University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels In The NFL: Week 13
December 2, 2013 | Football
Compiled by Andrew Tie, GoHeels.com
Peppers has another good game
Julius Peppers had one of his best games of the season on Sunday. He had 2.5 sacks, a season high, to raise his yearly output to 6.5. Peppers also had eight tackles, including two tackles for loss, one pass defended and three quarterback hits. Peppers gave the Bears a chance to win, but they came up just short in a crazy overtime that saw multiple missed field goals.
Williams takes redshirt year
The Houston Texans expected Brennan Williams to compete for the starting job at right tackle this year, but injuries derailed that plan. Due to knee injuries sustained in training camp, Williams has been on injured reserve all year, basically taking a redshirt year.
“He's got a lot of ability,” coach Gary Kubiak told reporters. “We've got to find a way to keep him healthy and get him contributing.”
Those plans will have to wait until next year at the earliest. Williams has fought injuries since his time at UNC.
Matchups to watch this week
On Monday Night Football, Dallas travels to Chicago. That means there will be two defenses led by two former Tar Heels in Bruce Carter, who's taking over for the injured Sean Lee, and Julius Peppers, who has upped his play lately.
On Sunday Night Football, there will be lots of North Carolina intrigue for various reasons as the Carolina Panthers play the New Orleans Saints. This will pit Kevin Reddick against the local NFL team.
Updates from former Heels
Zach Brown had another big game, posting eight tackles and another sack, his fourth of the year.
For the fourth time this year, Ryan Taylor caught a pass for the Packers. He's now doubled the receptions from his previous two years combined.
Statistics from Tar Heels
Gio Bernard, Cincinnati RB – 14 rushes for 57 yards, 1 rec. for 9 yards
Zach Brown, Tennessee LB – 8 tackles, 1 sack
Bruce Carter, Dallas LB – 6 tackles
Quinton Coples, New York Jets LB – 3 tackles, 1 sack
Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants WR – 2 rec. for 34 yards
Greg Little, Cleveland Browns WR – 2 rec. for 9 yards
Julius Peppers, Chicago DE – 8 tackles, 2.5 sacks
Robert Quinn, St. Louis, DE – 3 tackles, 1 TFL
Da'Norris Searcy, Buffalo S – 2 tackles
Brandon Tate, Cincinnati WR – 3 KR for 22-yard avg., 1 PR for 2 yards
Ryan Taylor, Green Bay TE – 1 rec. for 8 yards
Cam Thomas, San Diego DT – 2 tackles
Sylvester Williams, Denver DT – 1 tackle
