University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Welcomes Miami For Key ACC Matchup
October 14, 2011 | Football
Oct. 14, 2011
CHAPEL HILL --- North Carolina jumps back into conference play and opens the second half of the 2011 season Saturday when the Tar Heels play host to Miami at Kenan Stadium. The game will be televised by the ACC Network as the league's game of the week beginning at 12:30 p.m. This is the first of six straight Atlantic Coast Conference games for the Tar Heels (5-1, 1-1 ACC), who won all four non-conference games this year.
Carolina won its eighth consecutive non-conference game with a 14-7 victory over Louisville last Saturday in Kenan Stadium. Redshirt freshman tailback Giovani Bernard rushed for 109 yards on 25 carries and scored a touchdown, wide receiver Dwight Jones made another spectacular touchdown catch with a 43-yard reception, and the UNC defense limited the Cardinals to just 85 second-half yards. Carolina shut out Louisville for 59 minutes, finally allowing a touchdown with just 42 seconds remaining. The win gives the Tar Heels their first 4-0 start at Kenan Stadium since 1997.
If Carolina is to continue its winning formula at home, the Tar Heels are going to have to slow a Miami squad that scored 28 second-half points last week in a 38-35 loss at Virginia Tech. The Hurricanes trailed by 14 points in the first half, but fought back and had the lead late in the fourth quarter before the Hokies scored the winning touchdown in the game's final minute.
A Win Over Miami Would...
• Improve Carolina to 6-1 for the first time since 1997. That year, Carolina started 8-0 with the first (and only) loss of the season coming at home vs. Florida State.
• Make the Tar Heels bowl eligible for the fourth consecutive season.
• Improve Carolina's record against Miami to 8-6 and 5-3 since the Hurricanes joined the ACC.
• Improve Carolina's record to 5-0 at home vs. Miami. The last time Carolina played host to Miami was a 33-24 win in 2009.
• Improve Carolina's record at home to 5-0 for the first time since 1996. Last year the Tar Heels were 3-3 at Kenan Stadium.
• Improve the Tar Heels to 2-1 in ACC play.
North Carolina-Miami Connections
• UNC wide receivers coach Charlie Williams spent three seasons tutoring the Hurricanes wideouts from 1993-95. He coached one season with Butch Davis in Miami (1995), and then left to become the wide receivers coach for Tony Dungy with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
• North Carolina has 11 players from the state of Florida, including redshirt freshman tailback Giovani Bernard (Davie), sophomore cornerback Tre Boston (Cape Coral), freshman defensive back Alex Dixon (Clearwater), senior tackle Carl Gaskins (Melbourne), redshirt freshman linebacker Tommy Heffernan (Miami), sophomore defensive end Tim Jackson (St. Petersburg), sophomore defensive end Alec Petrocelli, sophomore cornerback Jabari Price (Pompano Beach), freshman cornerback Sam Smiley (Jacksonville), redshirt freshman wide receiver Sean Tapley (Jacksonville) and freshman linebacker Keeon Virgile (North Miami Beach).
Series Notes vs. Miami
• Carolina and Miami are meeting for the 15th time overall with the Tar Heels holding an 8-6 advantage. This is the eighth meeting between the two schools since Miami joined the ACC in 2004 and Carolina leads, 4-3.
• All three of Carolina's most recent wins in the series have been decided by 10 points or less, including a 33-27 victory in 2007, a 28-24 win in 2008 and a 33-24 win in 2009.
• Carolina's first game against Miami as ACC members came in 2004 and was a memorable win for the Tar Heels. Connor Barth connected on a 42-yard field goal as time expired to beat the fourth-ranked Hurricanes, 31-28. It is still the highest-ranked team Carolina has ever beaten and is the Tar Heels' only win over a team ranked in the Associated Press top five.
• The first meeting between the two institutions came in 1946, when Carl Snavely's Tar Heels knocked off Miami, 21-0, in the second game of the year. Carolina would go on to finish 8-2-1 and play Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. It was one of only two losses that season for the Hurricanes.
Withers Off To Fast Start
With last week's win over Louisville, Everett Withers is the first head coach to start his UNC tenure 5-1 since Ray Wolf in 1936. That year Wolf began 6-1 en route to a 8-2 season.
