TarHeelBlue Game Day 2000 Page -- Wake Forest Recap Edition

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Julius Peppers returned a fumble 12 yards for a touchdown and Bosley Allen had two long scoring plays in the fourth quarter to help seal North Carolina's 35-14 victory over Wake Forest on Saturday night.

The Tar Heels (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) limited the Demon Deacons to 162 total yards, including minus 2 yards rushing in winning their sixth straight at Groves Stadium.

Wake Forest is off to an 0-2 start for the first time since 1995, allowing 25 unanswered points in the second half.

Peppers, a 6-foot-6 defensive end who also helped North Carolina to the Final Four in basketball, teamed with linebacker Sedrick Hodge on a play that turned the game around early in the third quarter.

North Carolina trailed 14-10, but Hodge stripped Jamie Scott of the ball in the backfield and Peppers scooped it up and raced untouched into the end zone with 11:13 left in the third quarter.

Wake Forest could do little after that offensively as C.J. Leak was sacked eight times.

Jeff Reed's second field goal of the game, a 37-yarder late in the third quarter, gave North Carolina some breathing room at 20-14 before Allen's 78-yard punt return with 9:55 left sealed it.

Allen had seven returns on the night for 153 yards. The Tar Heels managed just 85 total yards on punt returns in 11 games a year ago - last in the NCAA.

Allen added a 60-yard touchdown reception 3 1/2 minutes later to close out the scoring.

Wake Forest drove 88 yards on its second series as some poor tackling by the Tar Heels allowed a 43-yard completion from Leak to Fabian Davis and an 18-yard run by Scott. Those two plays set up a 2-yard score by Leak.

But North Carolina's defense took over from there as the Demon Deacons were limited to minus 24 yards on their next three series.

That allowed the Tar Heels to get a 44-yard field goal from Reed and a 46-yard scoring pass from Ronald Curry to Sam Aiken to take a 10-7 lead midway through the second quarter.

Before Curry's bomb, the Tar Heels had managed just 33 yards on 23 plays against a defense that allowed 382 yards in a season-opening loss to Division I-AA Appalachian State.

The Demon Deacons regained the lead late in the second quarter on a great individual defensive play by Bryan Ray after a punt was downed at the North Carolina 1.

Curry went back to pass in the end zone on second down, but Ray smacked Curry's arm, forcing him to lose the ball. The senior defensive end was there to fall on it and the Demon Deacons took a 14-10 lead into halftime.

PRE-GAME NOTES

North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Date: Saturday, September 9, 2000, at 6:30 p.m. ET
Site: Groves Stadium (capacity: 31,500, natural grass) in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Series Record vs. Wake Forest: 64-30-2
Tickets: Tickets are available by calling the UNC Ticket Office at 1-800-722-HEEL or 919-219-2296.
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. A live broadcast also is available on the University of North Carolina's official athletic website, TarHeelBlue.com
Websites: North Carolina (www.TarHeelBlue.com), Wake Forest (www.wakeforestsports.com)
Injuries: Danny Davis (Achilles tendonitis), probable, Marcus Jones (knee tendonitis), probable, Clay Roberson (shoulder), questionable.

Tar Heels Open ACC Season at Wake Forest
After opening the season with a 30-9 win over Tulsa on Sept. 2, the Tar Heels head to Winston-Salem on Saturday, Sept. 9 to kick off the ACC season vs. Wake Forest. Carolina is seeking its first 2-0 start since the 1997 season when the Tar Heels started the year with eight consecutive victories. The non-televised game will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Groves Stadium and can be heard on the Tar Heel Sports Network.

Head Coach Carl Torbush, 12-13 in three years at UNC, can even his coaching record with a win over the Deacons. Wake Forest is coming off a season-opening 20-16 loss to Appalachian State on Thursday, August 31. The Deacons have not started the season 0-2 since 1995. In ACC openers, Carolina is 21-26. The Tar Heels have not started the ACC season well in the last two years, dropping a 43-21 decision to Georgia Tech in 1998 and a 20-17 loss to Virginia in 1999.

North Carolina, Wake Forest Series Notes
* North Carolina and Wake Forest will meet for the 97th time on Saturday, continuing the ACC's second-longest rivalry. Only North Carolina and Virginia (104 times) have met on more occasions that the Tar Heels and Deacons. Carolina leads the series with Wake Forest, 64-30-2 and has won nine of the last 10 contests. However, Wake Forest won the most recent meeting - a 19-3 victory in Chapel Hill last season.

* Carolina has more wins against Wake Forest (64), than it does against any other ACC opponent. UNC has 59 wins over NC State.

* In road games against Wake Forest, the Tar Heels hold an 18-11-0 advantage. Carolina has won five in a row at Groves Stadium. The average margin of victory in those five games was 24.2 points. The last time Carolina lost in Winston-Salem was a 42-24 decision in 1988.

* Carolina has not opened the ACC season against Wake Forest since 1992. In fact, Carolina has opened the conference season against the Deacons just five times and is 3-2 in those games. Carolina earned wins in 1974, 1977 and 1992 and lost in 1979 and 1988.

* Last year Carolina scored just three points against Wake Forest. However, in seven of the last eight games against the Deacs, Carolina has scored at least 30 points.

