University of North Carolina Athletics
On This Date With The Tar Heels...
September 12, 2001 | General
September 10, 1983: Memphis State Dominated By Ground Game, Defense
MEMPHIS, Tenn.--North Carolina got 137 yards rushing from Ethan Horton, while its defense was holding Memphis State to just 105 total yards in a 24-10 victory over the Tigers at Kenan Stadium
Horton, a 6-4, 220-pound junior tailback from Kannapolis, N.C., finished with 23 carries and touchdown runs of two and 22 yards. His first TD and a 25-yard field goal by Brooks Barwick gave the Tar Heels a 10-0 with 13:09 to go in the first half.
But, on its only sustained drive of the game, Memphis State marched 80 yards to score on a six-yard pass from Danny Sparkman to Smokey Jordan. Moments later a Carolina fumble set up the Tigers at the UNC 12-yard line. But, the Tar Heel defense forced Memphis State to settle for a field goal and a 10-10 tie at the half.
Carolina's defense limited the visitors to just 27 total yards in the last two quarters. At the same time, Horton was pounding the Tiger defense for 110 of his 137 rushing yards. Defensive standouts included linebackers Micah Moon, Butch Griffin and Bill Sheppard, defensive tackles William Fuller and Brian Johnston, nose guard Ronnie Snipes and strong safety Willie Harris.
"Our offense just couldn't get untracked," said MSU Coach Rex Dockery. "In fact, we couldn't even get any offensive snaps. That, that's a credit to the Carolina defense. They simply whipped us with their defense."
The Tigers were held to just five first downs and only 47 offensive plays. The Tar Heels ran off 94 plays for 416 yards and 29 first downs. Carolina outgained the Tigers, 276-39, on the ground.
Both Dockey and Tar Heel Coach Dick Crum agreed the game's key play actually came in the kicking game. A 43-yard punt by Tommy Barnhardt pinned Memphis State on its own 16-yard line. With Fuller, Moon and Harris making defensive stops, the Tigers were forced to punt.
Stan Weaver got off a 52-yard kick. Walter Black fielded it on his own 27, found a crease in the coverage and raced down the right sideline. With blockers in front to knock off defenders at the 35, Black followed a final block by Bobby Ratliff to finish a 73-yard return untouched for the go-ahead score.
An11-yard return by Black set up the Tar Heels on their next possession at their own 45. Horton carried seven straight times and finished the 55-yard drive by cutting off the left side from 22 yards out for a 24-10 lead.
Fullback Eddie Colson added 63 yards rushing and tailback Tyrone Anthony had 53. Quarterback Scott Stankavage completed 15 of 24 passes for 141 yards.
September 9, 2000: Curry and Allen Make Big Plays in Win at Wake Forest
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.-- Ronald Curry threw 48 yards touchdown to Sam Aiken for one touchdown and then added a 60-yard scoring pass to Bosley Allen as North Carolina topped Wake Forest, 35-14, at Groves Stadium.
Allen also had an electrifying 78-yard punt return and the Carolina got a sensational pass rush in winning its second straight game of the season.
However, this victory did not come as easily as the score might indicate. The Deacons led at halftime, 14-10. The Wake Forest touchdowns came on a run by quarterback C.J. Leak and a fumble recovery in the end zone by defensive end Bryan Ray.
The Tar Heels countered with 10 points in the second quarter on a 44-yard field goal by Jeff Reed and Aiken's 46-yard TD catch on a deep post pattern.
With the Carolina defense dominating the line of scrimmage, the Tar Heels took complete command of the game in the third period.
On Wake's first series of the second half, linebacker Sedrick Hodge forced a fumble and end Julius Peppers returned it 12 yards for the go-ahead score. Reed added a 37-yard field goal in the quarter's closing seconds.
Then Allen took over. Taking a punt on his own 22-yard line, he got an initial block from David Scott and broke down the right sideline. He was seemingly stopped four times, but somehow continued to spin away from tacklers to complete a 78-yard touchdown return.
Just over three minutes later Curry rolled to his left and found Allen behind the Deacon secondary for the game's final points.
