University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina Postgame Notes at Georgia Tech, Sept. 26, 2009
September 26, 2009 | Football
Sept. 26, 2009
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• With the 24-7 loss Saturday, Carolina has won just twice in the last 12 meetings with Georgia Tech. The Tar Heels have not won in Atlanta since 1997 and have dropped six straight at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
• Carolina has now dropped its last nine ACC openers, with its last win coming in 2000.
• UNC was held to just 154 yards of total offense, marking the first time the Tar Heels failed to reach the 200-yard mark since a 2007 loss at South Florida. Carolina had 164 yards in that loss to the Bulls. The 154 yards are the fewest for UNC since posting 150 against Clemson in 2006.
• Freshman wide receiver Erik Highsmith accounted for 107 of the Tar Heels' 154 yards of total offense with six receptions. Highsmith has posted 100-yard games in each of the last two outings and has 12 catches for 220 yards in the last two weeks. Highsmith made catches of 40 and 30 yards to give him four of Carolina's five pass receptions of at least 30 yards on the season.
• Junior quarterback T.J. Yates' 40-yard touchdown pass to Erik Highsmith in the fourth quarter extended his streak of games with a TD pass to six. Yates has at least one touchdown pass in 17 of his 23 career games.
• Sophomore defensive end Robert Quinn had a career-best 10 tackles, including 2.5 for loss. His previous high of six came against NC State and Georgia Tech last season.
• Junior cornerback Kendric Burney led Carolina with 11 tackles, matching his career high set against NC State in 2007.
• Senior defensive tackle Cam Thomas had his second straight big day against the Yellow Jackets, matching a career best with six tackles, which he posted last year against Georgia Tech.
• Quentin Coples brought his season sack total to a career-best 3.5 with a second quarter sack of Josh Nesbitt on third down for a loss of six yards. He now has five career sacks.
• Linebackers Zack Brown and Kennedy Tinsley also registered career highs with eight and seven tackles, respectively.
• After struggling last week against East Carolina, punter Grant Shallock uncorked a career-best 55-yard punt on his first chance Saturday. He had punts of 55 and 51 yards in the first half and finished with an average of 47.2, nearly 10 yards better than his season mark entering Saturday.
• Georgia Tech's opening scoring drive of 88 yards marked the longest drive allowed by the Tar Heel defense this season, surpassing a 77-yard drive by East Carolina. All of the yards came on the ground, and the Yellow Jackets needed just one drive to post the largest single-game rushing total allowed by Carolina on the year. UNC allowed 72 yards rushing at Connecticut for their previous single-game high.
