passes to Kelly Campbell. Trailing 21-13 late in the third quarter, Huard scored on a 4-yard run and completed a two-point conversion pass to tight end Alge Crumpler to even the game.

Josh McGee hit a 36-yard field goal to give Carolina a 24-21 lead. Hamilton was intercepted twice by Carolina in the final 4:03 - once by cornerback Errol Hood and then by linebacker Tim Burgess. The Tar Heels were thwarted from extending the lead when fullback Deon Dyer was stopped twice near the goalline on third and fourth downs. Hamilton then led a last-minute drive which ended in a game-tying field goal with five seconds to play in regulation.

Hood, Saunders Star in Atlanta
Cornerback Errol Hood earned ACC Defensive Back of the Week honors for his play in last year's game at Georgia Tech. Hood had what Carl Torbush called the best game he has ever seen by a cornerback. The Lenoir, N.C., native had an interception (deep in UNC territory late in the game), two fumble recoveries, one quarterback sack, three pass breakups, seven tackles and one fumble recovery.

Anthony Saunders had a career-high 110 yards on just 17 rushes. That is the most recent 100-yard rushing day by a Tar Heel.

Curry Makes Big Plays in Carolina's Win Over Marshall
Ronald Curry completed 24 of 39 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns, both of which came in the fourth quarter, to lift the Tar Heels to a 20-15 win over Marshall on September 23 in Chapel Hill.

Curry found Kory Bailey for 16 yards to give the Tar Heels a 13-9 lead in the fourth quarter. Two minutes and 22 seconds later, the Hampton, Va., native went deep for 49 yards and a score to Bosley Allen.

Curry posted career highs in pass attempts and completions and posted the second-highest yardage figure in his career. He had 304 yards at Stanford in 1998.

It marked the first time in his career he threw for 200-plus yards in consecutive games. He had 235 yards at Florida State on September 16.

Curry's 49-yard touchdown strike to Allen was his 18th completion this year for 20 or more yards. He has one for 60 yards, one for 55 yards, three for 40-plus yards, four for 30-plus yards and nine for 20-plus yards.

Curry had 312 total offense yards against the Thundering Herd. That is his second-highest total offense output. He had 370 yards at Stanford in 1998. The 312-yard effort is the 18th best in Carolina history.

Bailey Sets Another Career High
Kory Bailey, a junior wideout from Durham, N.C., has posted career-high receiving yardage in consecutive games. At Florida State, Bailey hauled in five catches for 82 yards. Against Marshall, he made six receptions for 101 yards. Obviously, it was the first 100-yard receiving game of his career. Bailey had a 16-yard gain in the first quarter, a 30-yard catch-and-run to open the third quarter, a 25-yarder to start a drive later in the third quarter, a 4-yarder, a 10-yarder on 3rd-and-3 to keep a scoring drive alive, and the 16-yard touchdown catch. That reception came on a 3rd-and-10 play and gave UNC a 13-9 advantage.

ailey leads the Tar Heels in receptions with 17 and is third on the squad in receiving yards with 238.

He is tied for 14th alltime at Carolina with 80 receptions. Bailey is tied with Randall Felton (1989-92) and Marcus Wall (1992-95). Eric Streater is 13th with 82, Randy Marriott is 12th with 84 and Mark Smith is 11th with 87.

ailey is averaging 14.0 yards per reception this season. He came into the year with an average of 12.4 yards over his first two seasons.

Boz is Back
All summer quarterback Ronald Curry raved about the progress receiver Bosley Allen was making returning from a serious knee injury he suffered in 1998. The Bradenton, Fla., native has in fact proven to be one of the top big-play threats in the ACC. Allen leads the Tar Heels in all-purpose yards with 510, an average of 127.5 per game. He had a 49-yard touchdown catch that proved to be the winning margin in Carolina's 20-15 win over Marshall. It was his fifth reception this year of 24 yards or longer. He is third on the team with 11 catches, but is tied with Sam Aiken for the team lead with two touchdown grabs and tops the team by averaging 22.2 yards per catch.