It was an incredible night for Allen who had missed the entire 1999 season with a knee injury suffered in the 1998 season finale against N.C. State. In addition to his 60-yard scoring catch, he also had a 55-yard reception.
Curry completed seven of 13 passes for 194 yards.
Carolina's defense, meanwhile, sacked Leak 10 times and had two other tackles for losses. Because of those plays, the Deacons had minus two yards rushing on 40 carries. Joey Evans had three tackles behind the line of scrimmage, while Peppers, Hodge, Ryan Sims and Ross McAllister had two each.
September 8, 1989: Volleyball Team Rallies Past Mountaineers
CHAPEL HILL--North Carolina's volleyball team rallied from a two-games to one deficit to defeat Appalachian State in the opening round of the Carolina Classic at Fetzer Gymnasium.
The Tar Heels swept past the Mountaineers in the opening game, 15-3. But, Appalachian State came back to take a pair of tight games, 15-12 and 15-11.
Carolina then jumped to a 7-0 lead in the fourth game and rolled to 15-4 win. The deciding game was a stunning 15-0 shutout.
Freshman Amy Peistrup led the Tar Heel victory with 26 assists and nine kills. Senior Lisa Joffs added six service aces and 12 digs, while Liz Berg had eight kills and nine digs.
September 7, 1996: Keldorf, Defense Spark Carrier Dome Upset
SYRACUSE, N.Y.--Quarterback Chris Keldorf threw for 218 yards and North Carolina's defense held star Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb in check most of the game as tar Heels upset the ninth-ranked Orangemen at the Carrier Dome.
Keldorf, a junior college transfer making his first start, completed 22 of 32 passes. He threw for two touchdowns--three yards to Na Brown and 18 yards to Freddie Jones.
The defense, meanwhile, hounded McNabb, a pre-season All-America, throughout the game. Ends Greg Ellis and Mike Pringley and linebackers Brian Simmons, James Hamilton and Kivuusama Mays constantly shut down plays in the Syracuse backfield.
That defensive effort forced the Orangemen into numerous third-and-lone situations. Syracuse converted just three of 13 third-down plays all night.
In fact, all 10 of the Syracuse points came after errors in the Carolina kicking game. Two blocked punts set up the Orangemen at the UNC 18 and the 27 in the third quarter.
Carolina had built a17-0 halftime lead on a one-yard run by Maurice McGregor, a 33-yard Josh McGee field goal and Keldorf?s scoring pass to Brown.
After that lead had been sliced to 17-10 in the sweltering Carrier Dome, Keldorf threw his TD pass to Jones with 9:10 left to play. A 12-yard interception return by Dre' Bly had given Carolina good field possession at the Syracuse 40. A 25-yard pass to Brown, a two-yard run by Leon Johnson and a five-yard penalty put the Tar Heels on the 18. Keldorf hit Jones from there for the 24-10 lead.
Reggie Love broke up a fourth down pass on the next Syracuse series. A 20-yard run by Johnson keyed a drive that led to a 46-yard field goal by McGee to close out the scoring.
Tar Heel players dedicated the game to the people of North Carolina who had been pounded by Hurricane Fran two days earlier.
September 6, 1980: Lawrence and Bryant Pace Opening Win Over Furman
CHAPEL HILL--Tailbacks Amos Lawrence and Kelvin Bryant each ran for over 100 yards and combined for five touchdowns as North Carolina swamped Furman 35-13 in its season opener at Kenan Stadium.
Beginning what would be an 11-1 season, the Tar Heels rolled up 445 yards of total offense and limited The Paladins to just 193.
Carolina got 365 of its yards on the ground as Lawrence ran for 119 yards and Bryant added 105. It was the first extensive action for Bryant, a sophomore from Tarboro, N.C., who had missed much of his freshman season with a separated shoulder.
Lawrence scored two touchdowns in the first quarter on a four-yard run and a 13-yard pass from Rod Elkins. He carried seven times for 36 yards in a 48-yard drive for the first score. On their next possession, the Tar Heels struck swiftly, moving 80 yards in just four plays. The key play in the drive was a 56-yard run by fullback Billy Johnson to the Furman 13. Elkins threw to Lawrence from there and Jeff Hayes kicked his second extra point.
