UNC-NC State Football Game Notes

September 25, 2001 | Football

By: UNC Athletic Communications

Sept. 25, 2001

UNC-NC State Game Notes (PDF Format)
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NORTH CAROLINA
at
NC STATE

Date: Saturday, September 29, 2001
Kickoff: 12:08 p.m.
Site: Carter-Finley Stadium (51,500, grass)
Series Record: North Carolina leads, 59-25-6
Last Meeting: NC State 38, North Carolina 20 on Oct. 14, 2000, in Chapel Hill
TV: JP Sports (Steve Martin, play-by-play, Rick Walker, analyst, Mike Hogewood, sideline)
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), North Carolina State (GoPack.com)
Injuries: Darian Durant, mild left ankle sprain

AFTER BIG WIN, CAROLINA SEEKS TO KEEP MOMENTUM AT NC STATE
North Carolina (1-3, 1-1 ACC) hopes to build off last week's upset of Florida State when the Tar Heels travel to Raleigh to face NC State on Saturday, September 29 at Noon. The game will be the first between UNC and NC State at Carter-Finley Stadium since the Tar Heels scored a 20-7 victory in 1997. In 1998 and 1999, the Carolina-NC State game was played in Charlotte's Ericsson Stadium. Saturday's game will be televised by JP Sports.

Carolina is coming off one of its biggest wins in 111 years of football after defeating No. 6 Florida State, 41-9, last week in Chapel Hill. It was John Bunting's first victory as the Tar Heels' head coach and Carolina's first-ever win over the Seminoles in 13 meetings. It was only the third loss for FSU in ACC history and just the fifth time since 1982 that the Seminoles had failed to score at least 10 points. The win was Carolina's most lopsided win ever against a ranked opponent. The previous high was a 30-6, 24-point win against No. 16 Penn in 1939.

NC State (2-0, 0-0) is playing its first conference game of the season after opening with a 35-14 win over Indiana on Sept. 6 and a 26-17 victory over SMU last week.

Carolina's first five opponents have a combined record of 13-1. Eight of UNC's first nine opponents played in a bowl game last season. The lone exception is undefeated Maryland, who beat Carolina 23-7 on Sept. 1.

Four of Carolina's first five games are on the road this season.

THREE TAR HEELS EARN ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Defensive end Julius Peppers, center Adam Metts and quarterback Darian Durant earned ACC Player of the Week honors for their performances in Carolina's 41-9 victory over FSU. Peppers had 10 tackles, including four tackles for loss and one sack and was named Defensive Line Player of the Week. Metts graded out at 87 percent, had seven knockdown blocks and was named Offensive Line Player of the Week. Durant completed 9 of 16 passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns and was named Rookie of the Week.

CAROLINA-NC STATE SERIES NOTES

Carolina leads the all-time series, 59-25-6 and has won seven of the last eight against NC State. Last year, the Wolfpack ended a seven-game losing streak in the series with a 38-20 win at Kenan Stadium.

This year's game is the first at Carter-Finley Stadium since 1997. Carolina has won three straight at Carter-Finley and is 25-10-4 overall in away games in the series. Carolina won five straight at NC State between 1979-87. The last time NC State beat Carolina at Carter-Finley was in 1991 (24-7).

Last year, NC State scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to break open a close game and win, 38-20. Ray Robinson rushed for 110 yards and Cotra Jackson added 94 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown run after a UNC fourth-quarter fumble. Carolina held freshman quarterback Philip Rivers to 13 of 25 for 202 yards and registered five sacks. Five different players recorded sacks for Carolina, including Sedrick Hodge, Julius Peppers, Joey Evans, Anthony Perkins and Ryan Sims. Peppers had seven tackles, including three tackles for a loss and one sack.

Robbie Caldwell coached the offensive line at NC State from 1986-99 had the added responsibility of assistant head coach from 1997-99.

UNC center Adam Metts' father, Carey, was an All-ACC center at NC State and played with Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato on the famous "White Shoes Team" of 1967.

CAROLINA'S SCHEDULE AMONG NATION'S MOST DIFFICULT
celebrate North Carolina's schedule is ranked as the nation's third-toughest in the latest Sagarin rankings, behind Penn State and Idaho. 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. 8 Oklahoma, No. 35 Maryland, No. 10 Texas and No. 19 Florida State. Carolina's schedule is the hardest in the ACC, followed by Duke (No. 22), Virginia (28), Florida State (50), Wake Forest (66), Clemson (85) and Maryland (92), Georgia Tech (94) and NC State (106).

AGAINST IN-STATE OPPONENTS
Carolina has won 28 of its last 33 games against in-state rivals Wake Forest, Duke and NC State. The Tar Heels have an 11-game winning streak over the Blue Devils, have won 10 of the last 11 matchups against the Deacons and have won seven of the last 11 against the Wolfpack.

