Carolina Welcomes NC A&T For Home Opener

September 12, 2015 | Football

By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL --- Seeking its fourth consecutive win in a home opener under head coach Larry Fedora, North Carolina welcomes North Carolina A&T, the preseason pick to win the MEAC, to Kenan Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 12. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.

The Tar Heels are coming off a tough 17-13 loss to South Carolina last Thursday night in Charlotte. Sophomore tailback Elijah Hood and junior Bug Howard had impressive season debuts against the Gamecocks. Hood rushed for 138 yards on 12 carries (11.5 avg.) and Howard had six receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown. The UNC defense, much-maligned in 2014, held South Carolina to 17 points, the fewest allowed by a Carolina team since the 2013 Belk Bowl.

Located in Greensboro, North Carolina A&T is coming off an impressive 61-7 win over Shaw last Saturday at Aggie Stadium. NC A&T scored in a variety of ways, including three rushing touchdowns, three touchdowns passes, a field goal, a safety, a kickoff return and an interception return.

North Carolina is 3-0 against FCS competition under Fedora with win over Elon in 2012 (63-0), Old Dominion in 2013 (80-20) and Liberty in 2014 (56-29). A win over A&T would snap UNC's three-game losing streak dating back to last season.

AT A GLANCE
Records: North Carolina 0-1, North Carolina A&T 1-0
Rankings: Neither team is ranked.
TV: ESPN3. John Brickley (play-by-play) and Dustin Fox (analyst) have the call.
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 | NCATAggies.com | A&T Notes
Twitter: @TarHeelFootball, @CoachFedora | @NCATAGGIES
Fan Information: Tickets | Gameday/Parking Information

QUICK HITS
• The Tar Heels play nine of their 12 regular season games in the state of North Carolina in 2015. The only three games outside the state are at Georgia Tech (Oct. 3), at Pittsburgh (Oct. 29) and at Virginia Tech (Nov. 21). All four non-conference games are in North Carolina, including the season
opener vs. South Carolina on Sept. 3 in Charlotte.
• Marquise Williams is the only ACC quarterback with 35 TDs from last season returning in 2015. Williams threw 21 touchdown passes, rushed for 13 scores and even had a TD reception in 2014. Statistically, he was responsible for 34 touchdowns (the reception is credited to the QB), which tied Florida State's Chris Weinke for the ninth-best single-season mark in ACC history.
• UNC returns four players with at least 400 yards receiving in 2015 – Switzer (757), Hollins (613), Davis (470) and Howard (455). There are only 16 returning players in the ACC with at least 400 receiving yards.
• Carolina is one of just eight Power 5 teams that returned all five offensive line starters. The Tar Heels are led by all-star candidate Landon Turner at right guard (29 career starts), Jon Heck at right tackle (25), Caleb Peterson at left guard (24) and Lucas Crowley at center (14).
• Under Larry Fedora, UNC has averaged 164.9 rushing yards per game. That is the best average over a similar time span since 1993-96. In the season opener, Carolina rushed for 208 yards against South Carolina.
• Since 2012, UNC leads the ACC with 18 non-offensive TDs. In 2014, the Tar Heels were second in the ACC in interception returns for touchdowns (3).
• Carolina has averaged more than 425 offensive yards per game in three straight seasons.
• Carolina ranked 18th in the country in 2014 with 77.3 plays per game.
• Carolina had five different players throw touchdown passes last fall. No other team had as many. Starting quarterback Marquise Williams led the way with 21, followed by backup QB Mitch Trubisky with five, WR Quinshad Davis with one, WR Ryan Switzer with one and punter Tommy Hibbard with one.
• Carolina ranked 10th in nation in kickoff return defense last season (17.41 yards per return). Kickoff specialist Nick Weiler was second nationally in average kickoff distance.
• Carolina returns 99.5 percent of its total offense from a year ago.

CAROLINA-A&T SERIES NOTES
• This is North Carolina's first game against North Carolina A&T.
• The Aggies are coached by Rod Broadway, a 1977 UNC graduate. Broadway played on the Tar Heels defensive line from 1974-77. He earned the team's Outstanding Freshman award in 1974 as he helped the Tar Heels earn a Sun Bowl berth. In 1977, he earned All-ACC honors along with the team's Most Outstanding Senior honor. Broadway was an assistant coach under John Bunting at UNC from 2001-02.
• North Carolina is 3-0 against FCS competition under Fedora and has won 11 straight against FCS
teams.