After two Tim Tanguay field goals had trimmed the lead to 14-6 in the second period, Bryant capped another 80-yard march with the first of his three touchdowns. The 11-play drive ended with Elkins throwing to Bryant at the one and Bryant diving behind the blocks of center Rick Donnalley and guard Ron Wooten for the score.
Runs of 39 and 13 yards by Lawrence set the Tar Heels up on their first possession of the second half. Bryant got the touchdown on a five-yard sweep.
A 10-yard sack by Lawrence Taylor forced Furman to punt from its own 10-yard line on its next series. Carolina quickly moved 438 yards on six plays to complete its scoring for the day. Bryant carried on each play, scoring on a one-yard run.
Defensive end Kevin Quinlan got the only Paladin touchdown when he grabbed a UNC fumble out of the air and raced 94 yards in the fourth quarter.
Johnson added 81 yard rushing for Carolina and free safety Steve Streater averaged 41.0 yards on five punts, including a 64-yarder. Streater and tackle Harry Stanback had seven tackles each, while linebacker Darrell Nicholson had a team-high 10.
September 5, 1987: Tar Heel Rout Illinois, 34-14
CHAPEL HILL--North Carolina got a great first-half defensive effort and then scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to defeat Illinois in a rainy season opener for both teams.
The Illini had great field position on three straight possessions in the second period, but could score only one touchdown. Kenny Miller helped Carolina take a 10-7 halftime lead with a 21-yard field goal in the first quarter and a fake punt that set up a late touchdown.
But, it was the Tar Heel defense that starred throughout the first half. A 32-yard interception return by Keith Taylor put Illinois at the UNC 41-yard line late in the first period. A seven-play drive gave the visitors a first-and-goal at the Carolina eight. After Tim Goad stopped Ken Thomas for no gain on first down, Derrick Donald and John Reed combined to drop Greg Turner for a one-yard loss.
Tight end Anthony Williams caught a third-down pass, but Donald shoved him out of bounds at the one. Cecil Gray and Antonio Goss then stopped Turner for no gain on fourth down.
However, after Carolina could make little yardage from such poor field position, the Illini started their next possession on the Tar Heel 40. Donald's third-down sack of quarterback Scott Mohr at the 24-yard line killed that threat.
Taylor intercepted his second pass moments later when Mark Maye overthrew a receiver as the wet football sailed on a third-down pass. Four plays later Illinois finally took a 7-3 lead on a 10-yard run by fullback Jeff Markland.
On their next possession, the Tar Heels faced a fourth-and-three at their own 29. Miller faked a punt from there and ran 57 yards down the right sideline. A five-yard facemask penalty gave Carolina a first down at the Illini nine. Two plays later Torin Dorn scored from the four just 15 seconds before halftime.
Strong safety Norris Davis ran an interception back 19 yards on the first Illini possession of the third quarter. An eight-yard sack by Gray forced Illinois to punt on its next possession. Maye then teammed with Eric Lewis on a 58-yard touchdown pass and a 24-7 lead. A 44-yard scoring run by Dorn gave Carolina a 31-7 lead with 4:42 left in the period.
The scoring ended with a 19-yard field goal by Miller and a late six-yard TD run by Turner for the Illini.
Dorn, beginning his first season as Carolina's starting tailback, ran for 165 yards on 15 carries. With the wet conditions, Maye was just six of 12 in the air for 93 yards.
Asked about Miller's fake punt, Carolina Coach Dick Crum said, "It was just a great heads-up play. I think the thing that even shocked Kenny was that he broke a couple of tackles.
"You know, I think I could have gotten down the sideline faster than he did. After it was over, he said to me `Maybe we ought to have the specialists run a little more in practice.'"
Crum also was impressed with the play of Dorn, Maye, Lewis and his entire defense.
"It was third-and-one so we were in our goal line offense. But, we thought if Eric could get out, we could get the ball to him. Mark made a great fake and that set up the whole touchdown play.
"Dorn really used his blockers well. Sometimes when young backs get free, they just try to outrun everybody. But, Torin had a blocker ahead of him and made a great cut off him for 20 extra yards on his 44-yard scoring run. And I can't say enough about how well our whole defense played, especially in the first half when Illinois had such good field position."
