Carolina-Virginia Football Game Notes

Oct. 9, 2001

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VIRGINIA
at
NORTH CAROLINA

Date: Saturday, October 13, 2001
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Site: Kenan Stadium (60,000, grass)
Series Record: North Carolina leads, 55-46-4
Last Meeting: Virginia 17, North Carolina 6 on Oct. 28, 2000, in Charlottesville, Va.
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 (TarHeelBlue.com), Virginia (virginiasports.com)
Injuries: SS DeFonte Coleman, dislocated left shoulder, is out for the season.

Carolina Seeks Fourth Straight Win
After evening its overall record last weekend with a 24-21 victory over ECU, North Carolina (3-3, 2-1 ACC) welcomes Virginia (3-2, 2-1) to Kenan Stadium as the Tar Heels seek their first four-game winning streak since the 1997 season. The non-televised contest will kickoff at 1:30 p.m. Carolina and Virginia are currently tied for second place in the ACC standings.

The game features a matchup of first-year head coaches who both left coaching jobs in the NFL to return to their respective alma maters. John Bunting, a 1972 Carolina graduate, spent eight seasons as an NFL assistant before he was named North Carolina's head coach on Dec. 11, 2000. Virginia head coach Al Groh was the New York Jets head coach last season before resigning to take the Cavaliers' job.

After starting the season with consecutive losses to defending national champion Oklahoma, Maryland and Texas, Carolina has put together a three-game win streak with victories vs. Florida State, at NC State and vs. ECU. All three teams Carolina has defeated this year appeared in a bowl game last season. It is the first time Carolina has ever won three consecutive games over schools that appeared in bowl games the previous year.

Carolina's offense is averaging 353.3 total yards per game and 27.3 points per game during its three-game win streak, which is nearly 100 yards per game more than the Tar Heels averaged in the first three games of the season. During the season-opening three-game losing skid, Carolina averaged just 259 yards and 16 points per contest. UNC had over 400 yards of offense in the win over ECU for the first time since gaining 465 yards in a 59-21 win over Duke last season.

The Tar Heels lead the ACC and are 20th in the nation in total defense allowing just 290.5 yards per game. Carolina's is first in the league in pass efficiency defense, second in pass defense (yards per game), first in opponents third-down conversions and second in sacks.

Virginia is coming off a 41-21 loss at Maryland, which ended a three-game winning streak. It was UVa's first ACC loss of the season.

Carolina - Virginia Series Notes

The Tar Heels and Cavaliers are meeting for the 106th time in the South's oldest rivalry, a series which began in 1892. The series is the ACC's oldest and tied for the fifth-longest in NCAA history. The two schools have met every year since 1919.

Carolina leads the series, 55-46-4, but Virginia has won the last three meetings, including a 20-17 victory in Chapel Hill in 1999. Virginia's three-game winning streak is the longest by either team in the series since the Cavaliers won five straight between 1987-91.

Virginia's 20-17 victory in 1999 came on a late field goal in the fourth quarter, ending a streak that saw the home team win eight consecutive games. Virginia has not won two in a row in Chapel Hill since 1988 and 1990.

Carolina's last win in the series was a 48-20 victory in 1997 in Chapel Hill.

Carolina-Virginia Connections

Carolina defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta was a three-year starter at Virginia from 1979-81 and was the team MVP as a senior.

Carolina offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill and running backs coach Andre' Powell both coached at Virginia as members of George Welsh's coaching staff last season. Tranquill has spent two different coaching stints with the Cavaliers. He was Virginia's quarterback coach from 1987-90 and helped develop some of the best passers in conference history, including All-ACC selections Scott Secules, Shawn Moore and Matt Blundin. Tranquill helped coach the Cavaliers to a No. 1 ranking during the 1990 season - Virginia's highest ever ranking. He returned to Charlottesville as the offensive coordinator for the 1999 and 2000 seasons. efore coming to Chapel Hill, Powell spent the previous five seasons coaching wide receivers and running backs at UVa. He coached running backs during his first season in 1996, then tutored the wide receivers for three years before returning to teach the running backs in 2000.

Corey Holliday, Carolina's Director of Development for Football Student-Athletes and a former Tar Heel standout, is a native of Richmond, Va. Holliday is Carolina's career leader in receiving yardage.

Many of Carolina's greatest football players have hailed from the state of Virginia. A short list includes NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor (Williamsburg), two-time ACC Player of the Year Mike Voight (Chesapeake), two-time All-America William Fuller (Chesapeake), bruising halfback Ken Willard (Richmond), All-America offensive guard Ron Rusnak (Prince George), record-setting wide receiver Corey Holliday (Richmond), linebacker Dwight Hollier (Hampton), four-time 1,000-yard back Amos Lawrence (Norfolk), three-time first-team All-America cornerback Dre' Bly (Chesapeake) and current record-setting quarterback Ronald Curry (Chesapeake).

Virginia head coach Al Groh was the linebackers coach at UNC under Bill Dooley from 1973-77.

