University of North Carolina Athletics
TarHeelBlue Game Day 2000 -- Tulsa Recap Edition
September 7, 2000 | Football
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| Post-Game Information |
| Game Play-by-Play |
| On The Air |
| What They're Saying |
| Game Program Articles |
| Pace on O'Cain |
| Brewer On Fullbacks |
| Kirschner On Heels' Return |
| The Basic Facts |
| On Campus |
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CAROLINA 30, TULSA 9
Box Score
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Ronald Curry generated 261 yards of offense in his
first game since rupturing an Achilles' tendon as North Carolina rolled past
Tulsa 30-9 on Saturday night.
Curry, who was injured in the fifth game last year, completed 12 of 22
passes for 192 yards and rushed for 69 more as the Tar Heels won their season
opener.
Freshman Willie Parker ran for two touchdowns, and Jamal Jones scored on a
55-yard receptions. Jeff Reed added two field goals and Chris Bender kicked a
third.
North Carolina scored 27 straight points after Tulsa opened the scoring on
Chris Earnest's 41-yard field goal.
Parker made it 7-3 with 3:03 left in the first quarter, capping an 11-play,
47-yard drive with a 1-yard run.
Reed's first field goal, a 30-yarder with 4:34 to play in the second
quarter, gave the Tar Heels a 10-3 lead at halftime.
North Carolina stretched the lead on its first possession of the second half
when Curry sidestepped Tulsa's blitzing Chris Miller and found Jones, who had
broken free down the sideline.
Parker's second touchdown, a 3-yard run, came on the Tar Heels' next drive.
Reed later added a 38-yard field goal.
Tulsa's touchdown came on a 78-yard pass from Josh Blankenship to Corey
rown with 11:32 left in the game.
The loss spoiled the head coaching debut of Tulsa's Keith Burns, who came to
the Golden Hurricane from Arkansas, where he had been the defensive coordinator
for the past two years.
It also marked a successful start for North Carolina offensive coordinator
Mike O'Cain, who was fired in 1999 after seven seasons at rival North Carolina
State.
The start of the first meeting ever between the two teams was delayed 13
minutes by lightning at Kenan Stadium.
PRE-GAME NOTES
North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Date: Saturday, September 2, 2000, at 6 p.m. EST.
Tar Heels Look To Continue Momentum From Last Season
The Tar Heels are looking to build upon the improvement last year's team showed in the final two victories of the season over NC State and Duke. Carolina returns 45 letterwinners and 14 starters from last year's squad that finished 3-8. Defensively, the Tar Heels have 10 returning starters, including All-America candidates Brandon Spoon (LB) and Julius Peppers (DE). The entire Tar Heel secondary returns intact, but speedy sophomore Michael Waddell is expected to start at cornerback.
On offense, Carolina welcomes back a healthy Ronald Curry at quarterback. Last season, Curry ruptured his Achilles tendon against Georgia Tech and was lost for the year. Curry did not participate in spring drills, but has not missed a snap during preseason practice and is at full strength entering the Tulsa game. Senior Alge Crumpler, a preseason All-America candidate returns at tight end and Kory Bailey anchors a deep corp of talented receivers. In the backfield, red-shirt freshman Willie Parker is expected to start his first collegiate game at tailback and Anthony Saunders will be the fullback.
Charlotte native Jeff Reed has secured the place-kicking and kickoff responsibilities. Blake Ferguson or John Lafferty will handle the punting.
The Series
* Carolina is 5-1 against schools currently in the Western Athletic Conference (TCU 3-0, Rice 0-1, SMU 1-0, UTEP 1-0). Carolina last faced a WAC school in 1997 when the Tar Heels won at Texas Christian, 31-10.
* Carolina and Tulsa did meet recently in a highly-publicized contest, but not in football. In last year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, Carolina defeated Tulsa, 59-55, in the Southeast Regional Championship Game to advance to the Final Four. In that game, defensive end Julius Peppers scored six points and had eight rebounds in 30 minutes of action.
* After opening the 1999 season against ACC opponent Virginia, the Tar Heels return to a more traditional opening against non-conference competition. In the last 30 seasons, Carolina has opened against a non-conference opponent 27 times. The only years Carolina did not open against a non-conference team were in 1992 (Wake Forest), 1996 (Clemson) and 1999 (Virginia).
Fourth Time The Charm?
The Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, Inc. (DACO), the organization which annually presents the prestigious Butkus Award to the nation's best collegiate linebacker, announced its preliminary list of 70 candidates for this year's award on August 24.
