University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Set to Visit the Yellow Jackets
November 14, 2003 | Football
Nov. 14, 2003
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Date: Saturday, November 15, 2003
Time: Noon
TV: JP Sports (Steve Martin, play-by-play; Doc Walker, analyst; Mike Hogewood, sideline)
Site: Atlanta, Ga., Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant Field (55,000, natural grass)
Series Record: Georgia Tech leads 19-16-1
Last Meeting: Georgia Tech 21, Carolina 13 on September 28, 2002, in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Rankings: Neither team is ranked
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Radio Network, a division of Learfield Communications. Woody Durham (play-by-play) and Mick Mixon (color) 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); Georgia Tech (ramblinwreck.com)
CHAPEL HILL -- Fresh off a 42-34 win over Wake Forest, North Carolina hopes to put together back-to-back victories for the first time since the 2001 season as the Tar Heels head to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on Saturday, Nov. 18. The game will kick off at 12 noon and will be televised by JP Sports as the ACC Game of the Week, Carolina's fourth-straight appearance on JP.
The Tar Heels' final road trip of the season comes against an opponent UNC has struggled against in recent years. In fact, Carolina has lost five straight to the Jackets and has not won at Bobby Dodd Stadium since the 1997 season. Each of the last two matchups have been decided by eight points or less, including last year's 21-13 loss in Chapel Hill. In that game, Carolina led 13-7, but was shutout in the second half as the Yellow Jackets came back for the victory.
Carolina (2-8, 1-5) snapped several streaks last week with the win over the Demon Deacons. UNC ended a 10-game home losing streak and earned its first ACC win after starting the season 0-5 in conference play. Carolina's last ACC road victory came last year at Duke in the season finale.
Georgia Tech (5-4, 3-3) had a four-game win streak snapped in a 41-17 loss at Duke last Saturday. The Yellow Jackets enter Saturday's game just one victory shy of bowl eligibilty.
Saturday's game features two teams whose strengths are vastly different. Carolina's offense is averaging 399.7 yards per game, its highest average since the 1994 season (407.5), but the defense is last in the league, giving up 519.2 yards per contest. Conversely, Georgia Tech ranks last in the league in total offense, averaging 309.8 yards per game, but is third in the conference in total defense (321.6).
In recent weeks, Carolina's rushing offense has come alive. The Tar Heels averaged just 97.3 yards per game in the first five weeks of the season, but have averaged 215.2 yards per game in its last five. Last week against Wake Forest, Carolina rushed for a season-high 328 yards, the highest single-game total in the ACC this year and the most at UNC since the 1994 season. Carolina's running game is ranked fourth in the league, averaging 156.2 yards per game, but is first in yards per carry (4.7).
