UNC-ECU Football Game Notes

Oct. 2, 2001

UNC-East Carolina Game Notes (PDF Format)
Download Free Acrobat Reader

EAST CAROLINA
at
NORTH CAROLINA

Date: Saturday, October 6, 2001
Time: 3:35 p.m.
Site: Kenan Stadium (60,000, grass)
Series Record: North Carolina leads, 6-1-1
Last Meeting: North Carolina 56, ECU 0 on Sept. 12, 1981, in Chapel Hill
TV: WITN (Greenville)
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), East Carolina (ecupirates.com)
Injuries: TBA

TAR HEELS SEEK FIRST NON-CONFERENCE WIN
Two weeks after earning its first win of the season and one week after winning its first road game of the year, Carolina seeks its first non-conference victory this season vs. East Carolina at Kenan Stadium on Saturday, October 6, at 3:35 p.m. Carolina (2-3, 2-1 ACC) is coming off back-to-back victories over Florida State and NC State and will be looking for its first three-game winning streak since ending the 2000 season with three straight wins.

Last week, Carolina defeated NC State, 17-9, in Raleigh, holding the Wolfpack to just 52 yards rushing. It is the second straight week Carolina has held its opponents to just nine points. The nine points were NC State's fewest since a 23-6 loss to ECU in 1999. Florida State was held to just nine points for only the fifth time in 235 games dating back to 1981. The last time Carolina held three straight opponents under 10 points was in 1982 when the Tar Heels accomplished the feat in four consecutive games.

The Tar Heels lead the ACC and are 20th in the nation in total defense allowing just 288.8 yards per game. Carolina's rush defense is second in the ACC and the pass defense is third. Carolina's schedule, which features eight bowl teams and six teams ranked in the top 25, is is the most difficult in the nation according to the weekly Sagarin rankings. The Tar Heels' first five opponents have a combined record of 17-2. The only two losses are Carolina's two wins over FSU and NC State. The Sagarin schedule ratings represent the average schedule difficulty faced by each team in the games that it has played so far.

East Carolina (2-2, 1-0 Conference USA) is coming off a 44-30 loss at Syracuse. The Pirates' offense is averaging 436.0 yards per game and has scored at least 30 points in three of its four games.

DON MCCAULEY AND THE BILL DOOLEY ERA HONORED ON SATURDAY
Carolina will honor the Bill Dooley Era (1967-77) and recognize former tailback Don McCauley for his recent selection to the College Football Hall of Fame at the ECU game. Dooley coached for 11 years at North Carolina - more than any other head coach - and is tied for second all-time with 69 victories. Dooley revitalized the program in the early 1970s, capturing ACC titles in 1971 and 1972. Current Carolina head coach John Bunting played for Dooley and was a member of the 1971 ACC championship team.

McCauley will become the seventh former Tar Heel to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame later this year. McCauley rushed for 3,172 and 29 touchdowns from 1968-70, including a then-record 1,720 yards as a senior.

CAROLINA-EAST CAROLINA SERIES NOTES

Carolina and East Carolina will be meeting for the first time since 1981 and just the ninth time overall. Carolina owns a 6-1-1 advantage in the series which began in 1972. All eight meetings came during a 10-year stretch from 1972 through 1981 in which the Tar Heels and Pirates met every year except 1974 and 1977. All eight previous meetings have been played at Kenan Stadium. Carolina's only loss came in 38-17 defeat in 1975. In 1979, the two teams tied at 24. In the two most recent meetings, Carolina scored a 31-3 win in 1980 and a 56-0 win in 1981.

In 2003, North Carolina will play the Pirates in Greenville for the first time ever. Recently, the athletic directors at the respective schools agreed to play again in 2010 and 2011.

Five members of Carolina's football staff, including assistant head coach and defensive ends coach James Webster, special teams coordinator and linebackers coach Dave Huxtable, defensive tackles coach Rod Broadway, strength & conditioning coordinator Jeff Connors and graduate assistant strength coach Jeff Kerr all have ties to East Carolina. Webster spent the previous six years at ECU as the Pirates' linebackers and defensive line coach. He was promoted to assistant head coach in 1999. Connors spent 10 years at ECU before joining the Tar Heel staff this season as the Coordinator of Student-Athlete Development. Huxtable worked with the Pirates' inside linebackers and defensive line in 1998 and 1999. Broadway was on the ECU staff from 1979-80. Kerr was a standout linebacker at ECU from 1995-99, earning all-conference honors three times.

The last time Carolina and ECU played was in 1981 when Kelvin Bryant scored six times and Carolina cruised to a 56-0 victory in the season opener. Bryant's six touchdowns are still a UNC single-game record.

SCHEDULE RANKED AS NATION'S MOST DIFFICULT
North Carolina's schedule is ranked as the nation's most difficult in the latest Sagarin rankings, followed by Notre Dame, California, Penn State and Southern California. The Sagarin schedule ratings represent the average schedule difficulty faced by each team in the games that it has played so far. Carolina's 2001 opponents in the Sagarin rankings are No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 24 Maryland, No. 9 Texas, No. 16 Florida State and No. 56 NC State. Carolina's schedule is the hardest in the ACC, followed by Duke (No. 12), Wake Forest (35), Florida State (43), Virginia (58), NC State (75), Clemson (76), Maryland (86) and Georgia Tech (100).

AGAINST IN-STATE OPPONENTS
Carolina has won 35 of 39 games against in-state rivals Wake Forest, Duke, NC State and ECU. The Tar Heels have an 11-game winning streak over the Blue Devils, have won 10 of the last 11 matchups against the Deacons, have won eight of nine against the Wolfpack and have won six of eight against East Carolina. Carolina is 225-94-17 all-time against in-state opponents.

DURANT NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK AGAIN
Quarterback Darian Durant was named the ACC's Rookie of the Week for the second consecutive week after helping lead the Tar Heels to a 17-9 victory over NC State. Durant was 10 of 14 for 128 yards and tossed two touchdown passes. Durant is fifth nationally among all freshmen with 539 yards passing and is second nationally among all freshmen with six TD passes.

CAROLINA CONTINUES WINNING WAYS AGAINST NC STATE

Carolina won for the eighth time in nine previous meetings with NC State, beating the Wolfpack in Carter-Finley Stadium, 17-9. Carolina won its fourth-straight against NC State at Carter-Finley. The last time NC State beat Carolina in Raleigh was in 1991. Carolina won in 1993, 1995 and 1997. The 1998 and 1999 games were played in Charlotte.

Kory Bailey caught two touchdown passes for the first time in his career. In the first quarter, he gave Carolina a 7-0 lead by making a spectacular catch in the near corner of the end zone and sideline. In the fourth quarter, Bailey caught a 19-yard pass to give Carolina 17-6 lead.

Quarterback Darian Durant was 10 of 14 for 128 yards and two touchdowns. It was the third time he has thrown for two touchdowns in a game. He also had two TD passes at Oklahoma and vs. Florida State. It was also the third time he has completed at least 10 passes in a game. He was 12 of 26 at Oklahoma and 10 of 14 vs. Maryland.

Carolina held NC State to 52 yards rushing, the fewest against UNC's defense this season.

To access the UNC-East Carolina game notes in their entirety, please download them in the convenient PDF Format.
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Kory Bailey

Darian Durant

Related Videos