September 4, 2000: Field Hockey Team Edges Penn State in OT
ST. LOUIS, Mo.--Jana Toepel's goal in the first overtime period gave North Carolina's field hockey team a 2-1 win over Penn State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The victory ran the Tar Heel's season record to 3-0. Carolina opened the year with a win over Duke and then defeated Michigan, the 1999 national runner-up, in its first ACC/Big Ten Challenge match here yesterday.
Penn State actually dominated play throughout most of this game, but couldn't put away Carolina. A great effort by UNC goalkeeper Amy Tran turned out to be the difference in the game.
The Tar Heels and the Nittany Lions played a scoreless first half today. Penn State finally took a 1-0 lead with 18:32 left in the game on a penalty corner by Kiley Kulina.
However, Toepel assisted Abbey Woolley for a tying goal with 10:56 to play.
Toepel's winning goal came with 2:19 left in the first overtime. Meredith Keller was credited with an assist on the play.
For the game, the Tar Heels had just one penalty corner to eight for the Nittany Lions. Tran was credited with 11 saves in the goal to key the Carolina victory.
"We were very fortunate today," said Tar Heel Coach Karen Shelton. "We stole this win because Penn State simply outplayed us. Without such an outstanding effort from Amy Tran, we would have certainly lost this game."
Carolina next plays in the Temple Invitational at Philadelphia where the Tar Heels will meet their third straight Big Ten opponent, Iowa. The winner will face either Towson or host Temple the following day with the two losers of the semifinals, meeting in a consolation match.
September 3, 1983: Tar Heels Dominate South Carolina in Columbia
COLUMBIA, S.C.--North Carolina controlled the ball on offense behind the running of tailback Ethan Horton and the passing of quarterback Scott Stankavage to defeat South Carolina, 24-8, at Williams-Brice Stadium.
A sold-out crowd of 74, 200 saw the Tar Heels dominate what was supposed to be a new, wide-open Gamecock attack. The game was long decided before South Carolina finally scored, driving 80 yards for its only touchdown with 4:53 left to play.
While the Gamecocks actually had a slight edge in possession time, 30:11-29:49, Carolina ran 25 more plays in the season opener for both teams.
The game could have been more one-sided except for two UNC fumbles and conservative play once the contest was decided. Horton ran for 114 yards on 29 carries, backup tailback Tyrone Anthony added 49 and fullback Eddie Colson had 32 as Carolina finished with 210 yards on the ground.
Stankavage completed his first eight passes and finished 12 of 14 in the air for 145 yards. With reserve quarterback Kevin Anthony throwing for 21 yards, the Tar Heels had 376 total yards to 201 for the home team.
"Their offensive line was outstanding and we just couldn't stop those big running backs," said USC's Joe Morrison, who was in his first game as Gamecock head coach.
Defensively, Carolina got outstanding play from All-America tackle William Fuller, cornerback Walter Black, strong safety Willie Harris, outside linebacker Jeff Blaylock and linebackers Butch Griffin, Bill Sheppard and Micah Moon. Harris intercepted a pass and had four solo tackles. Black was in on four hits, including a sack. The other five defenders were in on seven tackles each with Fuller recording one sack and batting down a pass at the line of scrimmage.
Helping the defense was punter Tommy Barnhardt, whose four kicks for a 45.0 average consistently kept South Carolina deep in its own territory.
Black also did an excellent job returning punts, picking up 68 yards on five returns. It was his 18-yard return that led to Carolina's first score. That play put the Tar Heels on the Gamecock 48 with 6:15 to go in the first quarter. Two minutes later Stankavage fired a 32-yard touchdown pass to flanker Mark Smith.
Carolina drove 80 yards in 14 plays early in the second period. That march appeared to stall and Brooks Barwick kicked a 24-yard field goal. However, there was a penalty on the play and the Tar Heels elected to take the points off the board. On the next play, Tyrone Anthony scored from four yards out for a 14-0 lead.