Schedule Gets Tougher
• Carolina completed the first half of the schedule 5-1, including a 4-0 mark against non-conference opponents. The Tar Heels first six opponents are a combined 20-12, while the next six are 23-10. The next three teams on UNC's schedule – Miami (2-3), Clemson (6-0) and Wake Forest (4-1) are a combined 12-4. The Tar Heels close the season with rivalry games against NC State (3-3) and Duke (3-2) sandwiched around a ESPN Thursday night game at Virginia Tech (5-1).
Louisville Leftovers
• The Tar Heels had no points, two first downs, gained 62 yards on just 18 plays and had the ball for only 7:52 in the first half against Louisville. In the second half, UNC scored 14 points, had nine first downs, gained 202 yards on 43 plays and held the ball for 18 minutes and 24 seconds.
• Louisville had no points,13 first downs, gained 188 yards on 41 plays and held the ball for 22:08 in the first half. In the second half, the Cardinals scored seven points, gained six first downs (five of which came on their second-to-last drive of the game), compiled 85 yards (61 of which came on that second-to-last drive) and had theball for 11 minutes and 36 seconds.
• UNC and Louisville played to a scoreless tie in the first half. Carolina held an opponent scoreless in the first half for the first time since the Virginia Tech game in 2009. The Tar Heels failed to score in the first half for the first time since the 2009 Virginia game.
Bernard Rushes For 100 For Fourth-Straight Game
• Redshirt freshman tailback Giovani Bernard rushed for 109 yards on 25 carries, his fourth consecutive 100-yard game, in the win over Louisville. He became the first Tar Heel to rush for 100 yards in four straight games since Ethan Horton accomplished it in five games in a row in 1984. Bernard is the first Tar Heel freshman in history to rush for 100 yards in four straight games (Amos Lawrence had three in a row as a freshman in 1977). Only Amos Lawrence (six in 1977) and Leon Johnson (five in 1993) had more 100-yard rushing games as a freshman than Bernard has (four) in the first six games this year.
Bernard's last four games (512 yards)
102 vs. Virginia
155 at Georgia Tech
146 at East Carolina
109 vs. Louisville
• For the season, Bernard has rushed 103 times for 657 yards, an average of 6.4 yards per carry and 109.5 yards per game. The last Carolina player to average more than 100 yards per game in a season was Natrone Means (108.6) in 1992.
Bernard Leads All Freshman Runners Nationally
• Bernard leads all freshman runners in the country with 109.6 yards per game. Overall, he ranks third in the league and 19th in the country in rushing. He is the only freshman in the country averaging more than 100 yards rushing per game. Bowling Green's Anthony Samuel is the next closest freshman with 97.4 yards per game. The last freshman to lead North Carolina in rushing was Johnny White with 399 yards in 2007.
Bernard Scoring Touchdowns
• Bernard scored his eighth rushing touchdown of the season in the third quarter of the win over Louisville, surpassing UNC's season leader from a year ago, Johnny White, who scored seven times in nine games. His eight touchdowns rank second in the league, just one behind Georgia Tech's Orwin Smith. In the ACC, Bernard ranks eighth in scoring with 8.0 points per game.
• The last Tar Heel to rush for more than seven touchdowns in a season was Ryan Houston with nine in 2009. Chad Scott rushed for eight scores in 2004. The last UNC player to record double-digit rushing touchdowns was Jonathan Linton with 10 in 1997.
Jones Having All-Star Season
• Senior wide receiver Dwight Jones ranks fourth in the ACC and 26th in the country with 100.8 receiving yards per game. The Burlington, N.C., native has scored in five of six games this year and has seven touchdowns on the season. He leads all ACC wide receivers with seven touchdowns, three more than he had entering 2011. He is tied for seventh at UNC in single-season touchdown receptions with three others. The last player to catch at least seven touchdowns in a season was Hakeem Nicks, who set the school record with 12 in 2008.
• Jones has had at least five receptions in 11 of his last 14 games, including eight of the last nine.
• Dwight Jones caught four balls for 91 yards, including a spectacular 43-yard touchdown that gave Carolina a 14-0 lead with 12:19 to play in the game. He caught Renner's underthrown pass at the 13-yard line, broke two tackles at the five and scored. It was his third scoring catch of the season that went for 40 yards or longer. He also scored on a 66-yarder against Rutgers and a 47-yarder at East Carolina.