Spoon, a fifth-year senior, elected to return to school after missing most of the 1999 campaign with a torn biceps muscle. He enters the 2000 season as the No. 3 rated inside linebacker by National Football Scouting, Inc. and is considered a potential first-round NFL Draft pick.
A second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection in 1998, Spoon has 241 career tackles, including 17.5 for losses and 8.5 quarterback sacks.
Hood Earns Thorpe Consideration
Each player on the preseason watch list has been named by at least two publications as candidates for All-America or All-Conference honors. Hood is one of 40 candidates on the preseason list.
In 1999, Hood started all 11 games and was named Carolina's Co-Defensive MVP. He finished the season with 58 tackles, 11 pass breakups and five interceptions.
Dre' Bly, a three-time All-America cornerback from 1996-98, was a finalist for the Thorpe Award as a freshman in 1996.
Heels Look to Restore Kenan Advantage
* This is the seventh straight year the Tar Heels have opened the season at Kenan Stadium. Carolina has opened with road games just three times in Carl Torbush's 13 years with the Tar Heels (1988 at South Carolina, 1992 at Wake Forest and 1993 at Southern California). In season openers at Kenan Stadium, the Tar Heels are 40-15-3.
Crumpler a Preseason All-America
* Crumpler is rated the No. 1 tight end in America by National Football Scouting, Inc.
* Entering today's game, Crumpler has 45 career receptions and four touchdowns. Arnold Franklin, who played for UNC from 1982-85, is the all-time 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. This year, Crumpler and Finger are writing a season-long diary, posted exclusively on TarHeelBlue.com.
Depth Chart Notes
* Of the 50 players, there are 15 seniors, 12 juniors, 14 sophomores, seven red-shirt freshmen and two true freshmen.
* Nine seniors (not including place-kicker Jeff Reed and deep snapper Jason Beamon) enter the game as starters. The four senior starters on offense are left tackle Louis Marchetti, left guard Cam Holland, right tackle James Wagstaff and tight end Alge Crumpler. The five senior starters on defense are end Ross McAllister, linebacker Sedrick Hodge, linebacker Brandon Spoon, linebacker Merceda Perry and safety David Bomar.
Curry's Return
* Curry was lost for the season last year when he ruptured an Achilles' tendon as he attempted to step out of a tackle early in the second quarter of Carolina's game at Georgia Tech.
* Curry will be making his 10th career start on Saturday and will be playing in his 17th game overall. He has rushed 140 times for 645 career yards and four touchdowns. He has completed 120 of 257 passes (.467) for 1,657 yards and has nine touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
True Freshmen
1989 12 TE Ethan Albright, CB Cliff Baskerville, WR Bucky
Brooks, QB Chuckie Burnette, WR Randall Felton,
WR Corey Holliday, S Rondell Jones, S Cookie
Massey, LB Jonathan Perry, WR Julius Reese, CB
Thomas Smith, LB Tommy Thigpen
1990 7 LB Bernardo Harris, LB Ray Jacobs, FB Malcolm
Marshall, TB Natrone Means, DT Riddick Parker, LB
Michael Payne, TB Michael Watkins
1991 4 TE Greg DeLong, QB Jason Stanicek, TE Oscar Sturgis,
QB Mike Thomas
1992 2 DT Marcus Jones, WR Marcus Wall
1993 0
1994 3 DT Vonnie Holliday, CB Reggie Love, KR Greg Williams
1995 5 WR Na Brown, TE Ebenezer Ekuban, LB Keith
Newman, DE Teto Simpson, CB Robert Wiliams
1996 4 TE Alge Crumpler, FB Deon Dyer, PK Brian Schmitz,
LB Brandon Spoon
1997 4 KR Tyrell Godwin, LB Sedrick Hodge, LB Merceda
Perry, TB Domonique Williams
1998 4 WR Bosley Allen, QB Ronald Curry, C Adam Metts,
DT Ryan Sims
1999 5 WR Sam Aiken, CB Kevin Knight, TB Daniel Davis,
DT Jeb Terry, DE Malcolm Stewart
Leadership Committee
* The 2000 Leadership Committee includes: WR Kory Bailey, DS Jason Beamon, QB Antwon Black, S David Bomar, TE Alge Crumpler, QB Ronald Curry, TE Dauntae' Finger, S Billy-Dee Greenwood, DS Jason Helton, OT Louis Marchetti, DE Ross McAllister, FB Ronnie Robinson, DT Ryan Sims, LB Brandon Spoon, DE Malcolm Stewart.