Allen has caught a 60-yard touchdown at Wake Forest, a 51-yarder at Wake Forest, the 49-yarder against Marshall, a 27-yard scoring grab at Florida State and a 24-yarder against the Seminoles.

Allen is eighth in the country in punt returns and 42nd in all-purpose yards.

Permanent Captains Named, Reed on Scholarship
Head coach Carl Torbush announced prior to the Marshall game that four permanent team captains were chosen for the 2000 season. They are senior tight end Alge Crumpler, senior linebackers Sedrick Hodge and Brandon Spoon and junior quarterback Ronald Curry. Spoon was also a captain in 1998.

Torbush also awarded grant-in-aids to kicker Jeff Reed and deep snapper Jason Helton. Reed, previously listed as a senior, will be listed as a junior for the rest of this season. Helton is a senior.

Reed has made six of seven field goal attempts this year, a percentage of .857. He had a season-long 48-yarder against Marshall and added a 39-yarder against the Herd. Reed also had a 44-yarder at Wake Forest. The 48-yard field goal against Marshall equaled the 11th-longest field goal in UNC history.

Reed is tied for 13th in the country in field goals.

Miscellaneous Notes from the Marshall Game
* The game was delayed for 14 minutes with 7:50 to play in the fourth defense quarter when two banks of stadium lights went out. Officials resumed the game before the lights came back, and Marshall scored two plays after resumption. The lights did come back on before the end of the game.
* The Tar Heels trailed, 9-6, after three quarters but rallied for the win. It was the first time UNC came back to win after trailing entering the fourth quarter since a 21-14 win over Clemson in 1998.
* Carolina had 25 first downs, its highest output since it gained 29 at Indiana in the second week of the 1999 season.
* Freshmen Brandon Russell and Andre Williams combined for 113 rushing yards on 24 carries. Russell had 17 rushes for 79 yards, Williams added 34 yards on seven attempts. After Marshall scored to pull within 20-15 with 7:09 to play, the Tar Heels ran out the clock on a 13-play drive. Russell carried six times on the drive for 34 yards, and Williams had three carries for 16 yards to ice the game.
* Carolina's defense held the high-powered Marshall offense to two touchdowns and a field goal in 11 offensive possessions. UNC forced eight punts. However, the Tar Heels again did not force a turnover. That marks the second straight game UNC has not forced a turnover. For the season, Carolina has committed nine turnovers, while the opponents have made two miscues.
* Carolina has not intercepted a pass this season in 134 attempts. In fact, UNC has not picked off an opponent's pass in eight of the last nine games. The Tar Heels had four interceptions in the 1999 finale against Duke.

Curry Putting Up Positive Numbers in 2000
* Ronald Curry, less than a year after rupturing his right Achilles' tendon, has a pass curry efficiency rating of 137.70 through the first four games. That would be the fourth-highest pass rating in UNC single-season history.
* The only higher pass ratings by a Tar Heel are: Chris Kupec, 174.3, 1974, Jason Stanicek, 145.8, 1993, and Mark Maye, 141.3, 1986.
* Curry has completed 57 of 104 passes for 862 yards. He is completing 54.8 percent of his passes. He is on pace for the second-highest single-season passing yardage total and the third-highest pass completion total in school history.
* Curry led the Tar Heels on three touchdown drives in the season-opening win over Tulsa. Early in the second half, Curry sidestepped a blitzing Golden Hurricane, scrambled to his right and flicked a 55-yard bomb to red-shirt freshman Jamal Jones to give Carolina a 17-3 lead.
* He completed six of 12 attempts for 143 yards and two touchdowns in the win at Wake Forest. He had a 46-yard touchdown strike to Sam Aiken and a 60-yard scoring bomb to Bosley Allen.
* He passed for 235 yards and a touchdown in the loss at Florida State.
* Curry will be making his 14th career start against Georgia Tech and will be playing in his 21st game overall. He has rushed 182 times for 692 career yards and four touchdowns. He has completed 177 of 361 passes (.490) for 2,519 yards and has 15 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.
* The Hampton, Va., native is 14th alltime at UNC in completions with 177. Jonathan Hall is 13th with 182 and Junior Edge is 12th with 192. He is 11th in passing yardage.
* Curry is 31st in the nation in pass efficiency and 34th in pass completions per game.