A 27-yard punt return by Black got Carolina going on its second possession in the third quarter. Key plays in this drive were two excellent passes by Stankavage. Running to his left on successive plays, he threw 18 yards to Earl Winfield and 20 yards to Larry Griffin at the one-yard line. The UNC quarterback got the TD himself, diving over the middle on first down.
Carolina completed its scoring with Barwick kicking a 22 yard field goal with 11:19 to go in the game. With the Tar Heels now substituting freely, the Gamecocks finally scored on a 10-yard pass from Bill Bradshaw to Thomas Dendy and only 4:53 remaining.
The Tar Heels then stayed strictly on the ground to kill the clock. Horton ran the ball nine of his team's 11 plays. Still, Carolina was back on the USC when time expired.
September 2, 1989: Hamm Opens Career With Three Goals
DALLAS, Tex.--Freshman Mia Hamm scored three goals in her first college match as the top-ranked North Carolina women's soccer team routed Hardin-Simmons, 9-1, at the SMU Soccer Classic.
Hardin Simmons actually led in this match, 1-0, when Christy Ferguson scored after just 2:07 of action. But, the Tar Heels dominated the rest of the game. Shannon Higgins tied the score quickly at the 7:23 mark when she blasted a 25-yard shot from the right of the goal.
Freshman Kristine Lilly, who would be a four-time All-America and now ranks as one of the world's premier players, then put Carolina ahead for good. She took a pass from Higgins to score from 10 yards out on the right side after 14 minutes of play.
Hamm's first college goal came with 30:22 elapsed. Breaking in front of the net, she took a pass from Ava Hyatt to rifle in a shot that pushed the lead to 3-1.
Less than seven minutes later Carla Werden (Overbeck) added another goal off a corner kick for a 4-1 halftime lead.
Higgins got an early second-half goal on a header, with an assist by Sarian Wiegman. Then it was Hamm completing her hat trick by scoring on a breakaway goal with 62:02 gone in the match and knocking home a deflection off the left post at 64:09 with Lilly getting the assist.
Five minutes later Carolina completed its scoring with two goals in less than 60 seconds. Pam Kalinoski got the first one and Louellen Poore followed with the final goal in just 57 seconds.
The Tar Heels dominated play with 25 shots to just eight for Hardin-Simmons.
"Our players did a good job for the first game of the season," said Coach Anson Dorrance. "But, there are still some areas where we need to work. We must play better with the ball in the air. We've lost some outstanding seniors from last year and this was a good game to see where we need improvement."
Next up for Carolina is 19th-ranked SMU, a 4-0 winner over Florida International in the classic's first game.
September 1, 1990: Defense and Kicking Game Spark Win Over Miami
CHAPEL HILL--North Carolina opened what would be its first winning season under Coach Mack Brown with a 34-0 rout of Miami of Ohio.
After a pair of 1-10 seasons in his first two years on the job, Brown began to see his rebuilding program pay dividends as the Tar Heels would finish 6-4-1.
The Carolina defense recorded its first shutout since 1986 in blanking the Redskins. Linebackers Dwight Hollier and Tommy Thigpen were the defensive standouts with 11 and eight tackles, respectively. The Tar Heels constantly forced Miami into long-yardage situations with seven tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Thigpen had three of those and outside linebacker Jonathan Perry had two.
In addition, the defense created six Redskin turnovers, recovering four fumbles and picking off two passes.
Trailing just 7-0, Miami threatened early in the second quarter by reaching the Carolina three-yard line. But, Hollier forced a fumble there and recovered it himself to kill that threat. That was the last time the Redskins crossed midfield all day.
A major reason for that was the tremendous punting of Scott McAlister. He constantly pinned Miami deep in its own territory by averaging 45.7 yards on nine punts.
Carolina also got points in the kicking game when Clint Gwaltney booted 36 and 41-yard field goals and Randall Felton returned a punt 54 yards for a touchdown. Felton also had another apparent touchdown on a punt return called back when officials ruled he had stepped on the sideline.
The Tar Heels, who did not have a turnover, got their other points on a seven-yard run by fullback Mike Faulkerson, a six-yard run by tailback Eric Blount and a 14-yard pass from Todd Burnett to Bucky Brooks.