* Wide Receivers Coach Gunter Brewer was a two-year letterwinner at Wake Forest at wide receiver. Brewer then served two years on the Deacons coaching staff under head coaches Al Groh and ill Dooley.

Curry Dazzles in Return
* Quarterback Ronald Curry was spectacular in his return from last year's Achilles tendon injury, gaining 261 yards of total offense. That figure ties for the 46th-best single-game performance at Carolina. It was Curry's third-highest total offense total at UNC. He had 370 yards vs. Stanford in 1998 and 286 vs. Indiana in 1999.

* Curry was 12 of 22 for 192 yards passing and had a team-high 69 yards rushing. It is the sixth time in 17 games that Curry has led the Tar Heels in rushing. The 69 yards were Curry's highest rushing total since the Las Vegas Bowl when he had 10 carries for 93 yards.

* Curry lead 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. It was the second-longest touchdown throw in Curry's career and his 10th career touchdown pass.

* Curry will be making his 11th career start on Saturday and will be playing in his 18th game overall. He has rushed 152 times for 714 career yards and four touchdowns. He has completed 132 of 279 passes (.473) for 1,849 yards and has 10 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.

Parker Puts Up Points
* In his first career college game, red-shirt freshman Willie Parker scored two rushing touchdowns against Tulsa. He finished with 10 carries for 17 yards. Parker scored from one yard out with 3:03 remaining in the first quarter to give Carolina a 7-3 lead. He scored his second touchdown of the game in the third quarter with a 3-yard run that gave UNC a 24-3 lead.

* The last Carolina freshman to rush for two touchdowns in a game was Leon Johnson against Ohio in 1993 (Sept. 4).

UNC Defense Dominates in First Game
* Carolina allowed just 233 total yards of offense, including a 78-yard touchdown pass on which the UNC defender slipped down because of the wet turf. Take away that completiton and the Tar Heels allowed just 155 total yards.

* Tulsa's touchdown was the first allowed by a Carolina defense in 14 quarters (dating back to the 1999 game vs. Wake Forest). In the last three games (12 quarters), Carolina opponents are averaging just 5.0 points per game (NC State had six in 1999, Duke had none in 1999 and Tulsa had 9).

* The Tar Heels were outstanding against the run, allowing just 19 yards rushing on 27 attempts, an average of just 0.7 per carry. The 19 yards rushing were the fewest allowed by a Carolina defense since Louisville gained just one yard on Nov. 9, 1996, a span of 39 games.

* Tulsa completed just 2 of 15 (13 percent) third down conversions and drove the ball into Carolina's side of the field just three times. Safety Billy-Dee Greenwood led Carolina with 14 tackles, linebacker Brandon Spoon had 11 and Ryan Sims had seven, including a sack and a tackle for loss.

Offense Clicking
* Carolina scored 30 points in a season opener for the first time since a 45-0 victory over Clemson on Aug. 31, 1996.

* The Tar Heels have scored 30 points in back-to-back games for the first time since wins over TCU and Wake Forest in 1997. Carolina beat TCU, 31-10, and Wake Forest, 30-12.

* Carolina had four receivers catch at least three passes against Tulsa on Saturday. The last time the Tar Heels accomplised that feat was against Duke in 1997.

Miscellaneous Notes From the Tulsa Game
* The Tulsa game was delayed for 13 minutes due to lightning in the area.

* Carolina fell behind 3-0 after a Chris Earnest field goal in the first quarter. After a Willie Parker 1-yard touchdown, the Tar Heels never lost the lead and won convincingly, 30-9.

* Several firsts were recorded in the game. Red-shirt receiver Jamal Jones made his first career catch one to remember with a 55-yard touchdown reception from Ronald Curry. He finished his first career collegiate contest with three catches for 85 yards.

* Place-kickers Jeff Reed and Chris Bender recorded their first career field goals. Reed connected on attempts from 30 and 39 yards, but missed on a 47 yard attempt. Bender made a 28-yarder in the fourth quarter.

* Blake Ferguson's first career punt went for 51 yards.

* For the first time since the Clemson game in 1997, a Carolina opponent punted 10 times. Tulsa had 10 punts for an average of 36.2 yards.

* The 78-yard touchdown pass from Josh Blankenship to Corey Brown was the longest touchdown pass in Kenan Stadium history.

True Freshmen
* 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.

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

2000 3 TB Brandon Russell, TB Andre' Williams, P Blake Ferguson

Fourth Time The Charm?
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. 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 252 career tackles, including 18.5 for losses and 8.5 quarterback sacks.

Hood Earns Thorpe Consideration
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.

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
* Carolina is 233-138-16 in 74 years of competition at Kenan Stadium. Carolina was 44-16-1 at Kenan Stadium in 1990s, the best winning percentage (.730) of any decade.

* The Tar Heels have won two in a row at Kenan, including a 38-0 victory against Duke in the 1999 season finale. In the last two games at Kenan, Carolina has outscored its opponents 68-9.

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 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
* Fifty (50) players are listed on the positional depth chart heading into the Wake Forest game (special teams not included).

* 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.

Leadership Committee
* 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.

* 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.