Carolina Comebacks Continue
Carolina has come from behind to win in two of the last three games. The Tar Heels trailed Florida State, 9-7, at halftime and were losing to ECU, 10-7, at intermission last week. But then again, the Tar Heels have been coming back all season, starting the year 0-3 before reeling off three consecutive wins to even its record at 3-3. The last time Carolina began the year 0-3 was in 1998. That year, Carolina won seven of its last nine, including a 20-13 win in the Las Vegas Bowl, to finish the season with a 7-5 record in Carl Torbush's first season as head coach.

Carolina's Schedule Ranked As Nation's Second-Most Difficult
North Carolina's schedule, which features eight bowl teams and six teams ranked in the top 25, is ranked as the nation's second-most difficult in the latest Sagarin rankings, trailing only Oregon State. The Sagarin schedule ratings represent the average schedule difficulty faced by each team in the games that it has played so far. The Tar Heels' first five opponents have a combined record of 20-3. Two of those three losses are Carolina's two wins over FSU and NC State. East Carolina (2-3 overall) is the only team with a losing record that the Tar Heels have faced.

Durant Earns Third Consecutive Rookie Of The Week Award
Redshirt freshman quarterback Darian Durant was named the ACC's Rookie of the Week for the third consecutive time this week. He was 11 of 17 for 151 yards and tossed two touchdown passes in Carolina's 24-21 victory over ECU. The Florence, S.C., native also won the award after his performance against Florida State and NC State.

Durant Tied For ACC Lead In Touchdown Passes, Sets UNC Freshman Record
Durant is tied with Georgia Tech's George Godsey for the ACC lead in touchdown passes with eight. Durant has thrown for at least two touchdowns in three straight games. He also had two TD passes at Oklahoma. Durant's eight touchdown passes are a Carolina freshman record. Ronald Curry held the previous record with six in 1998. Against ECU, Durant was 11 of 17 for 151 yards, tossed two touchdown passes and did not throw an interception. He led Carolina on a season-long 89-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter that ended with a 29-yard scoring toss to Chesley Borders. In the fourth quarter, Durant capped a 68-yard drive with a 21-yard scoring strike to Sam Aiken.

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 on Sept. 29. He was 10 of 14 for 128 yards and tossed two touchdown passes.

Durant is second nationally among all freshmen with eight TD passes, trailing only Miami (OH) QB Ben Roethlisberger who has nine. He is ranked 36th nationally with a pass efficiency rating of 133.36.

Curry Establishes UNC Career Total Offense Record
Quarterback Ronald Curry became the Tar Heels' career total offense leader in Carolina's 24-21 win over East Carolina. Curry threw for a season-high 127 yards and rushed for a season-high 40 yards against the Pirates. He finished the game with 5,521 career total offense yards, surpassing Jason Stanicek's 5,497 yards from 1991-94.

Carolina Keeps Rolling With ECU Win

Ronald Curry became the school's all-time leading career total offense leader and Darian Durant threw two touchdowns as Carolina defeated ECU, 24-21, in the first meeting between the two schools since 1981.

In addition to the total offense record, Curry moved into second place all-time at Carolina in passing yards. He had 127 yards passing against ECU and now has 4,464 career passing yards. He is 219 yards behind career-leader Jason Stanicek (4,683). Curry also moved into second place all-time among UNC quarterbacks with 1,057 yards rushing. He is 103 yards behind career QB rushing leader Jim Lalanne (1,160)

Carolina wore blue jerseys and blue pants together for the first time since a 27-20 loss vs. NC State on Sept. 26, 1992. The Tar Heels typically wear blue tops and white pants at home and all white on the road.

Carolina's 89-yard second-quarter touchdown drive was its longest scoring drive of the season. The previous longest drive was 86 yards against Oklahoma. Both drives have been led by quarterback Darian Durant.

Carolina was 12 of 19 in third down conversions against ECU. The last time Carolina had at least 12 third down conversions was against Duke on Nov. 22, 1997. The Tar Heels were 12 of 20 against the Blue Devils that day.

Carolina completed 63 percent (12 of 19) of its third down opportunities against ECU. That is the highest percentage for UNC since completing 69 percent (9 of 13) against Indiana on Sept. 11, 1999.

Carolina ran 80 plays against East Carolina, the most since running 88 at Virginia last year.

Place-kicker Jeff Reed booted a career-long 49-yard field goal that proved to be the winning margin in the 24-21 victory. The field goal ties for the ninth-longest in UNC history. Reed's previous best was 48 yards vs. Marshall last season.

True freshman Jason Brown made his first career start. He started at right tackle ahead of Willie McNeill.

Chesley Borders had six catches for 83 yards, both career highs, and caught a 29-yard touchdown in the second quarter. He is tied for the team lead with three touchdown receptions.

To access the UNC-Virginia game notes in their entirety, please download them in the convenient PDF Format.
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Players Mentioned

Chelsey Borders

DeFonte Coleman

Darian Durant

Willie McNeill

Jeff Reed

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