The Sacks Keep Coming for Peppers
* A year after leading the Tar Heels with six sacks as a freshman, sophomore defensive end Julius Peppers is getting to the quarterback again in 2000. Peppers already has four sacks in four games, which is tied for the team-high with Sedrick Hodge. Three of Peppers' eight tackles against FSU were for losses, including two sacks.
* Peppers scored his first collegiate touchdown when he scooped up a fumble and raced 12 yards to the end zone against Wake Forest. The touchdown gave Carolina a 17-14 lead, an advantage it would not relinquish in the 35-14 win over the Demon Deacons.
* The touchdown marked the first time Peppers had scored six points in a Carolina uniform since he had six against Tulsa. Actually, he didn't score against Tulsa on September 2nd, but he scored six against Tulsa in March in the NCAA South Regional championship basketball game. Peppers added eight rebounds in that contest as the Tar Heels won and advanced to the Final Four.
* Peppers added two quarterback sacks for 27 yards in the win at Wake Forest. He had a 10-yard and a 17-yard sack. In two career games against the Deacons, Peppers has sacked the quarterback six times.
* Peppers was named the ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week for his play against Wake Forest.
* Peppers is a preseason candidate for the Bronko Nagurski Award, which is given to the National Defensive Player of the Year by the Charlotte Touchdown Club.

Hodge Playing Like an All-Star at Linebacker
* Senior linebacker Sedrick Hodge is playing at an all-star level as a senior. Hodge is tied for the team lead with four quarterback sacks for losses of 28 yards. Entering the 2000 season, Hodge had 3.5 sacks for his career.
* Hodge registered three tackles for losses against Florida State, including two sacks, as part of his 11 total tackles. He also forced a fumble and was credited with a QB hurry.
*Against Wake Forest, Hodge forced a fumble that was recovered for a touchdown, had a 9-yard sack and had seven total tackles to help lead UNC to the win. He averaged nine tackles the last four games of the 1999 season and had six tackles in the opener against Tulsa.

True Freshmen
* Three true freshmen played in the Tar Heels 30-9 victory over Tulsa. Brandon Russell started at tailback, Andre' Williams played on special teams and had two carries at tailback and Blake Ferguson punted three times in the second half.
* Linebacker Kitwana Jones made his first collegiate appearance in a special teams role at Wake Forest.
* Russell became the first Tar Heel to start the season at tailback since Charlie Justice in 1946. Russell had 10 carries for 25 yards. Russell also became the first freshman to start at any position, other than kicker or punter, since the 1989 season. That year, Bucky Brooks started at flanker, Julius Reese started at split end, Tommy Thigpen started at linebacker and Rondell Jones started at free safety. Punter Brian Schmitz started the first game of the season in 1996, kicking off against Clemson on Aug. 31.
* The Tar Heels have played 61 scholarship true freshmen in the 13 years Carl Torbush has been on the coaching staff (beginning in 1988). That is an average of 4.7 per season.
* Russell leads the Tar Heels in rushing through the first four games with 178 yards on 50 carries. He had a season-high 79 yards against Marshall.
* Williams is averaging 5.1 yards per carry, although he has just 16 rushing attempts.

Crumpler a Preseason All-America
* Senior tight end Alge Crumpler has been named a preseason All-America by the Sporting News. A native of Wilmington, N.C., Crumpler earned first-team All-ACC honors in his first year back after missing the 1998 season with a knee injury. Last season, he had 20 receptions for 191 yards.
* Crumpler is rated the No. 1 tight end in America by National Football Scouting, Inc.
* Entering the Georgia Tech game, Crumpler has 51 career receptions and four touchdowns. Arnold Franklin, who played for UNC from 1982-85, is the alltime leading receiver for tight ends at Carolina with 78 catches.
* Crumpler and teammate Dauntae' Finger form one of the best tight end tandems in the country.
* Crumpler had one catch in the first three games, but made five receptions for 38 yards in the win over Marshall. That was one grab shy of his career high for one game.