NFL Tar Heels
Carolina...
* is the only ACC school to have at least one player selected in every NFL Draft since 1971.
* has had 19 players selected in the NFL Draft over the past four seasons.
* has posted a winning record in nine of the last 10 seasons.
* has the only three-time first-team All-America in ACC football history - cornerback Dre' Bly (1996-97-98).
* has had five first-team All-Americas in the last five years.
Site: Kenan Memorial Stadium (capacity: 60,000, natural grass) in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Series Record vs. Tulsa: First meeting
Tickets: Single-game tickets are available by calling the UNC Ticket Office at 1-800-722-HEEL or 919-219-2296. Season tickets will be available until after the first game.
TV: None
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. The networks' flagship station is WCHL, 1360-AM, in Chapel Hill. A live broadcast also is available on the University of North Carolina's official athletic website, TarHeelBlue.com
Websites: North Carolina (www.TarHeelBlue.com), Tulsa (www.tulsahurricane.com)
Carolina opens the 2000 campaign on Saturday, Sept. 2, against Tulsa at Kenan Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Saturday's contest will be the season opener for both squads. The game will not be televised, but will be broadcast on the Tar Heel Sports Network.
* Tulsa is a newcomer to Kenan Stadium as the two teams have never faced each other. In fact, tonight's game against Tulsa is Carolina's first against an Oklahoma-based school since the Oklahoma Sooners paid a visit in 1988.
Linebacker Brandon Spoon has been named to the 2000 Butkus Award Watch List for the fourth consecutive season, a feat never before accomplished in the 16-year history of the award.
Junior cornerback Errol Hood has been named to the 2000 Jim Thorpe Preseason Watch List. The Jim Thorpe Award is presented annually (since 1986) to the best defensive back in college football.
* Carolina is 74-31-4 in season-opening games. However, the Tar Heels have lost each of the last two openers, including a 13-10 loss against Miami (Ohio) in 1998 and a 20-17 loss to Virginia in 1999. Both of those games were at home. Still, Carolina has won 23 of its last 30 season openers and has not lost the first game of a new decade since 1960.
* 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.
* Fifty (50) players are listed on the positional depth chart heading into the Tulsa game (special teams not included).
* Quarterback Ronald Curry will start against Tulsa for the Tar Heels for the first time since injuring his Achilles' tendon in the fifth game of the 1999 season. Curry has practiced at full speed throughout the preseason and has looked sharp in three preseason scrimmages. One of the most exciting players in college football, Curry has the ability to make a big play happen at any moment.
* The Tar Heels have played 57 scholarship true freshmen in the 12 years Carl Torbush has been on the coaching staff (beginning in 1988). That is an average of 4.8 per season. Here is a year-by-year breakdown of scholarship true freshmen who played in at least one game.
1988 7 WR Eric Blount,QB Todd Burnett, LB Karekin
Cunningham, LB Eric Gash, PK Hamp Greene, PK
Clint Gwaltney, DT Rickie Shaw.
* Head Coach Carl Torbush announced a 15-player Leadership Committee that will serve as captains for the 2000 season. Game captains will be selected from this group for each week's games and permanent team captains will be selected at the conclusion of the season.
* Thirty former Tar Heels are on official NFL rosters as of August 28, 2000. The list includes: Ethan Albright (Buffalo), Tommy Barnhardt (Washington), Dre' Bly (St. Louis), Na Brown (Philadelphia), Russell Davis (Arizona), Kevin Donnalley (Miami), Deon Dyer (Miami), Ebenezer Ekuban (Dallas), Greg Ellis (Dallas), Bernardo Harris (Green Bay), William Henderson (Green Bay), Jimmy Hitchcock (Carolina), Nate Hobgood-Chittick (St. Louis), Vonnie Holliday (Green Bay), Dwight Hollier (Indianapolis), Marcus Jones (Tampa Bay), Freddie Jones (San Diego), Randy Jordan (Oakland), Jonathan Linton (Buffalo), Eddie Mason (Washington), Natrone Means (Carolina), Mike Morton (Oakland), Keith Newman (Buffalo), Riddick Parker (Seattle), Mike Pringley (Detroit), Austin Robbins (Oakland), Jeff Saturday (Indianapolis), Brian Simmons (Cincinnati), Thomas Smith (Chicago), Bracey Walker (Kansas City).
* has played in a postseason bowl game in seven of the last eight seasons.
Players Mentioned