• Jones had six catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns in the win at ECU.
• Jones caught nine passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns in the opener vs. JMU. It was the second two-touchdown game of his career (also at Virginia in 2010). The outing came just one day after the birth of his son in Burlington.
• Jones finished with six catches for 135 yards and a 66-yard touchdown against Rutgers. It was his second 100-yard game in as many weeks and the sixth of his career.
• Jones had a breakout season a year ago with 62 receptions and 946 receiving yards, which ranked as the fifth-best single-season marks in school history. He had 198 yards in a win at Virginia and 233 in a win at Florida State.
Noting The Tar Heels - Offense
• Wide receiver Erik Highsmith returned to the lineup vs. ECU and had three catches for 94 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown reception from Bryn Renner in the first quarter. It was the longest reception of Highsmith's career. The previous week Highsmith missed the Georgia Tech game with an ankle injury. Highsmith ranks third on the team with 18 catches for 269 yards and one touchdown.
• Junior tight end Nelson Hurst made the biggest reception of his Carolina career with a 24-yard catch on 4th-and-1 in the third quarter of Carolina's win at East Carolina. Hurst entered the season with just one catch in his UNC career in 2010 after transferring from Mississippi State.
• Freshman tight end Eric Ebron scored his first career touchdown on a 20-yard reception from Bryn Renner on the first play of the third quarter at Georgia Tech. Ebron had just one career catch entering the game. He finished the game with two receptions for 44 yards.
• Junior wide receiver Jheranie Boyd has five receptions this season and two of them have been for touchdowns. Considered the fastest player on the team, Boyd also has five carries for 57 yards.
• Two Carolina offensive linemen have receptions to their credit. Last year, guard Jonathan Cooper caught a deflected pass, and this season guard Travis Bond caught a tipped ball at ECU.
Noting The Tar Heels - Defense
• Junior linebacker Kevin Reddick missed the Louisville game with an ankle injury. He is second on the team with 33 tackles and 4.5 tackles for losses.
• Senior linebacker Zach Brown notched his first interception of the season in the second quarter vs. Louisville. Brown finished with a game-high 11 tackles and has a team-high 42 tackles this season.
• Sophomore linebacker Darius Lipford started and recorded a career-high nine stops in the Louisville victory. He also broke up a pass. He now has 24 stops on the season.
• Junior college transfer Sylvester Williams has made an impact this year. He has started every game and has 23 tackles, including two tackles for losses and one sack. Williams, who played just one year of high school football and worked in a factory making radiator parts for large trucks before going to Coffeyville Community College, also has one interception and two pass breakups.
• Cornerback Jabari Price returned to the starting lineup for the first time this year vs. Louisville and had four tackles and one tackle for loss. Price started the final four games in 2010, but tore a tendon in his hand in this year's training camp and had to have surgery. His first appearance this year came at ECU.
• Charles Brown, who missed all of last season and sat out the first game this year due to NCAA issues, is fourth on the team with 26 tackles and is tied for the team lead with three pass breakups.
• Sophomore defensive back Tre Boston recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass in the first half against Georgia Tech. It was the first interception of the season for Boston and the second of his career. Boston is third on the team with 26 tackles and has two pass breakups.
Noting The Tar Heels - Special Teams
• Redshirt freshman place-kicker Thomas Moore made both of his PAT attempts against Louisville and is now 13 for 13 on the season. Carolina has made 95 consecutive PATs, with injured senior Casey Barth holding the school record for consecutive makes with 82.
• Carolina has attempted just two field goals this season, a 46-yard make vs. Rutgers by Casey Barth and a 39-yard miss at ECU by Moore. Last season, Carolina attempted 22 field goals and only had one game – Clemson – in which it did not attempt a field goal. The two field goal attempts is believed to be the fewest in the country this season.
• Carolina's net punting this year is 37.6 yards, compared with last year's 31.8. Walk-on punter Thomas Hibbard is averaging 40.1 yards per punt. The Tar Heels have allowed just 20 return yards on five attempts.
• Freshman T.J. Thorpe leads the ACC and ranks 21st in the country with a 26.8 kickoff return average.
Players Mentioned