Carolina is 224-94-17 all-time against in-state opponents, including a 6-1-1 record against East Carolina, who is playing UNC this year for the first time since 1981.

FSU WIN IS A FIRST ON MANY COUNTS

Carolina's 41-9 victory over Florida State was UNC's first over the Seminoles in 13 games. Carolina is now 1-11-1 against FSU.

It was the first victory at UNC for head coach John Bunting. Bunting won 38 games in five seasons at Glassboro State/Rowan College and is now 1-3 at Carolina.

The win equaled the highest ranked team Carolina had ever defeated according to Associated Poll records. Florida State was No. 6 in the AP Poll entering the game. Carolina also defeated No. 6 Duke in 1960 and No. 6 Navy in 1957.

The win was the first over a ranked opponent since beating No. 17 Stanford at Kenan Stadium in 1997. It was the first victory over a Top 10 team since winning at No. 9 Syracuse in 1996.

Carolina's 41 points were the most scored against Florida State by an ACC opponent. The previous high was 35 by Georgia Tech in a 41-25 FSU victory on Sept. 11, 1999. Carolina's previous scoring high against the Seminoles came in a 31-18 loss in 1994.

The 81-point swing between last year's 63-14 loss at FSU and this year's 41-9 UNC victory is the largest two-season turnaround in ACC history. The previous largest swing was 70 points between Maryland's 52-0 victory over Wake Forest in 1996, and the Deacons' 35-17 win the next year.

The 32-points loss was FSU's worst regular-season loss since losing by 32 points to Auburn, 59-27, on Oct. 12, 1985. The Seminoles also lost by 32 against Florida in the 1997 Sugar Bowl. The loss was FSU's worst to an unranked opponent since Bobby Bowden's first season in 1976.

Carolina forced five turnovers and was +2 in turnover margin against FSU, marking the first time this season that the Tar Heels forced more turnovers than the opposition. Carolina was 112th in turnover margin entering the game. The last time Carolina forced five turnovers in a game was when it caused six against Duke in 1999. The last time FSU had five turnovers was in a loss to NC State in 1997.

Carolina gained 301 yards against the Seminoles. It is just the second time Carolina has gained over 300 yards against FSU. Last year, UNC had 323 yards in a 63-14 loss in Tallahassee. It was the first time Carolina had gained 300 total yards of offense this year.

OTHER NOTES FROM THE FSU GAME

Jeff Reed, who missed the season-opening Oklahoma game with a sprained ankle and had not handled kickoffs or attempted a field goal all season, handled all kickoffs and made two of three field goals. He made back-to-back 32- and a 39-yard field goals in the third quarter to give Carolina a 20-9 win.

Wide receiver Chesley Borders's 52-yard third-quarter touchdown catch was the longest reception of his career and just his second career touchdown catch. It was also the second-longest pass play of the season for Carolina, eclipsed only by Ronald Curry's 53-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter to Kory Bailey.

Defensive end Julius Peppers registered his second interception of the season. Peppers has UNC's only two interceptions in 2001. His third-quarter pick set up a 39-yard field goal by Jeff Reed to give the Tar Heels a 20-9 lead.

Peppers had one sack and moved into second place on the Carolina career sack chart with 25.

Ronald Curry completed four passes and increased his career completions to 303. He is just the fifth player in UNC history to complete 300 passes in a career.

TRUE FRESHMEN SEE ACTION
Four true freshmen played their first career snaps against FSU. Offensive guard Chase Page, offensive tackle Jason Brown and tailback Jacque Lewis all saw time on offense, while walk-on James Gibson played on special teams. Lewis rushed five times for 29 yards. His 27-yard run in the second quarter was the second-longest rushing play of the year for UNC.

Carolina has now played six true freshmen, including five scholarship freshmen this season. Freshmen free safety Chris Curry and defensive end Jocques Dumas have played in every game this year.

In the last five years, Carolina has played an average of four true freshmen per season. The Tar Heels have not played more than five true scholarship freshmen in a season since seven saw action in 1990.

TWO QUARTERBACKS WORK AGAINST FSUBR> Head coach John Bunting's two quarterback system was a success in Carolina's 41-9 victory over Florida State. Starting quarterback Ronald Curry was 4 of 12 for 93 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown pass to Kory Bailey in the fourth quarter. Curry also rushed for one touchdown, tying the Carolina career record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 12. Curry led four scoring drives.

Redshirt freshman Darian Durant led three scoring drives and was 6 of 19 with 115 yards and two touchdowns. His 20-yard touchdown pass to Sam Aiken gave Carolina a 7-0 first quarter lead. It was the first time Carolina had lead FSU since 1993. In the third quarter, Durant connected with Chesley Borders on a 52-yard touchdown pass to put UNC ahead, 17-0. Later in the quarter, Durant sprained his left ankle and left the game.

unting plans to use a similar quarterback rotation against NC State and Curry is expected to start.

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