UNC Meets Baylor In Russell Athletic Bowl

ORLANDO --- Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division champion North Carolina will face Baylor of the Big 12 Conference in the 2015 Russell Athletic Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 29, at 5:30 p.m. The game will be played in Orlando's Citrus Bowl Stadium and will be televised nationally by ESPN. This is the first time the two schools have met on the gridiron. Both teams enter the game ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Tar Heels (11-2, 8-0 ACC) are No. 10 and

Baylor (9-3, 6-3 Big 12) is No. 17. This marks the first time UNC has played in a bowl game in which both teams are ranked since the 1996 Gator Bowl when the No. 10 Tar Heels beat No. 25 West Virginia.

Carolina and Baylor boast two of nation's most prolific offenses. The Tar Heels lead the nation in yards per play (7.33), followed closely by Baylor (7.25). The Bears lead the nation in scoring offense, averaging 48.0 points per game, while Carolina is No. 11 at 40.9. Both teams are averaging more than 485 yards per game.

AT A GLANCE
Records: North Carolina 11-2 (8-0 ACC), Baylor 9-3 (6-3 Big 12)
Rankings: Carolina is ranked No. 10 in the AP poll and No. 11 in the coaches poll. Baylor is ranked No. 18 by the AP and No. 19 by the coaches.
TV: ESPN. Mike Patrick (play-by-play), Ed Cunningham (analyst) and Dr. Jerry Punch (sideline) have the call. There will also be a Skycam feed available from ESPN.
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network (click to listen), a division of Learfield Communications. Jones Angell (play-by-play), Ethan Albright (analyst) and Lee Pace (sideline) have the call.
On The Web: GoHeels.com | UNC Notes | BaylorBears.com | Baylor Notes
Twitter: @TarHeelFootball, @CoachFedora | @BUFootball
Fan Information: RussellAthleticBowl.com | Tickets

QUICK HITS

• This marks the first time UNC has played in a bowl game in which both teams are ranked since the 1996 Gator Bowl when the No. 10 Tar Heels beat No. 25 West Virginia.

• Carolina leads the nation with 7.33 yards per play. Baylor is second at 7.25.

• Marquise Williams is just the fifth quarterback in ACC history with 2,000 career rushing yards.

• Williams ranks 12th in UNC history with 2,377 yards. He is fourth all-time at UNC with 33 rushing scores.

• Williams has been responsible for a school-record 94 career touchdowns, which ranks third in ACC history. Williams has rushed for 33 scores (UNC record for QB), passed for 58 and has three receiving TDs. Only Tajh Boyd (133) of Clemson and Philip Rivers (112) of NCSU have been responsible

for more in the ACC.

• Williams has a school-record 10,099 total yards of offense, which ranks fifth in ACC history. He is 265 yards shy of moving past Virginia Tech's Logan Thomas for fourth place.

• Tailback Elijah Hood has 17 rushing touchdowns, which ranks second in the league. He is second in the ACC with 103.5 rushing yards per game and is the 16th 1,000-yard rusher in school history (1,345).

• Carolina leads the ACC and ranks eighth in the country in passes defended (61 pass breakups, 16 interceptions).

• Cornerback M.J. Stewart leads the ACC in passes defended per game (1.64 per game, 14 PBUs, 4 INTs in 11 games) and cornerback Des Lawrence ranks third with 1.23 per game (14 PBUs, 2 INTs).

• Eleven current Tar Heels have made 20-or-more career starts. Quinshad Davis leads the way with 46, followed by OG Landon Turner (41), OT Jon Heck (37), LB Jeff Schoettmer (37) and OG Caleb Peterson (36).

• Carolina ranks 11th in the country in scoring offense (40.9) and 35th in scoring defense (22.6).

• Carolina is one of just 11 teams in the country averaging more than 200 yards per game rushing (222.9) and 250 passing (264.0).

• All-America guard Landon Turner will make his 42nd career start against Baylor. Turner has graded out at 90 percent or higher in 11 of 13 games this season.

• Last season, North Carolina made just six field goals and none longer than 30 yards. This season, kicker Nick Weiler has made 19 of 22 attempts, including four from 46 yards-or-longer. Weiler has 119 points, which is seven shy of the school record set by Don McCauley (126) in 1970.

CAROLINA-BAYLOR SERIES NOTES

• North Carolina and Baylor are meeting for the first time. Carolina has not played a current member of the Big 12 since facing West Virginia (at the time a Big East member) in the 2008 Meineke Car Care Bowl.

• Carolina head coach Larry Fedora, a native of College Station, Texas, began his college career as a graduate assistant for legendary coach Grant Teaff at Baylor in 1990. Teaff retired in 1992 and Fedora stayed on as an assistant under Chuck Reedy until 1996.

• Carolina has not played a team from the state of Texas since 2002 when the Longhorns visited Chapel Hill.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Quinshad Davis

Jon Heck

Elijah Hood

Caleb Peterson

Jeff Schoettmer

M.J. Stewart

Landon Turner

Nick Weiler

Marquise Williams

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