University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Notes
November 29, 2008 | Football
Nov. 29, 2008
Recap |
Final Stats |
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• Saturday's victory gave UNC an 8-4 record and eight victories in the regular season for the first time since 1997. The Tar Heels' last eight-win season came in 2001 after a Peach Bowl win over Auburn.
• UNC's eighth win of the season flipped its record from a year ago. The Tar Heels were 4-8 in Butch Davis' first season in Chapel Hill and finish the 2008 regular season with an 8-4 record. Davis is now 12-12 in two years at Carolina.
• The Tar Heels' 28-20 win over the Blue Devils gave Carolina its 18th win in the last 19 meetings between the two rivals. UNC has captured 10 straight games at Wallace Wade Stadium has not lost in Durham since 1988.
• Trimane Goddard's last-minute interception on Duke's final play from scrimmage was his team-leading seventh of the season and the 12th of his career. He is tied for third all-time at UNC with 12. The seven this season equal the third-best in a year by a Tar Heel. He also had a game-clinching interception at Miami in the end zone on the Canes' final play.
• With Saturday's win over Duke, the Tar Heels earned two points in the race for the Carlyle Cup, the all sports competition between Carolina and Duke. UNC, which has won the last four Carlyle Cup titles, holds a 5.5-2.5 lead in 2008-09.
• Carolina's 21 first-half points were more than it scored in either of its previous two games (15 at Maryland, 10 vs. NC State). The Tar Heels' 28 points marked their most since a 28-7 win over Georgia Tech Nov. 8.
• After going just 4-for-22 on third down over the past two games, the Tar Heels were 11-for-16 Saturday against Duke.
• Saturday was a record-setting day for junior receiver Hakeem Nicks. With three catches for 38 yards, the Charlotte product became the first 1,000-yard receiver in school history. In the process, he set the UNC single-season receiving yardage mark, eclipsing Sam Aiken's 990 yards in 2002, and equaled the school record with his ninth TD catch of the season, tying Marcus Wall's nine scores in 1994.
• Nicks broke Aiken's record and matched Wall's on a 25-yard touchdown catch from T.J. Yates in the second quarter and eclipsed the 1,000-yard barrier on a 7-yard pass from Yates on Carolina's opening possession of the second half.
• Nicks has 60 catches for 1,005 yards on the season and is first in UNC history with 2,623 receiving yards and second with 173 catches on his career.
• Nicks, who has at least three catches in all 12 games this season, has a reception in 25 straight games and in 34 of his 35 career games.
• Sophomore quarterback T.J. Yates went 15-for-19 for 190 yards and a career high-tying three touchdowns. Yates, who also passed for three TDs at Rutgers this season, has passed for three scores five times in his career.
• Sophomore tailback Shaun Draughn carried 29 times for 110 yards and his third career 100-yard game. He added 28 yards receiving for 138 yards from scrimmage on the afternoon. It was his first 100-yard rushing effort since he had 138 at Virginia. He also had 109 against Connecticut.
• Draughn scored on a 4-yard run in the first quarter to cap a 57-yard effort on the Tar Heels' opening drive. This rushing total surpassed his total in both of the previous two games (Maryland 46, NC State 56). Draughn's TD run was his first since the Connecticut win, a span of seven games.
• Later in the opening period, Draughn added his first career receiving TD, an 11-yarder from T.J. Yates for his first career multi-score game. Draughn's four catches for 28 yards were a career best.
• Sophomore wide receiver Greg Little had his best career day as a receiver with four catches for 67 yards, surpassing a 50-yard effort against South Carolina a year ago. After catching just three passes for seven over the first 10 games of the season, Little posted six catches for 103 yards over the last two weeks. (67 today + 36 last week)
• Senior tight end Richard Quinn scored his second career touchdown - and first since last year's Virginia game - on a 32-yard reception from T.J. Yates in the third quarter. The 32-yarder was the longest play of his career, and his 42 yards receiving were a career-best effort. Quinn became the 15th different Tar Heel to score a touchdown this season.
• Johnny White's first quarter kickoff return of 50 yards was a career best.
• Senior linebacker Chase Rice started at middle linebacker for the second time in the last three games for injured linebacker Mark Paschal.
Players Mentioned
